Treasured Threads: Unpicking Gunnersbury’s Quilts is a free exhibition which takes an in-depth look at one of Gunnersbury’s most remarkable items; a highly decorative fabric quilt top created by a local Acton family in around 1825.

Thought to have been intended as a bed covering, the so-called ‘Acton Top’ demonstrates a wide range of complex quilting, patchwork and appliqué skills and depicts contemporary figures in Regency dress, Biblical scenes, animals and plants.

Comparing the Acton Top with other historic quilts from the museum collection, the exhibition investigates how quilting developed from the late 1780s to the 1850s, and explores associated technological and social changes.