Last week’s blog post was about my visit to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. I found there was more to share that could be fitted into one post, so this is part 2 of my account.
It has come to my notice, thanks to a sharp-eyed reader that I did not include the photo of my entry into the ‘Pictorial’ section of the competition. Please accept my apologies. Here is ‘Lapwings at Pegwell Bay’:
I have added the missing photo to last week’s post and also included three photos of details of the quilt (click here to see them).
So… moving on to other delights of the Festival this year, I absolutely loved the quilts at the stand of Japanese quilter Sachiko Yoshida, which included ‘Good Morning’ (2017) seen below. The artist uses fabric from vintage silk kimonos for her work which includes much hand stitching.
This detail from ‘Good Morning’ shows how beautifully the images and colours work together. The surface stitching and embroidery are clearly visible.
I also found the portraits by Clara Nartey very striking. Below is ‘Citrine’
I feel that the use of fabrics rather than paint adds an extra dimension to the portrait and the use of a printed fabric for the background serves as an interesting foil for the figure, as well as referencing traditional cultural traditions in fabric production.
It was a joy to see in the Graduate Showcase three of my fellow students from the recent City & Guilds Diploma course taught by Gillian Cooper.
First up is Josephine Whitmore, who took a dolman as a key image for her design work.
In her final piece the dolman appears in the ‘pupil’ of an eye at the centre of a large, dramatic quilt constructed from blue fabrics. The ‘iris’ (modelled on Jo’s own eye) is also composed of blue fabrics and the gap behind the eye suggests a portal into other realities…
Ruth Rees-Williams explored themes around the sea and the creatures within it. Her final quilt included a dramatic octopus tentacle reaching across an improv-pieced quilt of hand-dyed fabrics. You can just see on the left of the photo, her three-dimensional piece – a felted octopus.
Joanna McCreadie’s work includes strong mark-making, her final monochrome piece arising from a large number of samples of different techniques and processes. You can see her books of samples in the wooden box on the left in the photo.
Those of you who read this blog regularly (thank you!) will know that I became involved in the Kent ‘Speak Their Name’ suicide memorial quilt ( you can read more about it here). This year at the Festival of Quilts, a group of ‘Speak Their Name’ quilts were on show. Of the two Kent quilts, only one was on show in Birmingham (the red quilt seen below) as the other part was being displayed in Scotland at the same time. The two squares I made for the Kent quilt were in the part in Scotland
There were volunteers standing by the quilts to explain to visitors why they had been made and why they are important as a campaigning tool for suicide prevention.
It was interesting to visit the ‘Men who Quilt’ stand. There were a large number of quilts within, curated by John J. Cole-Morgan. This is their stylish banner:
This quilt by Joe Cunningham was beautiful:
This origami-style fabric piece was made by John Miller:
Finally, it was a joy – as ever – to see items on display from The Quilters’ Guild Collection. My favourite this year was this piece made by artist Val Jackson in 2014, entitled ‘Lilac Dress’ which explores ‘the role and image of women in the 1950s’ with words and images all produced in stitch.
A detail of the piece shows the extensive and beautiful lettering and imagery on the artwork. Fabulous!
I just had a day and a half at the Festival this year but I made the very most of the time. I hope you have enjoyed sharing my particular highlights.
Click the blue ‘FOLLOW’ button to get a blog-post by email each Monday.
Buy the ‘Sewing Machine Cover’ pattern and more than sixty other Quilt and Sewing patterns here
Order the quilt labels fabric and more than a hundred other Fabrics here,
Book the ‘Quilt in a Day’ class and other classes here
Find Art Quilts like ‘Blue’Moon’ and other quilts for sale here
Check out the Amanda Jane Textiles YouTube channel here
Amanda Jane Textiles 