About Ros and her quilt making
Ros Crouch was born Rosalyn Hedges in Oxford, the second of two daughters, and brought up in Risinghurst on the outskirts of the city. She lived most of her life in Oxfordshire. After college in Brighton she lived in Didcot for twelve or so years and spent the rest of her life in Thame apart from a few years in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. She worked for many years as a primary school teacher; at various times she taught in Didcot, Cholsey, Thame and Chinnor. She left her last teaching job at the end of the school year in 1999 following the move to Barnsley.
She wrote this account of how she learned to sew:
“I learned to sew as a child at home and at school. An aunt showed me how to follow patterns and helped me make a shift. She passed on her 'new look' dresses which had enough fabric in the skirts to make further shifts and A-line dresses. It was refreshing to make my own clothes to supplement a drab wardrobe of hand-me-downs.
Once cheap clothes were imported I largely stopped sewing clothes although I made some for children and even showed my husband how to run up a denim suit for himself! All this happened on a Singer treadle machine which had belonged to my grandfather.”
A big project, while she was still at school, was to make her older sister’s wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses too.
She wrote this account of how she learned to sew:
“I learned to sew as a child at home and at school. An aunt showed me how to follow patterns and helped me make a shift. She passed on her 'new look' dresses which had enough fabric in the skirts to make further shifts and A-line dresses. It was refreshing to make my own clothes to supplement a drab wardrobe of hand-me-downs.
Once cheap clothes were imported I largely stopped sewing clothes although I made some for children and even showed my husband how to run up a denim suit for himself! All this happened on a Singer treadle machine which had belonged to my grandfather.”
A big project, while she was still at school, was to make her older sister’s wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses too.
Ros's Quilting
Ros’s first foray into quilt making was to provide cot covers for our two daughters, Matilda and Amelia, but it was during our years in Barnsley (1999 - 2003) that she developed a passion for working with textiles that remained with her for the rest of her life. She was able to purchase modern Bernina sewing machines from a specialist shop (MKC Services) located at that time in Leeds and she was greatly helped by the advice of the staff there.
Sewing Machines
Ros's first sewing machine was much like this:
Her various Bernina machines looked more like this:
Bernina is a Swiss firm with a factory in Thailand. It produces a range of sewing machines, the simpler ones made in Thailand and the top of the range machines made in Switzerland. Bernina machines are computer controlled, running versions of the Windows operating system. Associated software enables handling images and controlling the output of optional embroidery units.
What did Ros make during her 'quilting years'?
Over the years Ros made more than 300 quilted items. These included full size quilts, generally the size to cover a double bed, a variety of art quilts, small journal quilts and miscellaneous items including bags, tea cosies and quilted cards. She also made quilts for Project Linus UK, which describes its purpose thus:
"It is the mission of Project Linus UK to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed by donating gifts of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets, lovingly made by UK volunteer knitters and quilters."
Another project she was involved in was the Contemporary Quilt series of Suitcase Collections (http://www.contemporaryquilt.org.uk/suitcase-collections.html) in which a suitcase full of small quilts (A3 size, approx 42cm x 30cm) by a variety of makers (including Ros) would be sent around the country to various quilt groups for exhibition. Ros curated these collections for several years.
"It is the mission of Project Linus UK to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed by donating gifts of new, homemade, washable quilts and blankets, lovingly made by UK volunteer knitters and quilters."
Another project she was involved in was the Contemporary Quilt series of Suitcase Collections (http://www.contemporaryquilt.org.uk/suitcase-collections.html) in which a suitcase full of small quilts (A3 size, approx 42cm x 30cm) by a variety of makers (including Ros) would be sent around the country to various quilt groups for exhibition. Ros curated these collections for several years.
Thanks to:
Many thanks to photographer Kelly Bond (https://www.kellybond.com/contact/) for photographing the majority of Ros’s works. A few are missing (perhaps gone astray over the years and some, no doubt, that Ros gave away). The missing images are provided from Ros’s own photos.
