The Quilt Association’s summer exhibition has opened at the Minerva Arts Centre.

‘Timelines – A Line in Time’ features the work of two well-known textile artists as well as quilts from the association’s own collection.

The exhibition was opened on August 5 and is now open every Monday to Saturday from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

In Gallery One there is work by the Leicester-based textile artist Ruth Singer, which she has called ‘Fragments’.

Ruth spent some time examining and researching the quilts in the Quilt Association’s collection, exploring the stories behind the quilts, their survival and damage.

She then created her own pieces which, she says: “Referenced quilts, patchwork and the construction of small pieces of cloth into larger wholes but… not quilts as traditionally recognised.”

The quilts around which Ruth has based her work are also exhibited for visitors to see. All of them are old, well-loved and some of them have been repaired. They tell the history and the lives of the people who owned them.

Alongside Fragments, Ruth will also be showing some of her Criminal Quilts series including Hanging, which won her a prestigious title last year.

Joy Smout, one of the trustees on the exhibition committee, said: “Ruth Singer was the Textile Quilt Master from last year’s Festival of Quilts. It’s a brilliant achievement and we are highly honoured to have her with us this year.

“She loves her work to be interactive if it can be. Ruth loves to do quilting in different fabrics, and her inspiration is to use fabrics not in a traditional quilting.”

Gallery Two features ‘Backwards Looking Forwards’, a retrospective collection of work by Bobby Britnell who works from her studio in Shropshire.

Bobby has been a great friend to the Quilt Association for many years and this year she will be tracing her career by showing work from the past and the present.

“Bobby’s work is quite a contrast,” said Ms Smout.

“It is very different from Ruth’s, that’s the joy sometimes of walking into another gallery.

“She also did a two-day workshop which was amazing. I loved it, she was very generous with her time and her resources and so encouraging to everyone on the course.”

The 'Timelines' exhibition features around 30 quilts, covering a vast range of materials, techniques and styles. There are quilts made from paper, two that look like bookshelves, and a table full of quilt-covered blocks that can be moved around and built into different shapes.

Another feature of the Quilt Association’s exhibitions is the ‘Cash4Quilts’ lucky dip. For £5, you get a surprise A4-sized quilt and the money goes towards new quilts to go on display.

The exhibition, organised by Ms Smout alongside Quilt Association chair Jean Pegg and fellow trustees Christine Shercliff and Georgina Newson, is free entry and is open until September 16.