Festival of Quilts 2018: Indigo

 The quilts that fed my  soul at Festival of Quilts were those in the gallery  of Shizuko Kuroha  with their subtle , masterly use of  antique indigo-dyed  textiles. Deceptively  simple from a distance, they were breathtaking  in their detail

 In the  style of Japanese Boro,  I liked  the piece by Caroline  Ramsey  in the Fine Art Quilt Masters.  I heard  that several people  thought she might be my sister , or relative, with our shared  surname ( actually   mines the Scottish one , RamsAy) and love of old quilts! 

My purchases    included fabrics  from Jo Lovelock ( which Ian bought me ) various threads, some  new designs of indigo and kola   from the African Fabric shop. A while ago  I gave Magie  a piece of the Japanese indigo and persimmon  shibori I'd used in my 'Fleet Mudflats ' quilt  and she took it out to show Musa to see if  he could copy the   technique. Coincidentally ,  looking at local indigo designs in a museum , Magie found   the same pattern ' Chuti, Chuti' 

I bought some lovely  bits of tattered and darned antique  indigo and hemp  from Sallie Ead to combine with my indigo dyed tea towels

  The afternoon before we  headed up to FoQ , Sue helped me wind 8  cards of thread from a large hank of silk dyed several years ago .  It got very tangled at times , definitely a 2 person job. 

And  Robbie  took delivery of my  indigo thread 'nest' and patiently unravelled it!  It was very neatly done as you  might imagine when you see   her  exquisite  work

Roberta Le Poidevin  Little House #3 

Musa's Clinic Online Quilt Sale 02 Dec

I've donated  two 25cm ( 10 inch) square quilts , backed with  4mm felt and a hanging loop to the African Fabric Shop online quilt sale in support of the Sukuta Health Centre in The Gambia.

They both incorporate  Musa's Kola and Indigo fabrics which I've used in  many of my quilts from Tunisian Door to Fleet Mudflats ( I was  one of their first online customers , ordering fabric on Boxing day 1999! )  As with the conservation projects I've been involved with at Kew, a relatively small amount of money can make a big difference.

UPDATE. I'm pleased to say that these sold within  hours of the online sale opening  and will be heading off to buyers in UK and Qatar  soon. Thank You!