London Quilters
Spring 1999 Newsletter
WELCOME by Marlene Cohen
London Quilters
Spring 1999 Newsletter
WELCOME by Marlene Cohen
We would like to extend a special welcome to our International Readers We hope you will enjoy our Newsletter and thank you all for the contributions we have received. We will be listing groups, and giving general as well as programme information. (See last page). Contact names, addresses and numbers will be held by the Chair and given to our quilting travellers on request, so they can obtain local information. Visitors to London should contact Marlene on 0181 455 6422 or Kate on 0181 830 3734. We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you.
1. Ricky Tim
Ricky is a Texan quilter and musician who makes fascinating, colourful contemporary quilts, some of them with a ‘no measurements, no straight edges, free-form curves ‘ method, encouraging quilters ‘creativity and originality. People may remember his amazing small ‘tulip quilt ‘ at the Malvern Show a couple of years ago. He will be in Britain again this summer on a lecture tour, including demonstrating at Olympia. We have the chance of having a workshop with him on Wednesday 14 July. Anybody interested please ring Kate Cox on 0181 830 3734 a.s.a.p. as the venue has to be arranged depending on the number of people interested.
2. Virginia Avery
Last October Marlene and I attended a class with Virginia. She is a really inspiring teacher. Most of you have seen my jacket that I made at the class, and Marlene has a hanging also. It was not just the work that was great but the lady itself is such an example. Virginia is best known for her fantastic wearables but she has made countless quilts. Her colours and designs are glorious.
We have the chance to bring her over to speak to our group and give us a two-day workshop. She will show us how she designs her very free applique motifs which we can adapt to our own work. But the actual subject can be decided at a later date.
She may possibly come to England in the Summertime of 2000, or otherwise at the beginning of 2001. As she is one of the best this won ‘t be cheap, but the important thing is that this chance does not come by every day and we should grasp it. We need to have an approximate idea of how many people are interested. We shall have to operate a SIGN UP - PAY UP - TURN UP or find a friend policy once you have been given the details. The likely price would be Ł 50 - Ł 60 for a two-day workshop.
We intend to open the list to other groups so if you have friends who are interested please tell them to phone me. We also plan to make the lecture a big one open to all so we need a large venue and I ‘d welcome suggestions.
Tell your friends, come along, you won ‘t regret it. For more details phone Kate Cox, 0181 830 3734.
3. Marta Amundson
Marta will be back in England next September 1999. She could run a one day or a two-day workshop for us, probably on September 25/26, and we can choose between machine quilting and applique/jacket workshops, or possibly something else she has devised. The subject can be decided later, once we know whether we have enough people interested to make it possible to run. Again, once details are confirmed it will be a SIGN UP - PAY UP - TURN UP or find a friend policy. Please phone Kate Cox on 0181 830 3734 for details.
4. Sue Wademan
Sue is an Australian quilter who has had quilts exhibited in the Quilt Fairs and the European Championships. Her style is contemporary, and her work outstanding. There is a chance of organising a workshop when she comes in September 1999. If you are interested, please contact Kate Cox on 0181 830 3734 for more details.
Chair ‘s Chat
After a hectic Easter/Passover and having visitors, I settled down with a bunch of American quilting journals in a desperate effort to gain inspiration for the flower block challenge. Leafing (what an appropriate term) through the pages I could find nothing that stimulated me to get on with sewing. I was also somewhat irritated by all the emphasis on heritage, quilts made by mothers and grandmothers etc. No one at London Quilters has such heritage I decided but I am sure I am wrong.
Information on shows and courses reminded me of a book I bought some years ago. I think it is by Faye Anderson and entitled My Mother Taught Me to Sew. The book is dedicated to the author‘s mother. Unable, of course, to find it, I went to make a much needed cup of coffee thinking that if only my mother had been a quilter - I might be more skilled and experienced in this art. I then glanced up at the wall over my kitchen table. There, hanging in order, are three pieces of needlework. One by me, one by my mother and the third completed by my grandmother in 1909. In fact only days ago I had been proudly pointing out to guests at my Seder (special ceremony and meal for Passover) table, that the embroidered cloth covering the matzos was made by my grandmother and is over 100 years old. So, in fact, my family does have a tradition of needlework. Maybe not quilting but certainly other needle skills flourished and were taught to me at my mother ‘s knee and the knees of my aunts and grandmother.
