MORE than 30 enthusiasts gathered for a quilting bee yesterday to start creating three traditional bedspreads based on designs that are more than 100 years old.

Eight men and 24 women spent three hours working on the project at the Farmhouse Kitchen on Low Way Farm at Holwick, in Upper Teesdale, County Durham. They used ancient upper dale methods, with guidance from quilting expert Pam Phillips, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, and textile artist Lone Grinter, of Forcett.

They made use of some paper patterns from the 19th Century, loaned by Madge Baum, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, but incorporated modern features such as millennium events in the dale.

The project was organised by Anne Noble of the Craft Works group in Barnard Castle. It was funded by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty small grants fund and the Northern Rock Foundation.

Mrs Noble said: "We have had a wonderful day with over 30 keen quilters working hard to produce these three special works of art. The quilts are beginning to look exceptionally good."

The completed creations will be included in an exhibition at Newbiggin Methodist Chapel in May, along with some of the originals made from the paper patterns in the 1800s.

Members of Craft Works are also working on a project to create 36 textile squares depicting how life in Teesdale has changed over the centuries. They will be shown at in the area before an exhibition at the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle.