For the Love of Laura Ashley!, Volunteer Community Group the Heritage Hub 4 Mid Wales tribute exhibition to Laura Ashley on Women’s International Day in a bid to honor the internationally known designer in the year that marks the brands 70th Anniversary.
Poppy Marshall Lawton, Vice President, Laura Ashley:
“We are delighted to be supporting the Heritage Hub for Mid Wales in our 70th anniversary year. The quilt exhibition is the perfect celebration of craft and creation, a call back to the brands inspiring start up story. Our heritage inspires us daily, and it’s amazing to be able to share and celebrate it this year.”
This Laura Ashley Heritage Quilt Exhibition and 70th Anniversary celebration will first take place in Newtown Library, Powys Mid Wales. This exhibition will feature Newtown’s renowned Artist Brian Jones work as a textile designer with LA from 1972. As Brian hand painted the original artwork and interpreted LA’s visionary textile designs they would then materialise into printed textiles in the factory at Carno and Brian would take home pieces of fabric to show his mother which then were later sewn together to make quilts for their home. Which after decades will be now be exhibited at this exhibition between the 9th – 30th March 2023.
Ann Evans the HH4MW founder,’ I was fortunate to work for Laura Ashley from 1975 for twenty years and decided to commission a portrait textile fabric quilt of Laura Ashley in tribute to LA and the Ashley family who were instrumental in providing work for thousands of families in Wales and beyond. I came across British Quilt Designer Devida Bushrod who last year had her Jubilee Pixel Quilt of Queen Elizabeth, requested by Buckingham Palace. So based on the original aspiration and foundation of LA’s business legacy I thought this was fitting piece of textile art to celebrate the legacy of Laura Ashley.
The HH4MW is campaigning with the Heritage Custodians, Local Authorities and Welsh Government for a physical Heritage & Learning Hub to preserve the living legacy of Laura Ashley which is embedded in the communities of Mid Wales and beyond. ‘Wales was the promised land of Laura Ashley’ visionary lifestyle ideals and new fabric of society, we hope to share the living legacy of BA & LA with the world.
This Pixel LA Quilt is made up of 1,500 pieces of fabric in 13 different colours with Laura Ashley vintage fabrics supplied for the binding and also Laura Ashley Cottage Sprig fabric for the backing of the quilt. This quilt 72” x 54” has taken Devida over sixty hours of work and has been expedited from Tulsa USA especially for the HH4MW Laura Ashley Heritage Quilt Exhibition which will be privately unveiled on Women’s International Day but will be signature part of the exhibition from the 9th – 30th March 2023.
