AN exciting, colourful and vibrant exhibition has just launched at the Museum of Dartmoor Life.

The John Young Gallery at the museum is playing host to a quilting exhibition until August 6, with 50 different quilts on show.

The quilts on display have been produced by four of West Devon's prominent quilting groups — Westbridge Quilters, Castle Quilters, Upcott Quilters and Upcott Valley Quilters.

The exhibition has been collated by Sarah O'Hora and boasts quilts displaying a range of different quilting techniques as well as contemporary and traditional techniques.

One visitor to the exhibition told the Times: 'It really wasn't what I was expecting. This is more than quilts, this is art.

'The different styles are fantastic, the colours are so bright and bold. So much work and so many different techniques have gone into making each one, I think people should make the effort to come and see the exhibition — they'll be pleasantly surprised.'

Many of the quilts are made from a selection of different materials and have involved techniques such as melting, painting, machine stitching, hand stitching and shrinking.

Highlights include the 'challenge' quilts, which saw the different quilting groups given a particularly garish material to incorporate into the quilts design, and Sarah O'Hora's quilt 'Order and Chaos,' produced for a Myths and Legends exhibition and based on the two-faced Roman god of doorways, Janus.

Quilting is an ancient art but still enjoys a popular subculture and is still widely practised throughout the South West.