CQ Journal Quilts 2018 ( and earlier years)

 A composite  of all 12 of my CQ Journal Quilts from 2018, 7 x 9 inches ,  mainly pieced from offcuts and scraps and experiments in excavating sections of old quilts and  stitching to emphasise the holes and creases. Beauty in found marks.  Read more about January to April; May to August and September to  December.

I've been making Journal  Quilts since 2003 and over the years  they've been important to me as  experiments and samples and  a sense of achievement in squeezing  at least some stitching into  a busy life. Some have become the basis of larger works,  others not (or at least not yet). Since 2007 I've  joined in with the challenges set by the Contemporary Quilt  specialist group of the Quilters Guild of the British Isles  and seeing what others do with the same theme and the variety of sizes and formats  is so inspiring.

 Here's a few groupings from previous years.

2017

2016 

2015 

2014

2013 

2012

2010

2008 

CQ Journal Quilts September to December: Foundmarks and breaking rules

  I haven't been doing  much stitching   lately  and my  time on the train has mainly been spent on catching up with notes/ preparation  for EDAM classes.   I have however been continuing to explore the layers in sections of old quilt , carrying on from my 'indigoboro' journal quilts but this time working with the original colours rather than overdyeing. It's  difficult to know how far to go  cutting through the layers and adding stitch,  wanting to  enhance and preserve the ragged beauty of the original . In a very small voice, I must admit that I haven't trimmed them down to the  prescribed  7 x 9 inches  as I love the uneven ragged edges and will probably mount them to  show them off.   Also against all the rules , I took photos for posting  on CQ   group in full sunlight   but look how that raked light shows the peaks and hollows of the quilting.

It's slow  work ,so  running out of time ,  for November's JQ ( above)  I found a section of  old quilt  with a light layer of gesso on and added 'stitch' using   Pitt pen and for Decembers ( below) I found a section of machine  quilting tension sample  and added paint and pen marks. 

  Just shows you can find inspiration anywhere  and  I like the idea of recycling, reusing and  returning to the salvaging of offcuts I started in January.  I do like to get involved with the Journal Quilt projects - this was my 15th year ! Next year it's a return to A4 size thank goodness  but with an interesting challenge involving trying different techniques  I think I'll try and keep to one theme -  the year of  Indigo was  one of my most successful. 

Delicious Indigo Favourites

  Some of my favourites from recent indigo dyeing session.
 Above: sections  of  old quilts  remaining  from  being used in 'Eroding Margins' and 'Birchington Breakwaters' : pole wrapped and scrunched in net bag.

Eroding Margins 

Birchington Breakwaters ( detail) 

 A fairly ' new' acquisition which disintegrated  on washing : before ( above) and after ( below) dyeing. I love those  dark red original colours   revealed once the faded top layer is gone.  

  Below, another section  left longer in the vat - a step too far?

  French linen T towels:  'donut'  above, pole wrapped below ( I've got lots of variations of these!)

 Underwhelming ecodyeing improved with indigo!  ( 'donut' above, scrunched in net below)

Nasty bright yellow fabric tamed  with indigo ( before and after pole wrapping ) 

 The  'boro'  sections of old quilt I've been 'train stitching' on . Some of the layers of wool have not  dyed so well . Scrummy - these are the bits I'm going to work further into

Indigo Dyeing In Deal

Its been 4 years since I did any indigo dyeing   and  without an outside drain in the garden  at our new house , I wasn't sure when I'd get the opportunity to do it again.  So when Glenys from CQ  Kent group  offered to host  an indigo session at her house in Deal while her husband was  away  for a week, I invited myself to stay for a night so we could have 2 days playing  and invited  other group members to join us!  

 The previous  week Glenys picked up all the kit I had stored in our garage ,  I had some new pipes cut  for pole wrapping (which Ian  gamely carried home!)  and I hurriedly put together a requirements list and suggestions  for  what to make in advance including  presewn 'socks' .  

  Glenys met me at the station on the first day   and  we spent the morning setting up  the vats ( with some recalculations required as the markings on the measuring jug weren't easy to read   and I made up   my large blue vessel with too weak a solution!) .  Glenys's facilities  are excellent - a large garage with sinks with hot and cold water  and a large gravelled area  for setting up drying racks. 

After lunch,   Jan, Barbara and Stella arrived and were soon busy in the sun  preparing samples.   It all got rather exciting  as we put  items into  warm  water to soak and then  dunked them carefully in the vats ( poles in the large blue vessel, smaller items in the bucket.) It was lovely to introduce indigo novices to the magic of seeing fabrics turn from yellow to green to blue as they oxidised.  It's a quick process compared to procion dyeing  so we soon had rackfuls of beautiful  cloth to admire. 

With a break for afternoon tea and cake in the shade of a large tree ( it was very hot)  we continued  dyeing until about 5 when were  exhausted   and  J, B and S went   home with their treasures to rinse and wash. After covering over the vats with cling film  and  getting cleaned up ,  Glenys and I went   down to the shore to the  Royal Hotel  for  a well deserved dinner and glass of wine.  

