Averil Colby was the first to be inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame from the United Kingdom.
Nearing the age of 60, she began her writing career on a subject she so enjoyed. Patchwork,
published in 1958, has been reprinted twelve times. Other books followed: Samplers, 1964;
Patchwork Quilts, 1965; Quilting, 1971, and Pincushions in 1975. Her books are classics and
show the depth of Averil’s research abilities.
Never deemed a quilter per se, she experimented with various sizes of hexagons made in the
English method of fabric-turned over a paper template, basted, then whipped to like a patch. She
reported that her scrapbag of fabrics spanned nearly 200 years.
As chairman of the Handicraft Committee of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, she
was instrumental in organizing courses, classes, and exhibitions of handicrafts that helped
reawaken an interest in quilting in the United Kingdom.
Examples of her work can be found at the American Museum in Britain, Bath, and in the collection
of The Quilter’ Guild of the British Isles.
Nearing the age of 60, she began her writing career on a subject she so enjoyed. Patchwork,
published in 1958, has been reprinted twelve times. Other books followed: Samplers, 1964;
Patchwork Quilts, 1965; Quilting, 1971, and Pincushions in 1975. Her books are classics and
show the depth of Averil’s research abilities.
Never deemed a quilter per se, she experimented with various sizes of hexagons made in the
English method of fabric-turned over a paper template, basted, then whipped to like a patch. She
reported that her scrapbag of fabrics spanned nearly 200 years.
As chairman of the Handicraft Committee of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, she
was instrumental in organizing courses, classes, and exhibitions of handicrafts that helped
reawaken an interest in quilting in the United Kingdom.
Examples of her work can be found at the American Museum in Britain, Bath, and in the collection
of The Quilter’ Guild of the British Isles.
| Averil Colby (1900-1983) |
English quilter, lecturer, author of Patchwork, Patchwork
Quilts and Quilting. Inducted in 1980 at the Continental
Quilting Congress, Arlington, Virginia.
Research Associate: Tina Fenwick Smith
Quilts and Quilting. Inducted in 1980 at the Continental
Quilting Congress, Arlington, Virginia.
Research Associate: Tina Fenwick Smith