Family Traditions
Seated at my Seder table was my aunt Esther, aged 87, a former court dressmaker, who accompanies me to quilt shows whenever she can and generally voices that she wishes she knew about quilting when she was younger and had access to all those wonderful fabrics they used in the couturiers ‘ workrooms. She still makes and alters clothes using a treadle operated Singer sewing machine circa 1920. Quite a lady!
As well as embroidery and dressmaking, my family boasted some fine knitters and were efficient in recycling the yarn to create ‘nearly new ‘ items for the younger members of the family. Our ‘get-togethers ‘ were always played out against a background of clicking needles and the showing off of a recently learned song being performed badly on the untuned piano. The boys only got involved in unravelling and rewinding wool despite the fact that all the male members of my family were involved in the textile trades. But at family gatherings, they were all ‘managers ‘. My grandmother, mother and aunts could also crochet beautifully and tried unsuccessfully to teach the young female family members. To this day not one of my generation can crochet.
I gave the first quilt I made to my mother for her 80th birthday. She wrapped it in tissue paper (not acid free) and put it in a box which she placed at the top of her wardrobe. It has never seen the light of day. She tells me that she does not want to risk it becoming grubby and now that she is in a residential home, she is frightened that it will be stolen. I am left wondering whether it reaches the family standard! In fact, it is not a great piece of work, the colour balance and the layout are wrong, so perhaps it is better off in a box. Maybe one meeting we will show our ‘first pieces ‘ and you can tell me what you think.
Do let us know about your family traditions too. Maybe we have some members who did learn to quilt at their mothers ‘ knees. Perhaps some of our international readers would also like to respond and we can create a ‘Letters Page ‘.
You know it is much easier to write this than to get on with that block. Whose idea was it anyway? Oh yes, and didn ‘t I recommend that we look at some of Helen Kelley ‘s work for inspiration.
European Art Quilts
Ideas were not a challenge after David and I visited the exhibition of European Art Quilts at the Guild of Devon Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey in Devon. I had purchased the catalogue whilst at Innsbruck last May so thought I was quite familiar with the exhibits. This was a beautiful display in a delightful setting and well worth both the long drive and the fine we had to pay for speeding on the M5. What was totally unexpected was the actual impact and the realisation that despite being told measurements and fabric content, method etc. similarly to painting - until you actually see a work, you cannot really understand or predict the impact.
I had been most impressed with how the quilts had been hung for the Take 4 show and again here, the organisers displayed the quilts thoughtfully and seriously. What a difference this makes both for those of us who know about quilts and quilting and those who are new to this area and art form. My favourite piece was Crepuscule by Anne Woringer of Paris - a beautiful construction of flexible curves made from hemp, cotton and silk. David was totally entranced by Mustard Hill created by Janet Ledsham from Northern Ireland - a transparent construction containing skeletonised leaves and primrose flowers, hand felted onto a silk chiffon base. Strangely these two pieces confronted each other at the entrance. No comment! I am also left haunted by Inta Amolina ‘s Dusk. Inta is from Latvia and her quilt design was powerful in evoking memories and feelings of Eastern Europe. A subtle use of greys, blues and creams achieved a rich landscape.
And about us
On another note, I have been most excited to see what an enthusiastic response we have received from international groups and individuals wanting to become involved with London Quilters. I realise that it is our fine reputation that makes people want to join us and I would like to say thank you to all those past chairpersons and committee members who have worked so hard in the past to establish and maintain our group.
I also want to congratulate Jan Gunner on achieving her scholarship to Houston. Well done Jan, you certainly deserve it. We will all look forward to hearing about your experiences so here is a public warning - we expect an item for the newsletter.
