I am a quilter who:

Our homework while we were doing Elizabeth Barton's Masterclass was to write a paragraph or two around 'I am a quilter who:...', thinking about our preferences for ways of working, quilt and art influences. I've tidied this up a bit ( my writing is terrible even before a glass of wine) and thought I'd share it with you I am a quilter who grew up surrounded by fabric. My mother taught embroidery, quilting, toy-making and made clothes. I helped build her stash from jumble sales before I ever stitched myself

I am a quilter who loves colour. I have excellent colour memory, able to ‘carry’ a colour in my head like others remember tunes or phrases

I am a quilter who has always painted and drawn ( did art to ‘A’ level before studying botany at University. And no I don’t like doing botanical illustration).

I am a quilter who likes to use commercial fabrics (African , Japanese) in new ways and to honour and ‘repurpose’ old textiles.

I am a quilter who likes to alter surface of cloth with stitch and paint with acrylic.

I am a quilter for whom it is important to use my own images and experiences

I am a quilter who has been quilting for over 30 years and have developed through experience a clear sense of what I want to achieve and how I’m doing (I’m my own sternest critic)


I am a quilter who as a professional scientist, works on quilts in an efficient and methodical way but inquisitive and experimental, always questioning ‘what if?’
Enjoys the process and problem-solving as much as the finished piece of work .

I am a quilter who blogs , and has found the process a useful tool to explore, explain and analyse ( as well as making many ‘cyber friends’ whose opinion I appreciate)

I am a quilter who has made over 200 small ‘journal’ quilts , experimenting with new techniques but prefers to work on a larger scale. I am a quilter who admires quilts of Edrica Hews, Jo Budd, Dorothy Caldwell, Pauline Burbidge, Elizabeth Brimelow, Deidre Adams, Elizabeth Barton for imagery, use of fabrics and colour , for stitch as mark-making

I am a quilter who is inspired by artwork, going to art galleries and exhibitions as frequently as possible. Current preferences : Ian McKeever, Barbara Rae, Victor Pasmore, Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, Nicholas de Stael, Sean Scully, Anselm Kiefer. Perennial favourites : Paul Klee, Pierre Bonnard. What unites most of these is colour and interpretation of landscape in abstract terms.

I am a quilter.