Autumn 2002 Newsletter

This year saw the fourth staging of a quilt exhibition in conjunction with The Knitting and Stitching Shows at Alexandra Palace in London, RDS in Dublin and the International Halls in Harrogate. In 1999, Andrew Salmon (the organiser) wanted to provide a platform for artists working within the medium of quilting to give them the opportunity of showing their work to a general audience. That first year the show was not juried, but consisted of a selection of pieces by invited quilters who were well known in the quilting world. The following years were juried and had the bonus of a prize for the winning quilt. This year is the last time that Quilt will appear within The Knitting and Stitching Show. Instead, they are planning to introduce the exhibition into a new annual event at The National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham to be called "The Festival of Quilts." My personal feeling is that there will no longer be a reason for quilters to go to The Knitting and Stitching Shows in the Autumn, and that there will be greatly reduced attendance for The Festival of Quilts because they are holding it in August when most people are still away on holiday ( 21st to 24th August 2003). But, perhaps I'm wrong and this will become a significant and not-to-be-missed event that will require quilters to change their holiday plans! We shall see.

However, this article is meant to be a review of Quilt 2002. The venue was very good, well lit and with lots of space around each quilt--perhaps too much? It might have been nice to have seen one or two more quilts rather than blank white walls.

The quality of the work was very high in most cases, although the size of many of the pieces was disappointingly small. The Chairman of the Judging Panel, Annette Morgan, said in the catalogue: ".....we present a selection of Quilts which we feel encompasses the spectrum of contemporary quilt makers during this year of 2002. These quilts display both the innovative and traditional styles of work used by their makers, and assures us that the art and craft of quilt making is very much alive both in Great Britain and abroad." Interestingly, Annette said that the judges did not select quilts that were made in a workshop situation or employed another maker's technique, which is the first time I've heard this being raised as part of a judge's brief. What do you all think of this? Perhaps we could have some letters for the next Newsletter on the subject of reasons for excluding quilts from shows.

Quilt 2002 had a very geometric feel, with many works done in traditional patchwork, but with a twist--either in use of colour or fabric or by the addition of embellishments. Colours on the whole were bright with a predominance of warm, fiery tones. London Quilters were well represented with works by Marlene Cohen, Sandra Grusd and Christine Restall, and judging by Janice Gunner. Marlene's "T's in the Sunset" has a painterly quality with strong geometric shapes softened by the use of circular appliqués. Sandra's "Windows 1" is complex yet intricately balanced patchwork. Christine's "Where are They?" is a quiet, tranquil piece, which draws the viewer into its depths, providing a surprise each time you examine it.

"Phalaenopsis Follett" by Maggie Barber of London was inspired by the artist's love of orchids. Textural, tactile and shining with reflected light and colour, it was truly lovely. I also liked Barbara Weeks' "Verulamium Walls" (picture is upside-down in the catalogue), which has a mosaic quality in beautiful colours.

I have to express reservations about the winning quilt, "Through the birches" made by Texan Connie Scheele. I'm sure the judges had a purpose in choosing it, but I can't fathom what it was. The piece was the least appealing in the entire show. However, that is what is fun about going to quilt shows--if everyone agreed about everything, there would never be any suspense or excitement about the outcome. On the whole, I'd say Mr. Salmon has created a very successful and prestigious show--I only hope that by moving its location and timing, it won't lose its appeal.

MYSTERY MAKER QUILT SALE

The Quilters' Guild staged a remarkable sale of small quilts made by a variety of members at the Knitting & Stitching Show. Each quilt cost £50 and you didn't know whose work you were buying until after the purchase was completed. It was very exciting as quilters jostled each other for space just before the doors were opened. There was a mad stampede as quilters scanned the pieces on offer and raced back to buy the one they had chosen. Over 80 red dots were put on quilts on the first day, with an additional number being sold over the next few days. 112 had been hung in all, so it was an excellent fund-raiser for the Guild. Another 80 quilts will be exhibited in Harrogate. There was a wonderful response from the public who gained new insight into the world of quilting. Seeing so many styles and fabrics as well as the small finished size inspired many new quilters.

The rain is pouring down outside, the wind howling, all the leaves (and apples) fell off the trees at once in the storms (much to the joy of the thrushes), and the garden looks totally forlorn. Yet - it was a lovely summer, and I hope you had a good one too. We took a wonderful journey through Scotland to Orkney amid glorious weather. Never have I seen seas so sapphire blue in all the sea voyages I've done over the years. Then we went off to southern Alabama, our friends there as welcoming as ever. I am trying to get going on an Alabama quilt - the red clay colours there are quite remarkable.

