Quilts with documentation
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GLASS CEILINGS
DATE: 2009
SIZE: 35.5 x 35.5 inches/ 90 x 90 cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
Artist-dyed/and commercial cottons, Lutradur*, polyester and newsprint. Machine pieced. Machine and hand quilted. Bonded appliqué. 80/20 wadding.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to two exhibiting opportunities. Firstly, the CQGB Breakthough Challenge.and secondly a SparksArtists exhibition ‘Sorted’ in collaboration with Thame Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
Created while the Equality Bill, now enacted, was going through parliament during 2009. Forty years after the Equal Pay act it sought to redress continuing discrimination.
Using techniques associated with women’s work the quilt tries to convey the struggle women still face. A traditional quilt block Attic Windows was used to suggest 3D spaces, most containing outlined figures pushing upwards.
One breakthrough brings movement to an otherwise static design with appliquéd fragments flying free like birds. The central panel is overlaid with paper lamination utilising appropriate newsprint and hinting at office blocks and the city. The barely perceptible ‘voices’ of women are printed on Lutradur then stitched to the border.
Artist-dyed/and commercial cottons, Lutradur*, polyester and newsprint. Machine pieced. Machine and hand quilted. Bonded appliqué. 80/20 wadding.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to two exhibiting opportunities. Firstly, the CQGB Breakthough Challenge.and secondly a SparksArtists exhibition ‘Sorted’ in collaboration with Thame Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
Created while the Equality Bill, now enacted, was going through parliament during 2009. Forty years after the Equal Pay act it sought to redress continuing discrimination.
Using techniques associated with women’s work the quilt tries to convey the struggle women still face. A traditional quilt block Attic Windows was used to suggest 3D spaces, most containing outlined figures pushing upwards.
One breakthrough brings movement to an otherwise static design with appliquéd fragments flying free like birds. The central panel is overlaid with paper lamination utilising appropriate newsprint and hinting at office blocks and the city. The barely perceptible ‘voices’ of women are printed on Lutradur then stitched to the border.
EXHIBITIONS:
As part of the Guild’s Contemporary Quilt Group Breakthrough challenge this quilt has been exhibited at:
Quiltfest, Y Caban Gallery, Plas Newydd, Llangollen 1 – 28/02/2010
Festival of Quilts, NEC Birmingham 19-22/08/2010
‘Sorted’ Thame CAB Nov/Dec 2009
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall Bucks 25/09/2010.
As part of the Guild’s Contemporary Quilt Group Breakthrough challenge this quilt has been exhibited at:
Quiltfest, Y Caban Gallery, Plas Newydd, Llangollen 1 – 28/02/2010
Festival of Quilts, NEC Birmingham 19-22/08/2010
‘Sorted’ Thame CAB Nov/Dec 2009
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall Bucks 25/09/2010.
GLITTERING DOMES
DATE: 2010
SIZE: 17.25 x 21 inches/ 43.25x 53 cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
Artist-dyed/printed cotton, silk and viscose. Machine pieced and quilted. Bonded appliqué. Machine couched threads. Hand embellished with beads and sequins.
100% cotton wadding
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to a SparksArtists exhibition in Thame Town Hall to accompany a Literary Festival 25 -27 June 2010.
To reflect the nature of the festival I sought a literary connection. W.B. Yeats had lived in Thame for a while during the 1920s so I re-read some of his poems. The two Byzantium poems appealed. I took the lines :
A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains
All that man is,
All mere complexities,
The fury and the more of human veins.
Contrasting life and art and turned them into Glittering Domes.
The following information and process and information was provided during the exhibition:
The colour and properties of fabric create my visual language. Inspiration and direction may come from the cloth itself which I often dye or paint. The act of making allows time for ideas to be developed and clarified. I’m in conversation with the textile, each helping the other to evolve. The resulting work expresses part of my inner world as well as my response to outside inspiration – in this case Yeats’ ‘Byzantium’ poems.
Domes, rising upwards to the skies, speak of aspiration and the attempt to create a perfect form.
Artist-dyed/printed cotton, silk and viscose. Machine pieced and quilted. Bonded appliqué. Machine couched threads. Hand embellished with beads and sequins.
100% cotton wadding
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to a SparksArtists exhibition in Thame Town Hall to accompany a Literary Festival 25 -27 June 2010.
To reflect the nature of the festival I sought a literary connection. W.B. Yeats had lived in Thame for a while during the 1920s so I re-read some of his poems. The two Byzantium poems appealed. I took the lines :
A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains
All that man is,
All mere complexities,
The fury and the more of human veins.
Contrasting life and art and turned them into Glittering Domes.
The following information and process and information was provided during the exhibition:
The colour and properties of fabric create my visual language. Inspiration and direction may come from the cloth itself which I often dye or paint. The act of making allows time for ideas to be developed and clarified. I’m in conversation with the textile, each helping the other to evolve. The resulting work expresses part of my inner world as well as my response to outside inspiration – in this case Yeats’ ‘Byzantium’ poems.
