'We're restoring Victorian quilts in the mill they came from'

Tanu Patel (left) and members of the Sewcialise group are the new custodians of the historic quilts which were handed over by Norah McWilliam (right)

When two black bin bags arrived at a community centre in Bradford, few could have guessed at the textile treasures which were inside.

But as the bundles were opened, four patchwork quilts in varying states of repair emerged.

Their story stretches back to the 1860s - but their latest chapter is only just beginning.

"They've been in cupboards and drawers for more than 100 years," explains Norah McWilliam, who helped bring the pieces back to the city where they were woven.

"But something about them kept them alive, kept them in one piece."

Ellen Freeman moved to Bradford in the 1860s with her husband Robert Wallace

The quilts were the work of Ellen Freeman, who had stitched together offcuts salvaged from the floor of Lister's Mill in Manningham, then one of Bradford's great textile powerhouses.

Born in 1842, Ellen had moved north from Sussex to settle in Bradford with her husband, Robert Wallace.

"Two of the quilts are made of scraps of velvet that were from the mills at the time," says Norah, from Queensbury.

"They're all hand-sewn - it's quite something when you look at the stitching.

"And then there's another quilt, which is made of cottons, which she didn't quite finish because her eyesight was getting worse."

Of the total four surviving pieces, two are complete, another is in need of repair and another remains at an early stage.

The quilts eventually came into the care of Ellen's great-granddaughter, Joan Forrest, who now lives in Newcastle but who - as Norah explains - was very keen for them to come back to "where they belong in Bradford".

Norah searched widely for a place to share and appreciate the pieces and her friend's vision.

And then, she read about a women's sewing-based social group based at the historic Manningham mills building where the quilts' journey started - and the pieces, much like the patchwork, started to fit together.

"I tried a museum - I didn't get an answer. I tried another sewing group and didn't get an answer. And then I saw the BBC article and thought 'wow, this is where the quilts should be'.

"So I came and met Tanu Patel, and she was immediately enthusiastic and committed. And it's just worked out so well."

Offcuts of velvet make up the patchwork in this quilt, one of several created by Ellen Freeman

For Tanu, director of the Yorkshire Women's Forum, opening the bags was a real "oh my word" moment.

"We are so excited and privileged to have these pieces here," the upcycling and restoration enthusiast says.

"The plan is to actually finish the two incomplete quilts. And we want to use our fabrics, the fabrics that the women of today wear and use."

The task will be taken up by Sewcialise, the Forum's weekly sewing and textile group. Known for upcycling South Asian fabrics into bags, jackets and trinkets, they will restore and complete the quilts using cloth from their own collections, fusing together textiles from different cultures and continents.

"We're trying to bring cultures and the generations together," Tanu says.

For Tanu, Norah and the team, the quilts' journey from Ellen Freeman's scraps on the mill floor to the vibrant South Asian silks in Sewcialise's sewing room represents more than fabric.

It symbolises Bradford's story, stitched by the hands of women across generations, and made even more poignant in the City of Culture year.

Ellen Freeman and husband Robert Wallace in their later years

"We want to bring the tapestry together and say 'we are all of these colours and all of these textures and all of these fabrics put together as a whole'," says Tanu.

She also reflects that there is "something absolutely beautiful" about the idea of a patchwork that is "never truly finished".

"We will just add something, but maybe one day somebody will come along and finish them in a very different fabric."

Meanwhile for Joan, 84, speaking over a video call to Tanu and Norah, it was an emotional moment to see the quilts handed over to their new custodians.

"I'm not a needlewoman. I can't sew, I can't stitch, but I wanted to see them preserved and valued," she said. "I'm so happy they've gone back home now."

Norah McWilliam (left) and Tanu Patel chat on video call to a delighted Joan Forrest, former custodian of the quilts

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