It's almost the end of my time as Chair of this group. I have enjoyed it. And what have I noticed? First, that people have been very supportive of our efforts. Second, that members have made many very beautiful quilts glimpsed at Show and Tell (and we should really make more time to look at these if we can). Also, that perhaps the notional lines between the traditional quilters and the art quilters are blurring - or is the whole idea just a fancy of mine? I do think that we are all somewhere on a continuum from beginners (hexagons still?), to more skilled pattern-makers, to inventors of our own designs, to confident users of colour, and finally to breaking out of conventional design.

In this context, it is interesting to see the first publicity for the new four-day Festival of Quilts, at NEC Birmingham next August, planned by Andrew Salmon, the Guild, and the EQA. The 'open category' descriptions they have chosen for all the entries they presumably hope to get from us, are: innovative (small/large); traditional (small/large); contemporary (small/large); mixed technique - traditional; mixed technique - contemporary; pictorial; (and then there are obvious categories like groups, miniatures etc). I found it quite hard, even with extra definitions I haven't space to quote, to work out what categories my own work would fit into! No doubt it will all become clear, but they want us to register early, and it costs £5 per category to register - though you can change categories later. Have you got all that straight?? Please pass the aspirin. I phoned Andrew Salmon to check whether my understanding was right, and he spent a lot of time and effort on explaining it all to me, good for him! Let us hope that people don't give up on the registration process.

However, the attempt to raise the public profile and artistic acceptance of quilt making is entirely laudable. I shall definitely support the exhibition somehow. Watch out for news!

Project Linus was named after the little boy from the Peanuts comic strip who carried his security blanket everywhere. The late Charles Schultz, its creator, was pleased to have Linus inspire blanket makers to help sick and traumatised children.

Inspired by this project, 24 quilters have been meeting since January to sew quilts, ranging in size from 20 x 20"/51 x 51cm (for premature babies) to 40 x 40"/101 x 101cm (for bigger children). The fabrics used were all donated by the "Mavis Quilters," some of whom are members of the two local groups - Rainbow Quilters and Red House Quilters - and some were Mavis Haslam's patchwork students.

The culmination of their efforts was a Garden Party held on Saturday, 27th July at Mavis's house in Veroan Road, Bexley Heath, where 141 quilts were displayed around the studio and garden - a veritable feast of colour which will now go to the Kent co-ordinator in Sittingbourne to be distributed to hospices, children's wards or those seriously ill at home. Every quilt will be given to a child and will be theirs to keep. The group's efforts were supported by Christine Restall and Margaret Scholey-Hill who also came and made quilts.

Here's a website every quilter should know about: www.missingfabrics.com

If you've run out of a favourite fabric, you can either send a scan with as much info as possible, or you can send a swatch, which they will scan. I believe an ad costs $1US. If you haven't got a scan or swatch, you can still get results by describing the fabric as thoroughly as possible--manufacturer, if known, colour name and/or number, description, etc. Sometimes quilters will place a coin on the fabric to give a sense of the scale of a print. You must also provide an e-mail address, because that is how folks will contact you. You and the seller negotiate a suitable price, which can include postage. Responses often come within hours of an ad being posted. The site is updated every Wednesday and Sunday. Click on Gallery of Missing Fabrics to see what folks are looking for in the way of fabric, and on In Need Of for queries about books and patterns. This is truly a wonderful site and a great service to quilters, and I am always amazed when I read Success Stories Found--some of these requests involve fabric several years old, but somebody out there in cyberspace always seems to have it. I have sold fabrics on this site, and have never gotten a bad cheque.

QUILTERS' GUILD NEWS

As promised I am sending out a bulletin to coincide with major website updates and events.

We have been finalising plans for the "Members Only" day on Saturday January 25th. There will be a Sashiko lecture and workshop led by Susan Briscoe. The traders will include Euro Japan links and the cost will be £7.50 (provisional).

One of our speakers at the Spring Regional day in March will be Bonnie McCaffrey from the USA. She has a website which I have linked to our site. The URL is http://home.ptd.net/~bmccaffe/ There are some excellent examples of her work on show.

The Amish 9 patch AGM 2003 quilt is available for group evenings and events. Please contact us if you are able to display it and help sell tickets.

The next issue of Our Patch will be out in November. If you have any events or articles please send them to Christine Restall (e-mail restallc@aol.com) with a copy to me if you wish them also to be included on the website.

If you have any suggestions for future speakers or events we would love to hear from you.

Cathy Corbishley Michel

Members Representative (Website)

www.qgr1.freeserve.co.uk <http://www.qgr1.freeserve.co.uk>

qgr1@yahoo.com or cathy@qgr1.freeserve.co.uk

Please let me know if you have any comments about the Bulletin or website, or if you know of any links or events etc. that we could put on our pages.

