Have you collected your entry form for the London Quilters Millennium Challenge? Remember, the theme is:

and it will be both a quilt and a slide show.

Let the Chair know as soon as possible whether you will be participating, and return the form once you are able to complete it. Entries should be ready for the May meeting.

Two day workshop, on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May, at Claremont Road Community Centre, NW2 (near Cricklewood Thameslink station). Cost around £ 60 for two days.

IRENE MACWILLIAM - Machine Appliqué

Tuesday 17th October, at The Roundwood Club, Longstone Avenue, NW10. Cost around £ 30.

SUE WADEMAN - Collage for Art Quilts

Two-day workshop, Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th September, at The Roundwood Club, address as above. Cost around £ 60 for two days.

The Roundwood Club is a new venue, with easy parking, and flat access to the ground floor where the class will be. Map will be provided.

Open to members and non-members. Cost £ 8, or £ 5 if you are attending the workshop as well. Tickets will be sent out in April.

We are well into year 2000 now and I am just about remembering to put 00 on my letters and cheques instead of 99. The feared millennium bug only seemed to strike in the form of flu and if you had it, like me, I hope you are now well over it.

There is so much for us quilters to do these days û so much choice in the form of lectures, conferences and workshops. Just looking at our journals I see that we can comfortably manage to visit Strasbourg, Scotland, New York State, Paducah, Australia, New Zealand and Germany without repeating classes or shows. It will be difficult though to go to both the Guild AGM and Expo as they unfortunately occur over the same weekend in April.

There are now events happening for us all over the world û we just need the time and the money. Also if we are busy rushing on to this course and that exhibition, we are at risk of leaving ourselves without any time to quilt and to practice all those new and exciting things we have learned. However the experience is usually rewarding on many levels.

Generally the teachers are very good and we are most fortunate that the great quiltmakers of today are accessible to us. They are willing to share their techniques and methods and help us acquire competence and skills. We really do have master classes within our reach. Sometimes when we do not enjoy programmes or gain as much from them as we had hoped, it is our own fault. We may have chosen a course that is too advanced or equally, not advanced enough. Sometimes we may find that we just do not like the techniques or designs and certainly there is no need to do anything we do not fully enjoy.

A major shortcoming on many courses is often the facilities. How many times have you found yourself on your hands and knees, cutting out fabric on the floor or trying to master the art of appliqué with minimal light? Sometimes there is simply no place to put your coat, which may be fine in July but not in November. Hopefully if we all complain when things are poor in these areas and offer praise when they are good û we shall experience comfortable environments most of the time.

I certainly seem to come out of most classes feeling enriched and enabled. I can tackle techniques that I did not know to be possible just a short time ago and others that I never thought I could ever manage. I gain ideas and learn not just from the instructors but also from the other participants. The different interpretations always amaze me and why is it that however long I spend carefully selecting my fabrics, everyone else has made a far better and more interesting choice than me!

Overall the experiences stimulate me but one of the best things for me, since starting to be involved in quilting, is the people I have met and the new friends I have made. It certainly did not occur to me that this would be happening to me still at this stage of my life.

I really enjoyed my experiences at Quilting by the Sound at Port Townsend, Washington, USA, and would recommend it highly. The faculty is excellent, the work facilities mainly very good with some classrooms being superior to others and just about all the windows offer a view of the Sound or the Pacific Ocean. The very best thing about the classes for me was that they were four or five day courses and we really worked through a process.

If you are interested in attending do speak to Alicia or me so we can tell you more. On the downside, the food was indifferent but there was plenty of it and we were very pleased that we had elected for the more expensive option of rooms in Victorian Officers' housing rather than in the dorms. Also, we spent a great deal more money that we had intended but most of that was because we were very weak at refusing to buy beautiful hand dyed fabrics. (So beautiful, I do not know how I could ever live without them). In fact we had a wonderful time and I would love to go again.

If you live or work in the London Borough of Barnet do make sure you join us on our Retreat day on 11 March. We shall be making a group quilt for Barnet and it should be fun. Do speak to Kate for further details.

Quilters who live or work in the London Borough of Barnet are especially invited to join us in making a "Quilt for Barnet". It will be very simple û just bring some 5", 6" or 7" strips in yellow and black fabrics. The fabrics can be plain, geometric, hand dyes etc. and we welcome interesting textures such as silk, velvet, corduroy or wool. No flower prints or polyesters please. You will receive some reimbursement for the fabrics used as we have received a small grant for this project. Also bring your sewing machine, cutting boards and thread etc.

The day is of course still open to other members û so please let Kate know if you will be attending.

