Journal Quilt Update

 I  like my Journal Quilts to reference  what I've been up to : classes I've taken or places I've been.
So June's  JQ  above is  based around techniques  learnt  on CQ Summer School with a combination of photos printed on silk ( lighter colour)  and on black t shirt transfer paper ( more intense colour)

July's JQ  is based on 'Reading a Paint Surface' course at City lit , with  photos of final piece printed on cotton.  I've got several of these fabric studies  on the design wall , mulling over ideas.

A journal quilt of sorts ( it's 12  x 12 inches), this is my contribution to the SAQA Benefit Auction. All are now listed on the site, such a variety, and I'm currently thinking about choosing 6  for my ' dream collection' . It's very gratifying to see my piece  included in a couple already!

 Ian is on the mend and I've set up my sewing machines and  fabric is strewn around my studio composing  a quilt on the theme 'green ' for International Threads. About time too! Looking forward to FoQ next week!!!

Latest Stitching

Last week I was on retreat with 10 fellow CQ members at Rydal Hall in Cumbria. Excellent company as always ,  and as usual I did some  walking, sketching and hand stitching. Among the projects I had taken along with me was a  12 inch square I'd put together for SAQA Benefit Auction  using leftover from my 'Fleet Mudflats' quilt. Only 3 years late....  This one was sold  for quite a bit of money so hoping this indigo piece will  do well too 

And while I was in 'stitch everything to death'  mode, I finished my February Journal quilt also based on  Chesil Beach and the Fleet lagoon at Ferrybridge . I like putting together collaged compositions as reminders of places I've been - I'm now  stitching into a moody Rydal inspired piece.

Korea: East and West - SDA Journal

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Surface Design Association (SDA)  about renewing my subscription ( I've been a member since 2006).  With regret, I've  come to the decision that  at $75  + $20 postage I no longer afford  it .I'm not making best use of my membership,  and although I've dabbled with other textiles (like the infamous 'Taplow Vase'), art quilts are my primary  interest and membership of SAQA  ( along with CQ) best serves this need.

My main reason for joining was hoping that some day I could attend a conference and learn Pojagi techniques with Chunghie Lee . So it seems fitting that the last issue of their excellent journal I receive has Korean textiles as it's theme and it's an absolute cracker with many innovative works, particularly  the  3D structures such as 'cloudscape' below and the work of  Do Ho Suh 

 Cloudscape -Sojie Feliciano Solomon  

As I've said before, I've long appreciated Pojagi techniques, making this door curtain with machine stitched seams many years ago ( unfortunately it was 'site specific' ,there's no place suitable for it in our current house ) . I really enjoyed the Masterclass  with Chunghie Lee I  participated in at FoQ in 2009 but  although I'm still intrigued by layers of organza (such as recent 'Dislocation' piece) I haven't taken  Pojagi  techniques  further   (unlike Molly Bullick who also attended that class and has used them to fantastic effect).
I'm coming to the conclusion that  this may be because they belong to another culture  and I'm more concerned with exploring techniques and marks personal to me ( not just because  my stitching is getting larger and larger, which wouldn't meet  with approval!) I do however have plans for some of the semi translucent Japanese fabrics I bought with Pojagi in mind following interesting discussions with Ruth Axson at Rydal Hall retreat.

Tree Rings

I've been thinking for a while how I could express the inspiration and ideas generated from  experiencing the work of David Nash. I've also been considering how I could interpret the theme 'Metaphors for Ageing' for entering SAQA exhibition. The two have come together  in tree rings and I've been working on a sample over the last few days stitching densely with machine into some hand dyed African batik. It's quite thick fabric and it has quite a sculptural form  which I love but might not please the quilt police! I found this wonderful acacia wood plate in the Kew shop yesterday when buying a calendar. It was so hard to choose!

The David Nash sculptures currently in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery have wonderful fissures and cracks. I'm working out how best to interpret these in  textile- as cuts or dense stitching to give the illusion of cracks?