News From a Reluctant Quilter

Don't get me wrong, I love making quilts! However, whilst I can spend weeks happily designing, cutting and piecing, I have a big problem about the rest of the process. Since I bought my new Bernina, I have started to enjoy quilting, at least on small items like cot quilts and wall hangings which I don't have to struggle with. However, anything bigger and it tends to sit there like a textile albatross, making me feel guilty about not finishing it. I have countless big projects sitting on the shelf waiting to be quilted, and it's not just the quilting I don't like, I really hate basting. I get sore fingers from the pins and my back aches leaning over the thing. The bigger it is the more I dislike it.

So it was with great interest that I saw an advert for a new type of fusible batting from Hobbs Heirloom. According to the packet all you do is layer the backing, batting and top, iron it and hey presto all done and ready to quilt. It all sounded so simple. This was the solution. I have a large quilt, more than 80" square which I really wanted to finish and maybe if it was basted I could at least think about quilting it.

I ordered a queen size from Cotton Patch and it costs only 70p more than the normal one. The first hurdle was getting it out of the packet and unfolded. I don't know whether it had been in the packet for too long but it was stuck to the plastic and then every layer was stuck to itself. Not a disaster though, as with a little bit of care and about 15 minutes, during which my other half wandered in to see what the ripping noise was, I managed to persuade the batting to turn from a lump into a sheet. So far so good.

Then the perennial problem of where to do the deed. The only table in our tiny flat which is remotely large enough to baste anything on is the dining table which is rather nice wood, maybe not in the prime of life but certainly not yet ready to be scorched in the name of quilting. So I rummaged in the airing cupboard and found an old blanket which I could put under the quilt sandwich. This is where the fun started. Firstly the blanket was creased and the table too thick to be able to stretch the blanket with bulldog clips. So I thought I'd smooth it down once the backing was on top of it. This I duly did. Then I added the batting and top. The instructions said iron on cotton setting without steam. I started in the middle of the quilt and worked outwards and I have to say it seemed to go very well giving a nice smooth surface which looked flat. The problem occurred when I tried to move the quilt to get the rest of it on the table. Because of the blanket, once half the quilt was hanging over the edge, the force of gravity just dragged the rest of it onto the floor. After fighting it back onto the table now stabilised by piles of books at each corner I discovered that at least the bit I had already done seemed to be keeping its nice shape. I finished the other half of the quilt thinking that it was a job well done and all in about 45 minutes.

I spoke too soon. When I turned the quilt over, I discovered that not only had the backing got creased by the folds on the blanket but during its trip floorwards it had got completely crumpled. This was when I remembered the other bit of the instructions which said you can always reposition the fabric. I peeled all the backing off (frankly it wasn't as well stuck down as the front anyway) and started again. This time I did without the blanket as I didn't want to spoil the front. I repositioned the backing and started from the middle again. Without the blanket sliding about this went very well and by checking the heat on the table top I realised that if I didn't leave the iron in one place the heat was not much more than you'd get from a warm dish. 20 minutes later I'd finished. The moment of truth was when I turned it back to the right side and saw that the front was smooth and the table was fine!

Would I do this again? Yes but I'd probably start by putting on the backing and finish with the front. All in all even with having to redo the back it took me less than 2 hours and apart from feeling a bit warm from all the ironing it was not too hard work. The quilt sandwich feels firm, if a bit stiff and according to the instructions, the stiffness will wash out when it's finished. I'm now going to start quilting. I'll keep you posted.

By Hannelore Braunsberg

The second meeting of a new group of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles took place on 31 August /1st September at Dean Clough, Halifax. The formation of such a group within the Guild is welcome and promises encouragement to experiment and innovate. The new co-ordinator is Effi Galletly from Bath. It was decided that there should be three meetings each year, 1-2 days each, including workshops over weekends. The next meeting will be on Thursday 21st November in Bristol. There will be a slot (Forum) for the group at the Birmingham NEC event in 2003. A newsletter featuring articles, exhibitions and competitions will be circulated to members of the group; the editor is Judy Stephens.

On the morning of the first day we assembled in the Crossley Gallery to view the Guild's 8th National Exhibition "Transforming Tradition." The gallery provides an excellent, spacious and well-lit area and the work on show was superb. The range and quality of designs and the workmanship demonstrated the best of the art and craft of quilt making. It was an exhibition not to be missed.

Two lecture/demonstrations by art-trained quilters were arranged for the following day. Janet Twinn talked about her work, her inspiration, and the techniques and materials she uses. She then gave us an excellent demonstration of painting on fabric. In the afternoon Sondra Meech told us about herself and her methods of transferring photos to fabric, followed by a demonstration of one of several techniques of doing this. We came away much inspired and enlightened.