I first heard of the Amish people at a lecture given by Jan Jefferson some years ago and was intrigued both by their lifestyle and their quilts. At that time I was still fairly new to patchwork and very much into pretty floral fabrics.

In 1996 I joined Jan and a group of ladies on a trip to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania and this holiday greatly influenced my subsequent quilt-making. In October 1999 I again booked to go with Jan and this holiday included some visits to historical sites - Gettysburg, the State Museum, the Capitol Building and a day in Philadelphia and I found these insights into American history most interesting. However it is the Amish community in which I became really absorbed and learnt so much about during my visit.

Their dress is very simple. Women wear longish dresses mainly in black, blue, or green, in a simple style with no buttons or trimmings added. Pins are placed in a line to fasten the dress front. An apron is worn over the dress - black if married and white if single. A small cap or bonnet covers a somewhat severe hairstyle, the hair being centrally parted and drawn into a bun.

The men have black or dark blue suits. Again no buttons are used but hook and eye fastenings. The jackets have no lapels or outside pockets and shirts are any plain colour but predominantly blue and often home-made. A black felt or straw hat completes the wardrobe. Children are usually dressed in a smaller version of the adult clothes. We were very privileged to be invited (all 30 of us) to dinner at an Amish family home - the Fishers, who were personal friends of Jan's. There was the mother Emma (the main cook) and her daughters and daughters-in-law were helping. Little children were everywhere - they were delightful and regarded us with obvious interest. We were the "English", a term used for all non-Amish people.

The typical Amish meal was served in the kitchen and we began with fresh fruit salad, pickled baby peppers, melon and savoury macaroni. This was followed by a main course of chicken, turkey, ham, potatoes, and a variety of fresh vegetables. Who could resist the pumpkin pies, shoofly pies and home-made vanilla ice-cream plus mugs of coffee.

We began our meal at 5 p.m. and at 6.30 the men could be seen returning from the fields with Clydesdale horses and mules. We said our goodbyes and left them to have their dinner in peace.

Another highlight was when we attended an Amish quilt auction. We previewed the evening before and five or us who had made small quilts as a donation handed them in. I had marked my catalogue at the preview as I only wanted traditional Amish quilts - not large ones. There were about 500 items to be sold. Most of the quilts were appliquéd country style with flowers, birds, etc. in floral prints. Very pretty and greatly admired and desired by the tourists but not for me!

The workmanship and quilting were superb and many quilt tops - to be quilted by the purchaser - were sold at £ 50 to £ 60. The fabric alone would have cost more in the UK. I found it difficult at first to follow the non-stop quick-fire patter of the four auctioneers but after a short while I could follow and courageously raised my card number when those quilts I wanted were displayed. I was delighted with my purchases. My own donated quilt was bought by a local lady who was expecting her first baby. We had our photo taken together with the quilt - I'm glad to know it has gone to a happy home.

The quilts I bought give me constant delight and the many yards of fabric (totally Amish colours) will give me pleasure for years to come as I use them in my own designs.

Our biennial exhibition was held earlier than usual (September, not November) in order to be associated with a new Wanganui Festival of "Blooming Artz." This was a celebration of local gardens, floral arts, artists, potters, horticulturalists, seminars from visiting lecturers etc. There were over 40 local gardens open to the visiting public. The weekend's weather was superb and people came from all around the lower half of the North Island to see the festival's attractions.

Participation in this festival seemed to be a very good move and we had over 700 visitors to the show. We had put a small display at the main venue with directions to our show and we also had small quilts and hangings in many of the shops downtown. Many who came to see our exhibition were dedicated quilters of course and we had several busloads of "nearby" û and "not so nearby" û quilt-club members arrive during the three day show. But we also attracted many who had come for the gardens and added us to their day's viewing. It was great to eavesdrop on the surprise of these visitors who all seemed to remember "granny's hexagon patches" but who were amazed at the wide variety of things on display. Of course we took advantage to try enthusing some of these visitors towards quilting and we observed many coming back for a longer second look once they had seen all the gardens they could take. Very satisfying.

Our venue is the local "gentlemen's" club which has three large areas with wood panelled walls and a big staircase in the entry lobby - a lovely atmosphere for a quilt show. The exhibition is non-juried, open to all Cotton-On club members and our exhibition committee did a wonderful job of displaying the 150 or so articles they received. They had chosen a theme of "Four Seasons" but until the items were handed in, it was a testing time for them as to whether it would be achievable, but it worked magnificently and there were many favourable comments on both the exhibits and the settings.

