One of the country’s most important collections of quilts is held in York. But its future is in doubt. MATT CLARK reports from Peasholme Green.

MARK TWAIN said the reports of his death had been "greatly exaggerated". The same could apply to York's Quilt Museum and Gallery.

Despite rumours to the contrary, the museum will reopen after a winter hiatus on Saturday for a final year that promises its best series of exhibitions yet.

Awarded Visit England's Hidden Gem accolade, the gallery begins with All Shapes and Sizes, which consists of 23 pieces from its historic collection. These span two centuries of quilt-making, including some contemporary pieces commissioned by various regions of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles.

A smaller exhibition that will run concurrently is Voices From The Inside and features hand-stitched quilts from prisoners trained by the charity Fine Cell Work.

"They have been exhibiting and selling their work successfully for some years now and it’s exciting that they are coming to York for the first time as exhibitors," says Liz Whitehouse, chief executive of the Quilt Museum.

"They received a great deal of publicity when their work was featured in the big V&A exhibition in 2010 and recently had a pop-up shop in Fortnum and Mason."

Effectively this is the country's national collection and boasts pieces such as a 1718 silk coverlet, the oldest in the UK and only one of four in the world.

Indeed there are 800 items here. And you might be surprised by some of them. This is not simply a repository of bed covers; some pieces are works of art, others downright quirky. When not on show they are stored in vaults, inside acid-free boxes and looked after by curator Heather Audin.

"We've got all sorts here," she says. "The small boxes have things like tea cosies, night dress cases and pin cushions. But perhaps the most unusual object is a 1960s patchwork bikini, which is very odd."

Who knew?

"Even we didn't until recently. Things like this crop up all the time and the best ones usually start with 'you probably won't be interested but.....' Just the other day someone came in with an 1850s huswife, which is a sewing roll. We'd never seen one like it before."

Some of the large quilts are made out of offcuts from overalls and pinnies or cocktail dresses and curtains. One even has a stripey fabric bought to fashion a fancy dress costume. The maker went as a deckchair.

But it's the big exhibits that really wow. Take this military quilt, made from uniform offcuts. Heather says it could have been made by a convalescing soldier, but the exquisite stitching leads her to believe it is the handiwork of a professional tailor.

"What's unusual is a that a man has made it," she says. "Generally it is presumed that quilts are made by a woman, because it is a domestic thing."

Tailoring skills are complicated and these are accurate pieces. Maybe it's by a tailor who was called up? Which brings us to the question: who makes quilts today?

"Like any needlecraft it's primarily enjoyed by older women," says Liz. "However in the last two years there has been an upsurge in young women making all sorts of crafts. You can see it in the number of new magazines."

Then came the sewing bee on telly. Perhaps many have rediscovered the joy of making things.

"Suddenly they see they can do it. We have been through a period when people didn't make anything," says Liz.

"My daughter's friends think she's a domestic goddess because she can make jam and cook a meal. There are all these cookery programmes but nobody cooks."

But what is a quilt? Put simply: three layers, the patchwork, wadding and backing joined together by thread. The museum in honour of them opened in 2008 as Britain's first of its kind and as home for the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles.

York was chosen partly because of its central location and transport links.

"The trustees also thought people might want other things to do, so this city was ideal," says Liz. "But we've since found that 80 per cent of our visitors make a specific journey to come here."

Unfortunately the business plan called for 30,000 visitors a year and that has proved wildly optimistic. The museum averages just over a third of that number, no mean feat for a niche museum, but this is not enough.

So Liz and the trustees have to find ways of making up the shortfall, such as fundraising initiatives and licensing images for use on mobile phone covers.

However, money is running out, so this will be the museum's last year. Unless a sponsor can be found, the doors will close for the final time on October 31.

Liz says she is talking to anyone who might be interested in a partnership with the gallery, as well as museums up and down the country that could display the quilts.

That said, it seems a shame to split up a collection that has taken so long to gather. Especially as Liz says the guild only needs 200 square metres to run the offices and house its quilts.

"Everyone here is profoundly disappointed, however we have to face the financial position," she says.

"All things are possible, but I'm not holding my breath."

Leaving the best until last, the museum's summer exhibition will be by renowned designer Kaffe Fassett, who is the guild's patron. Liz promises it will be sensational.

"We offered him the opportunity to select a number of quilts from our collection and he has designed his own in response," she says. "It is all new work and this is the only place it will go on display in the country."

Going out in style, you might say.

All Shapes and Sizes and Voices From The Inside open on January 24 at The Quilt Museum and Gallery, Peasholme Green, York. quiltersguild.org.uk