SAQA Benefit Auction and other news

The SAQA Benefit auction of my 12 inch quilt 'Indigo Waves' is  now open for bidding ( page 2b).  Just sold for $350!!!
 Another indigo piece 'Rules the Waves' is  featured on the Contemporary Quilt Website  - it was in the Guild challenge ('What Britain means to you' ) at the FoQ.
The TVCT exhibition 'Whatever Floats Your Boat' which includes my 'Taplow Vase' currently has another outing at the National Needlework Archive.

On Monday I gave a talk (Powerpoint and lots of quilts) at  Dulwich Quilters meeting (thanks Khurshid for inviting me). I had a lovely time, they were so hospitable and asked so many interesting questions.  I hope to get to their exhibition in November. Many of them said their favourite quilt was 'City Girls Dream of the Sea' - it's  mine too and lives on our landing.  Most people won't be aware of it as it was completed in 2000. It won 3rd place  at Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate   and make it on the cover of Popular Patchwork but  hasn't been on show since.  I've made so many seascape quilts now, it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to put them all on display somewhere, including the older pieces like this one.

I've just booked for the Quilters Guild of the British isles 2013 AGM and Conference at the University of Nottingham. My first AGM was in Paignton in 1987 and for quite a while I went every year as it was the only large quilt gathering going on and a great way of making new friends and meeting up with old ones. It then turned into every other year and then more infrequently as there were more and more quilt events which seemed more relevant to me and competed for my limited time and funds.

While I enjoy the lectures and activities at the AGM conference, it is having top quality workshops which is what now attracts me (or not).
My last AGM was in 2008 in Cambridge when the draw was an excellent workshop with Charlotte Yde - I continue to use the curved piecing methods she taught.
So I'm very much looking forward to coming to Nottingham for a workshop with Uta Lenk. There's been a lot of grumbling about the price of the weekend  but compared to the costs of workshops at say FoQ it is excellent value and I get all the benefits of the conference too! ( apart from anything else Nottingham  is where I spent 3 years doing research for a PhD)

Meanwhile, the bathroom is getting there- a few setbacks but the tiling is mostly done and towel rail installed. We're getting a little tired of  going downstairs to the loo and the bath is at an increasingly jaunty angle  but it will be worth it!

Making Waves

 I'm thrilled to say that my quilt 'Weymouth Waves' -detail above, has been selected for SAQA Wide Horizons III which will premiere at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork in St Marie Aux Mines in Alsace. Sadly I won't be able to get to the show, although I hope to one day.
Although constructed from indigo fabrics and stitch, this piece was very much influenced by the observation and experimentation  last year on  my painting course at Slapton, Devon  (results below).I'm  returning there  this week with high expectations, not least the delicious food!

SAQA Auction Dream Collections

I was thrilled to find that my  donation to the SAQA Auction 'Indigo Waves' featuring in not 1 but 2 'Dream Collections' curated by different SAQA members! I'm particularly chuffed to be have been selected by Wen Redmond under the theme 'Painterly' - I admire her atmospheric works hugely.
Started me thinking what my own dream collection would be  - the piece I most covet is that by Deidre Adams and I see I'm not alone.

The online SAQA 2012 Benefit Auction will begin on Monday, September 10th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time and conclude on Sunday, September 30 at 2:00 PM Eastern. My piece is in Section 2 September 17 to 22 - hope it sells!

Passing on Liebster Blog Award

Sandra van Velzen ' Rowing in the Morning'

It's not just the series of boats that she's been working on that draws me to  the work of Sandra van Velzen although I love the way she works with photographs, paints , hand dyed fabric and  dense stitching to create atmospheric pieces based on landscapes and  ideas that are important to her.

We met at a SAQA  event at the Festival of Quilts and have maintained the connection, making comments on each others blogs. So it seems appropriate to  pass on the 'Liebster Blog award' I received  from  Uta Lenk  to Sandra, who like Uta, also writes her  blog in 2 languages; in Sandra's case Dutch and English. Apart from  opening a window on art quilts in the Netherlands,  the main reason I  read Sandra's  blog  is for her vivid descriptions of the process of making art: showing work at different stages; asking questions; sharing  her  doubts and celebrating  the successes along the way.