We had a wonderful display mounted on the staircase by the guest exhibitors - the Fabridollics Club - with so many amusing and exotic fabric dolls that it took some time for most visitors to move on to the rest of the show. There were 4 merchant's stalls and a "try it" table with pre-cut squares, a sewing machine and a club member to encourage any interested visitor to a "hands-on" experience at making half square triangles from two squares. Interestingly enough, it was easier to get the children behind the sewing machine than the grown-ups, and several girls went away with a small sample they had made. The 93 year old lady didn't have her right glasses but was really keen !! The amazing thing of any exhibition is that it takes so long to set up and so little time to break it down.

At the show we had samples of a simple Christmas tree block which we were offering as a beginner's class. We had 27 sign up and 24 came to the whole-day class. We provided 2 packs of pre-cut material which enabled people to make a Christmas tree block and a nine patch block of Christmas materials. But all of them were so keen they purchased more material from us and completed 2 trees and 2 nine-patches by the end of the day, some even got onto their borders. While we showed how to complete them into a small hanging, most wanted a further half day so they could have more instruction while they sewed û this we did last weekend - and everyone who was able to come again, went home with their hanging bordered, basically machine quilted, and bound. Of course we had the motive of gaining new club members with this but it is so enjoyable spreading the word and skills of our consuming passion. Mind you - the four of us tutoring went home shattered after the first session.

You might like to use the this pattern somewhere sometime. We are all making use of the wonderful picture fabrics around and are making this style of quilt for (grand)children and others. The first style uses small strips of fabrics, great for small remnants, and makes a "busy" quilt for hours of enjoyment. I found this type too busy, as my grandson is only 20 months, so I modified the design to use bigger squares for easier recognition and I added a plain bright coloured square and separator strips to add a colour recognition feature, and then assembled it with sashing in dark denim blue to set the blocks off more clearly. A great way to use some of your stashed fabrics, your friends' stashes etc. (See pattern on back page).

Clare Rose, a textile historian, gave a very challenging lecture on 18th century quilting in London and elsewhere. She had been researching this for 15 years and if there weren't many papers and books on the subject it was because of the difficulties of having to use indirect evidence in a variety of locations. The sources of some of the quilted objects were known and from these a picture of the social context was emerging.

Dating quilts was very difficult; garments were easier to date using quilting and garment patterns. The Museum of London has informal jackets and undress waist jackets with similar quilting patterns and motifs so that the possibility of workshops is indicated. Some garments found in the colonies had the same patterns. On the continent babies were swaddled for the early months but in Britain and the British colonies babies had layettes. Clare had identified a conch shell motif specific to these layettes, as opposed to women's garments.

Another source of information was in contemporary paintings; for example the Tate has a portrait of the Sharp family.

From the 1760's London manufacturers printed shop cards advertising their goods and services; a few of these relate to haberdasheries, textiles and services. There appeared to be workshops making goods for the provinces and indeed there are written references about travelling to London in order to examine layettes or for ordering these items to be sent. The two main collections of these cards are the print room in the British Museum and the Guildhall Library. Clare had laboriously searched these collections, some on microfiche and found 68 shops selling quilts, pincushions and chimney lines (these can be seen on prints of home interiors). Patterns for Marseilles quilting were prized; some shops had wholesale goods only and seemed to have agents for the provinces.

By 1740 quilting patterns were being imitated by textile makers and by 1760, quilting on the loom (woven coverlets) was well established in Britain, although the French encouraged hand quilting still.

There appears to be little evidence of this flourishing industry, although when the London Quilters contingent discussed this afterwards it seems that we are in a good position to investigate sources such as The Foundling Hospital, or Coram Foundation and the Fawsett Society library. These could well have rich documentary evidence of where all this handwork was taking place.

The second lecture was by Sue Marks who is researching for a PhD at Newcastle University. Her illustrated paper, which stemmed from her research, was selected from all that had been submitted. Sue reviewed the influence of the Rural Industries Board and the Women's Institute on maintaining traditional cultures and teaching quilting skills for the revival of quilt making during this century. The formation of the Quilters Guild and the Quilt Art Group had been landmark events in the feminist challenge of the Fine Arts world. The Northern Quilters exhibitions at Shipley and the more recent travelling exhibitions of the Quilt Art Group were also significant achievements in bringing the art of the quilt into the public domain. This excellent summary led into a plea for more serious consideration of classifying quilts in relation to the intended use of the quilt (wall hanging or bed quilt) and the language used to assess and describe the various categories of quilting. This may sound too theoretical but there are many quilters who would enjoy discussing these issues and it would provide interesting reading for the rest of us.