Domes, rising upwards to the skies, speak of aspiration and the attempt to create a perfect form.
EXHIBITIONS:
Another Language, SparksArtists, Thame Town Hall 25-27 June 2010
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall 25 September 2010
Another Language, SparksArtists, Thame Town Hall 25-27 June 2010
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall 25 September 2010
GOLDEN BIRD
DATE: 2010
SIZE: 5 x 5 inches/ 12.5 x12.5 cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
Artist-monoprinted cotton overlaid with commercial polyester sheer, net and fusible film. Machine quilted. Hand embellished with beads. 100% cotton wadding (Quilters Dream Cotton thinnest) and pelmet Vilene backing satin stitch edged then mounted onto a painted stretched chunky canvas with double sided tape.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to a SparksArtists exhibition in Thame Town Hall to accompany a Literary Festival 25 - 27 June 2010.
To reflect the nature of the festival I sought a literary connection. W.B. Yeats had lived in Thame for a while during the 1920s so I re-read some of his poems. The two Byzantium poems appealed. I took the golden bird, used in each poem to signify lasting, monumental art, as my motif.
The following information and process and information was provided during the exhibition:
The colour and properties of fabric create my visual language. Inspiration and direction may come from the cloth itself which I often dye or paint. The act of making allows time for ideas to be developed and clarified. I’m in conversation with the textile, each helping the other to evolve. The resulting work expresses part of my inner world as well as my response to outside inspiration – in this case Yeats’ ‘Byzantium’ poems. The metal bird sings ‘of what is past, passing or to come’ reminding us of the passing of time and the desire for immortality.
Artist-monoprinted cotton overlaid with commercial polyester sheer, net and fusible film. Machine quilted. Hand embellished with beads. 100% cotton wadding (Quilters Dream Cotton thinnest) and pelmet Vilene backing satin stitch edged then mounted onto a painted stretched chunky canvas with double sided tape.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to a SparksArtists exhibition in Thame Town Hall to accompany a Literary Festival 25 - 27 June 2010.
To reflect the nature of the festival I sought a literary connection. W.B. Yeats had lived in Thame for a while during the 1920s so I re-read some of his poems. The two Byzantium poems appealed. I took the golden bird, used in each poem to signify lasting, monumental art, as my motif.
The following information and process and information was provided during the exhibition:
The colour and properties of fabric create my visual language. Inspiration and direction may come from the cloth itself which I often dye or paint. The act of making allows time for ideas to be developed and clarified. I’m in conversation with the textile, each helping the other to evolve. The resulting work expresses part of my inner world as well as my response to outside inspiration – in this case Yeats’ ‘Byzantium’ poems. The metal bird sings ‘of what is past, passing or to come’ reminding us of the passing of time and the desire for immortality.
DISASTROUS JELLY
DATE: 2010
SIZE: 44 ½ x 50 ½ inches / 113 x 128 cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
Strips picked from two commercial jelly rolls (John Loudon) assembled into a rail fence pattern with border and binding.
Fleece backing
ABOUT THE QUILT:
How tempting those jelly rolls look when rolled up with their colours and patterns asking to be bought. At Festival of Quilts 2008 I acquired 3! They were not so enticing when I opened them and discovered how irregularly they were cut which made piecing tricky. It was supposed to be a quick throw, but it lingered in a cupboard after finding it difficult to quilt through the fleece with a twin needle. An exhibition was the incentive to get it finished. Swapping to a single needle I found the fleece was not a very strong foundation for free motion quilting. Too late I realised I should have used a hoop and thinner thread. Perhaps I should steer clear of jelly rolls, but I have more to go!
EXHIBITIONS:
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall 25 September 2010
Strips picked from two commercial jelly rolls (John Loudon) assembled into a rail fence pattern with border and binding.
Fleece backing
ABOUT THE QUILT:
How tempting those jelly rolls look when rolled up with their colours and patterns asking to be bought. At Festival of Quilts 2008 I acquired 3! They were not so enticing when I opened them and discovered how irregularly they were cut which made piecing tricky. It was supposed to be a quick throw, but it lingered in a cupboard after finding it difficult to quilt through the fleece with a twin needle. An exhibition was the incentive to get it finished. Swapping to a single needle I found the fleece was not a very strong foundation for free motion quilting. Too late I realised I should have used a hoop and thinner thread. Perhaps I should steer clear of jelly rolls, but I have more to go!