 The next day  was  grey and  overcast ( a big contrast to the  strong sun the day before)  , even some light rain at times, so Glenys and I retreated to the garage.  After ' sharpening' the vats with more hydros ( and transferring  some of the contents of my tall blue vessel into  a bucket ) we spent most of the morning preparing items  for dyeing, including trying some different techniques  there hadn't been time for the day before ( 'donut's' and wrapping around ridged hosing) .  I concentrated on 'scrunching' bits of old quilt in net bags secured with  clips. We then had combined morning coffee and lunch  before the dipping began.   The dye was definately beginning to weaken towards the end of the afternoon - time to pack up

Parcels  waiting to oxidise. 

Glenys unwrapping 

Clearing  and  packing up took a while  and then Glenys took me and the kit home and as it was raining (!)  I set up my wet items on the  balcony airer in  my garage  ( no sinks here, it doesn't even have any light) which left nice marks on the concrete! The following day I  set up the airer in the garden to dry properly . 

On Monday the grand rinsing and  washing session began! We might not have an outside drain but we do have a tap  and I set up the 'painting easel  chairs'  with large trugs for rinsing , the water going on the garden afterwards. Rinsing in cold water is usually my least preferred  part of the process but it was surprisingly enjoyable given the  heat! 

I split my dyed fabric into 2 loads for rinsing and washing ( pole wrapped  and French tea towels above, old  quilts  below)

  I'll share my favourites  in another post   but I was generally very happy with the results and  thanks to Glenys  we had a very enjoyable  and productive session. 

Peter Sacks Migrations at Malborough Fine Art

Outpost 2 ( detail)

 I too had a surge of excitement when I read Olga's blogpost on the work of Peter Sacks. I managed to  fit in a visit to Malborough Fine Art last Wednesday ( press release here) and   was blown away by the work - both the overall scale and composition and the details  which you can only really appreciate seeing in the flesh. I spent a long time making notes and scribbles about techniques and combinations of materials in my sketchbook  some of which I've noted below.  When  I  came to buy the excellent catalogue ( which you can see online here) , I got it for free as they didn't have change and striking up a conversation with  one of the desk staff and enthusing over the use of old textiles, he asked for more details about my work and looked  up my website. He   instantly recognised the breakwaters which inspired my piece as being  between Reculver and Minnis Bay ! And Maggi Hambling was just leaving the gallery.  A fabulous inspiring morning  with a lot of food for thought and experiments with materials to try.   

Report from the besieged city I 

-Typewritten sentences and words on cotton - visual element as well as poetry 

-mainly white/cream with dark shapes ( trees? fire?) , bits of map 

-thin fabrics painted over texture of doilies and crochet 

- ghost textures 

Outpost 4
 

- Pleated fabrics, old hexagon patchwork 

-exposed painted corrugated cardboard

-hessian with numbers on, African strip cloth , contrast with patterned prints

-underlying canvas shows through

-matt medium over everything as glue and sealant?  

- marks in ink/paint covered over, bleeding through white overlayers 

Outpost 3 

- Layers and traces: thin muslins and laces over crochet doilies  and embroideries ( texture showing through) 

- bright cloths beneath, relation of patterns   change with overlays

- wrinkles and folds add further dimension 

Outpost 1

- folds of fabric (using both sides)

- 3d edges made using cuff with embroidery within , like a walled garden

- typed words: 'perfection such indeed laughter' 

- red marks along edge of lace ( fabric pressed onto it then removed to leave stain?) 

Quickening 7 (and detail)

- embroidered lines of wood with layers over 

-jeans pocket

-painting extended beyond lace 

-frottage , then fabric laid over hessian 

- sense of movement through patterns of fabric used 

Quickening 17

-Mainly lace ( machine , hand and crochet) with embroideries, limited palette 

-lace laid over African fabrics , pattern showing through layers. 

-lace laid over partially painted corregated cardboard

Township 13

- Smaller canvas placed over large one gives sense of space 

- layers peeled back to reveal what's underneath 

Township 12

- Very large scale prints  combined with parts of old patchwork log cabin quilt

- dense layering of lace over lace 

- linear elements of Kuba and strip cloths  contrast with bold patterns.

-  coarse weaves v, delicacy of fine laces 

False Bay 4 

- work on paper rather than canvas- different qualities , more delicate yet rawer
- torn strips of fabric, layered papers as well as fabrics
-twisted lace
-typed words on different fabrics ( edges of doilies, placemats)
-lines of words twisted, don't line up straight, placed in varying directions, changes meaning 

Visitation 1 - Noah ( detail ) 

This detail from a piece of work not in the exhibition but on  his website and the series ' Farewell to an idea' sum up some of the techniques  I'm going to try first with painted corrugated cardboard and layers of lace and textiles. I also want to explore the idea of text more, something I started to look at in collage course. Most of all I want to return to excavating the fabrics in my old 'boro' quilts.

The essay in the catalogue by poetry editor Paul Keegan   was thought provoking -  only a bit of 'artspeak' , striking a balance between  describing  the artists background and materials used and the meanings they convey.

"The songlines of fabric follow invisible as well as visible pathways. The sedimentary overlayering implies both losing and finding . What is inaccessible is preserved, the act of layering is a restitution"

"The printed voice is subject to transformation: lines become pattern, are stretched and slurred, they drift or drizzle, pulled downwards by the linen. Words fail us when we start to think of language as vertical , graphic rather than lexical. His use of corrugated cardboard, often overpainted with a thin wash, is a parody of print whose lines of text on closer inspection are blank. "

"Found fabrics, found figuration, found colours, found words, found expression . Here constructed out of elsewheres "