In the lunch break there was the museum's collection to examine. The Earl of Gloucester had given a layette which was laid out for us to inspect.

There were a lot of donated quilts including one with fabric printed over with adverts from a paper printing firm and also a religious banner with heart rending texts from the chapel days when the Midlands had very hard times.

The afternoon was devoted to a Quilt Study Forum, encouraging members to start a research project and giving us important guidelines on facilitating the initial stages of the research process. Dorothy Osler, the well-known quilt art historian talked about the American Quilt Study Group based at the University of Nebraska, which is also mounting a highly recommended research degree by distance learning. Michael James will be one of the lecturers on an occasional basis! Dorothy explained that she has had very positive encouragement from this group and more details can be obtained from the Website http//catsis.weber.edu/aqsg or email AQSG@juno.com

The bi-annual newsletter is full of information about events of interest and the papers presented at the Annual Study Days are published, free to members. The annual subscription is £7.50 payable on May 1st and is good value if you are interested in studying quilts, quiltmakers and textiles.

The Third Annual Quilt Study Day will be held on Saturday 21st October 2000, at Winchester College of Art and Design.

Note: The BQSG Newsletter 'CULCITA' is available from Celia Eddy for £3.00. The first edition has an article by Marlene Cohen - Textiles in the Auction House.

When news emerged that the Patchwork Association had been 'taken over', some of us were both alarmed and intrigued. What would become of The Quilt Fairs and Olympia, together with their inimitable instigator Juliet Webster? And

what about the 'Horizon' competitions? And the magazine, newly edited by Gail Lawther, whom many of us met last autumn when she spoke at LQ? I tried to find some answers.

Personally, I did care at least a bit about the Patchwork Association. In 1988 I was a solitary, book-taught quilter, and read a tiny news feature about a forthcoming exhibition at Audley End, which I visited. What a revelation that was! I joined both the NPA (as it was then designated) and the Quilters Guild, and rejoiced in their magazines - both quite primitive in those days. Most years after that I visited the NPA summer exhibition, grumbling about the heat, or the mud, or the poor lighting, or the queues, or the trek to the car park, or whatever - but always actually getting a huge amount of pleasure and learning from the experience. I feel patchwork and quilting owe a lot to Juliet.

When EEC charity law changed about 5 years ago, the QG continued that route and rewrote its constitution, but the Patchwork Association took the private company path. Juliet continued to run both its companies, and, as many of us observed, the shows perhaps took up most of her attention, what with the spring and autumn Quilt Fairs, and the 'coming of age' of the move to Olympia - finally a central London venue. Whereas the magazine perhaps lost its edge, becoming merely a vehicle for the shows - and what was then the purpose of the old 'association'?

Were there too many fairs? Did people feel they were all alike (I know I found them different enough to go to all I could - but I have become a quilting nutcase)? Was Olympia a bridge too far? It's fine for us Londoners, but others hate the journey, the traffic, the parking problems and so on, and the cost of the venue is horrendous. In the end the difficulties were financial, and having visited the last Chippenham fair I can see why - not

enough visitors. It must be difficult to get any craft exhibition to pay, let alone p & q with its defiantly amateur status (I am not knocking this, it is what makes us such a democratic and resilient bunch).

Juliet managed to find ready partners to bail things out, in Grosvenor House and Traplet. Grosvenor House took over the shows; Emma Cooling is in charge, with her husband Robert. They seem both efficient and pleasant on the phone, and Juliet will work alongside them at the spring fairs. The Third Horizon competition will go ahead as planned, and just three venues are booked (Ardingly, Edinburgh and Linton). The same venues will be used for the

autumn, and the dates have just been published. The summer exhibition will, however, be back at Ascot, sadly, in my view.

The big question is, how many fairs will actually survive? Grosvenor House also produce Malvern and Harrogate, plus the Knitting & Stitching Show, and probably they do other needlecraft shows too. Whether 'our' shows survive depends on the degree of support we quilters offer - but that, of course, hangs initially on our getting the right news at the right time (and we await the spring publications with interest), and in the longer run it also depends on whether the shows are going to be sufficiently interesting and differentiated. Ideally a second promoter would emerge to give GH a competitive run, but it's early days.

The Patchwork Association and magazine were bought by Traplet, who also publish Patchwork & Quilting magazine (recently gone monthly and much improved). Gail Lawther told me she has just had an excellent meeting with them, they plan to maintain both publications, with Quilting Times still edited by her and positioned up market from P&Q. They also plan to redevelop the Patchwork Association more as a 'club', they have other craft publications and understand mad enthusiasts. Again we observe that the magazine market is looking fairly crowded, especially with Grosvenor House bringing out Fabrications, and yet of course you still can't buy any of them in W. H. Smith's.....

