Tracy Chevalier, Dulwich Picture Gallery

Girl with the Pearl Earring author Tracy Chevalier to discuss novels, quilts and curation at Dulwich Picture Gallery.  

Tracy Chevalier is an author who does her research. In preparation for her most recent novel, The Last Runaway , which tells the story of a mid-Nineteenth Century quilt maker,not only did she learn how to make quilts by hand, but also spent time at Blythe House, home to the Victoria and Albert’s reserve collection, where quilt curator Sue Prichard explained to her the history of the craft.

Chevalier soon became fascinated with quilts, not least because of their many functions; quilts are practical, everyday objects, used as blankets, but they are also works of art, and vessels for storytelling. Now,she is curating an exhibition of quilts, entitled What We Do in Bed , at Danson House, Bexleyheath. The exhibition has been warmly received and includes work dating back to the 18th Century as well as designs by contemporary artists such as Grayson Perry and Sara Impey. It consists of five rooms each of which is dedicated to a particular theme: birth, sleep, sex, illness, and death.

On October 7, Chevalier, who is most famous for writing Girl with the Pearl Earring , will give an illustrated talk at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, where she will explain how her experience and understanding of quilt-making has influenced her own craft. This promises to be a fascinating and idiosyncratic talk, by an articulate and highly knowledgeable writer, which will shed new light on this most humble of furnishings.