EXHIBITIONS:
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall 25 September 2010
STRIP QUILT
DATE: September 2010
SIZE 53 x 70½ inches / 134.5 x 178.7cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
All commercial cottons. Each theme assembled into a strip equal to eight 6” blocks. Strips joined with 1” strips and border added before layering and quilting. Various techniques used including traditional piecing, foundation piecing, appliqué using my digitised designs and an embroidery unit or bonded fabrics. Quilting is machine stitched in the ditch along the strips, FMQ around motifs and some hand quilting to take in any excess fabric. Hobbs 100% wool wadding.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
A challenge from Haddenham Stitchers. Each month a theme and technique was announced to make six 6” blocks as follows:
· Strips
· Flowers
· Houses, foundation or pieced
· Trees , Foundation or pieced
· Traditional block using triangles
· Hearts, any method
All commercial cottons. Each theme assembled into a strip equal to eight 6” blocks. Strips joined with 1” strips and border added before layering and quilting. Various techniques used including traditional piecing, foundation piecing, appliqué using my digitised designs and an embroidery unit or bonded fabrics. Quilting is machine stitched in the ditch along the strips, FMQ around motifs and some hand quilting to take in any excess fabric. Hobbs 100% wool wadding.
ABOUT THE QUILT:
A challenge from Haddenham Stitchers. Each month a theme and technique was announced to make six 6” blocks as follows:
· Strips
· Flowers
· Houses, foundation or pieced
· Trees , Foundation or pieced
· Traditional block using triangles
· Hearts, any method
· Stars, appliqued
I added further rows and blocks to enlarge the quilt. Although the challenge was announced in February 2009 I didn’t start on it until summer 2010 and only just finished it in time!
EXHIBITIONS:
Haddenham Stitchers Exhibition, Haddenham Village Hall 25 September 2010
DECKCHAIRS
DATE: November 2010
SIZE: 16.5 x 11.75 inches/ 42 x 29.7 cm
MATERIALS & METHOD:
Recycled deckchair canvas, used wrong side up on quilt front for a more faded, less dominant look. Commercial cotton for binding. Dyed cotton organdie framing for photographs. Images printed on to silk organza and cotton using Bubblejet2000.
Automated machine embroidered lettering created in Bernina software, stitched onto tulle then hand stitched to background. Machine quilting along the stripes, Free Motion Quilting deckchair outlines, some hand quilting through wadding only. Small photos bonded and machine stitched.
Reverse shows text, hand written on deckchair canvas, right side showing this time, with Sharpie laundry marker then FMQ over the top. Sleeve is silk organza to allow text to be read.
100% cotton wadding (Quilters Dream Cotton thinnest)
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to the Contemorary Quilt Group’s call for submissions for their suitcase collection on the theme of Childhood Memories
Recycled deckchair canvas, used wrong side up on quilt front for a more faded, less dominant look. Commercial cotton for binding. Dyed cotton organdie framing for photographs. Images printed on to silk organza and cotton using Bubblejet2000.
Automated machine embroidered lettering created in Bernina software, stitched onto tulle then hand stitched to background. Machine quilting along the stripes, Free Motion Quilting deckchair outlines, some hand quilting through wadding only. Small photos bonded and machine stitched.
Reverse shows text, hand written on deckchair canvas, right side showing this time, with Sharpie laundry marker then FMQ over the top. Sleeve is silk organza to allow text to be read.
100% cotton wadding (Quilters Dream Cotton thinnest)
ABOUT THE QUILT:
Made in response to the Contemorary Quilt Group’s call for submissions for their suitcase collection on the theme of Childhood Memories
The following information and process and information was provided for the quilt:
Deckchairs
Everyone had deckchairs in the 1950s and our family had a few. They were building blocks for my childhood game of tent making, an activity I really enjoyed. My first seaside holiday revealed deckchairs en masse, but you had to hire them! A family photo of an empty deckchair, complete with Brylcreem staining seemed a suitable nostalgic and poignant image for times and people long gone. I printed this on silk organza (with Bubblejet2000) to emphasise the difficulty of recapturing the past clearly. It was hand stitched roughly to a piece of old deckchair canvas. An outline was free motion machine stitched and a companion added. Pictures snapped at Bournemouth and in our garden were also printed onto fabric, framed with dyed cotton organdie then bonded and stitched down. Automated machine embroidery text was added to give the impression of a poster.
The overall colour scheme of red white and blue felt appropriate for an era I remember as patriotic with Union Jacks carried on flagpoles in neighbours’ gardens and coronation celebrations.
On the reverse I have written about my childhood tent making activities.
The following text was handwritten and stitched on the back of the quilt:
Making tents from deckchairs festooned with old army coats and worn out blankets was an absorbing activity, Extracted from the shed they hade a musty smell and cobwebby bits. It was best when neighbourhood friends joined in.
Sometimes we used the chairs balanced on their sides but they tended to collapse like cards unless we pulled out part of the frames as support. We tried to create rooms and secret places inside. Mostly we backed a couple of erected chairs together then draped blankets over the gaps. Building a successful structure was the goal, Once finished we’d sit inside whispering for a bit but soon got fed up and went off to play elsewhere or start on an improved tent.
John Huzzelbee once showed us his willy inside a tent but we weren’t interested at the time.