Interesting times ahead, I feel, but at least both GH and Traplet are investing in our craft, and that is wonderful. And just think what Juliet Webster achieved. By her own press release, she will continue to work in our field, and no doubt find new outlets for her energy, experience, and enthusiasm. We must wish her well.

London Quilters who are members of The Quilters Guild have been invited to contribute a total of five quilts for a special display of Quilts by London Members of the Quilters Guild at this annual exhibition of Region 2. Information on the selection procedure will be available soon. If you would like one of your quilts to be considered for inclusion, please let Marlene know.

Nancy Crow has been an artist quiltmaker for over twenty years. She received the 1996 National Living Treasure Award, which is a biennial award for excellence in a traditional handcraft. This was given for her achievements as an artist, her extensive exhibition record (including the first one-person show by a quilt artist at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery), her authoring of four books, her fabric designs for John Kaldor, her extensive teaching, and other activities who have propelled the art and craft of quilting to the revival, evolution and progress which it has achieved. She founded Quilt National, the Art Quilt Network and the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium.

Nancy Crow will have an exhibition of her work - 45 quilts in all - showing at the Parc des Expositions de Strasbourg, France, from 5 to 9 April, coinciding with Quilt Expo VII which takes place at the same time. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Nancy Crow will be giving two lectures, on Thursday and Friday evenings.

To anybody attending Quilt Expo VII at Strasbourg this April, this is an amazing opportunity to see some of Nancy Crow's landmark quilts, including many made with her recent working methods, developed in the last few years, and which has taken her from the controlled method of template-making to the freedom of cutting fabric directly as if drawing on it . Not to be missed!

The Hanging Together Group, plus four friends, presented this exhibition subtitled - diversity of layered and stitched textiles -, at Chequer Mead Arts Centre in East Grinstead, this January. A small group of London Quilters went to see it.

The participating quilt artists were: June Barnes, Colin Brandi, Annette Claxton, Irene Dunlop, Jennie Lewis, Sandra Meech, Inger Milburn, Leslie Morgan, Sabina Palley, Lynne Seaman and Julie Sennington.

On arrival at the exhibition, the first thing that we admired was the venue itself - it is strikingly attractive and the space is eminently suited to showing quilts. A large, L-shaped room, with white walls and very high ceilings, excellent lighting, both natural and artificial, made for the best hung quilt exhibition I've seen in a long time. It was a real pleasure to see quilts so well displayed, and the spacious surroundings allowed a good view of each piece both from a distance and from close up.

The Centre itself also contains a theatre, another small art gallery space, and an airy and friendly cafe, with good food and coffee, and tables spread out in a very spacious area. It made for a relaxed double viewing of the exhibition, before and after a delicious lunch.

It was fascinating to see the different styles of the artists expressed in a range of textile pieces. Not only quilts and wallhangings, but also a three-dimensional hanging piece by June Barnes, a folding screen by Annette Claxton, and a ruffled, laying-down textured piece, very tactile, by Colin Brandi. Colin also had a big piece on the wall, in fact a three-piece vertical hanging, in strong colours, predominantly pink-red and yellow, in his characteristic strip piecing. In contrast, Sandra Meech Arctic piece was pale, very white-and-blue, quite elaborate, and included transferred photographs, which could be best appreciated in a close up look.

June Barnes had a number of pieces on show, each one different, showing her versatility as a quilter. Leslie Morgan illustrated her talents in fabric dyeing by using the fabrics in several quilts, including dyed velvet which produced deep and extremely rich colours. Leslie and June had teamed up to produce some pieces together, hand-dyed and machine-quilted.

Lynne Seaman had two very colourful pieces, using rainbow gradations in one and fused appliqué and heavy embroidery and quilting on the other. Annette Claxton had some pieces in her signature curves style, but also a 'new start' piece which was long and narrow, with stripes in bright colours and gold, very attractive. Irene Dunlop was demonstrating on the day we visited, a very interesting technique of painting on fusible web, and she had a fascinating quilt on display made that way.

It is impossible to describe here every quilt and artist in the show but they were all excellent and they deserve congratulations for staging such an eye-catching exhibition, bringing quilts to the walls of a proper gallery space where they can be seen for the art objects they are. I wish we could find a venue in London of equivalent quality, that would allow quilts to be displayed on its walls!

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