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LCF postgraduate researcher Deborah McGuire wins Patron’s Award for Endangered Craft

3 people smiling at camera, person in the middle holding certificate and plaque.
  • Written byS Cheevers
  • Published date 07 January 2026
3 people smiling at camera, person in the middle holding certificate and plaque.
Deborah McGuire, winner of the 2025 Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts, with Niamh Walsh from the King Charles II Charitable Fund, and David Clarke, Heritage Crafts Chair. Photo by Robert Wade.

The Patron’s Award celebrates an experienced practitioner who has gone to great lengths to ensure the continuation of their at-risk skills for the benefit of the next generation. The £3,000 award is funded by the King Charles III Charitable Fund, and the winner is selected by Heritage Crafts Patron His Majesty the King.

Deborah McGuire, a historian and hand quilter currently completing her PhD on 18th to 20th century British quilt history at London College of Fashion, UAL, recently won the Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts. Deborah received the prize at a special presentation at Wentworth Woodhouse in November.

A certificate and plaque.
Deb’s Award: A gold work reverse painted glass plaque, made by heritage maker Eddy Bennett, pictured on a late Victorian whole cloth quilt stitched by a woman from a mining community in County Durham.

Deb’s work advocates for the safeguarding of the rocking stitch technique and the use of the Welsh quilt frame. As a result of winning this award, ‘hand quilting in the frame’ has been added to the prestigious Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts, unlocking a new tranche of bursary and training support for students and artists looking to work with this technique.

I am so honoured to receive this award, which recognises the countless skilled and creative makers who stitched quilts for love and money in Britain for generations. Importantly, it also endorses the huge creative potential of this history to a new generation of makers.

— Deb McGuire

Deb plans to use the award to support a crucial integrated workshop, bringing together elderly practitioners to share technical skills and create essential educational materials that will help ensure the survival of this working-class cultural heritage.

Birds eye view of 3 tables with people sitting at them.
Gather Around the Frame Quilting Bee at LCF, May 2025

Last year, Within the Frame, for which Deb is a Research Partner, hosted a Quilting Bee at LCF, funded by UAL's Social Purpose Funding Grant. This new award from King Charles III will enable the pilot to expand through further events across other parts of the British Isles, bringing the heritage skill of hand quilting to intergenerational community settings for use in creative and fashion expression.

Within the Frame will use the prize to further the education and skills work in 2026 by rolling out events in Wales and Scotland based on the successful pilot Gather Around the Frame Quilting Bee at LCF in May 2025.

— Deb McGuire
People using crafts (scissors, paper, thread) on a table.
Gather Around the Frame Quilting Bee at LCF, May 2025
Studying at LCF with its unique centring of practice has informed this approach, which melds historical research to the development of new creativity. I am grateful to my supervisory team and Director of Studies, Professor Joanne Begiato, for the continued warm support.

— Deb McGuire

London College of Fashion

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