Also very busy at present is Kate Cox, our vice chair. As well as organising a great programme for us, Kate has been appearing at many Quilt Fairs. So far she has been at Edinburgh, Guilford, Chilford and Ardingly and will shortly be going to York and Monchengladbach. (Yes, that is right - Monchengladbach, which is in Germany, not Wales.) Kate has two exhibitions coming up shortly and also works full time. Now you know why they say - ask a busy woman Kate tells me that you have been forthcoming in requesting speakers and she is responding. However, it seems that no one knows any church halls that would be suitable for a day retreat!
A reminder too that I do need to recruit volunteers for the exhibition at Lords. London Quilters have been asked to provide stewards for Wednesday 22nd September. We think people will only need to offer two hours so you should have plenty of time to look around, before or after your stint - and not pay the expensive entry fee. Do not worry if you cannot help out on our day - there are plenty of volunteer slots available for other days and at the weekend.
Well the sun is shining and officially it is summertime. The trees are supporting thick blossom and my garden is full of new promises and delights. There is no shortage of ideas for the flower block now, just a little less time than when I started this.
Keep quilting. Marlene.
MILLENIUM - IDEAS FOR END OF 1999 CELEBRATION WANTED - Contact Marlene or Kate.
LETTER FROM AUSTRALIA
It is hard to believe that a year has passed since we boarded a plane at Heathrow bound for the land down under. There was, and to some extent, still is a plethora of emotions with a move of this proportion.
We began the adventure at an ungodly hour in the arrival lounge of the Melbourne International Airport. Two cars arrived for us (one was just for the luggage) and escorted to what would be our home for the next three weeks.
This time was spent searching the suburbs of Melbourne for a suitable house. During this time I began my education in speaking English. Thats Australian English, and much like my first experiences in London, I found two cultures separated by a common language.
My two elder sons started school after the Easter break and almost immediately began using the native slang. Good on ya Mum is a common phrase from the young here and easily understood. However, terms such as blue and duffer have been less obvious. One of the Mums at school told me she had a blue with her husband and he had not spoken for 2 days. I thought that a blue must be a very strong type of alcohol to silence a man for that long!
May brought my first look at an Aussie quilt show. All of the information regarding this particular show gave Jeffs Shed as the location. Now, here in Melbourne, the equivalent to an A-Z Street Directory is called a Melways. It is the size of the Yellow Pages phone book. I must have searched for hours for Jeffs Shed in the index with no luck. Eventually I called Rick at work and asked if one of his knowledgeable co-workers had ever heard of this venue. I could hear the peels of laughter in the background.. It seemed that Jeffs Shed is the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. The locals believe that the building looks like a shed; thus the nickname. The show was wonderfully bright if a bit traditional but worth my perseverance.
In June we celebrated the Queens Birthday. My boys had never celebrated the day in England and had great delight in having the day off school.
I joined the Waverley Patcherworkers who have a membership of over 300. They meet monthly with well over 150 in attendance. There are smaller friendship groups stemming from there and they meet in members homes.
Our WINTER holiday was spent on a working farm on the southern coast of Victoria. The harsh contrast between land and sea is quite astonishing. The Southern Ocean is the home to many whales and we viewed the mothers and their calves from the shore. We also came face to face with other native fauna and flora. An ancient volcano was home to several species of kangaroo, koalas, emus, possums, and kookaburras.
I finished my red and green quilt in time for the Waverley show in July . This quilt now lives in Teddington having been hand delivered by Rick on one of several business trips back to England. During the Waverley show I was lucky enough to meet the Australian participant in my international Round Robin. She had travelled a fair distance to put a face to a name and border on her quilt.
I attended a Quilters Retreat in August spending a weekend with other quilters. All meals were provided and the accommodation was comfortable if modest. Workshops were on offer or we could work on unfinished projects. Australians know how to relax and the theme back to school set the stage for the Saturday night entertainment. The quilters emerged from their cabins after dinner in school uniforms pulled from the mothballs. School songs were sung, reports were shared and school photos were displayed for a guess who game.
The Royal Melbourne Agricultural Show was not to be missed in September. The rural aspect of Australia continues to amaze and delight. The quilts, needlework, and cake baking entries inhabited an entire building and several days were required to see everything on offer.
October brought the first, long awaited, signs of Spring. We had found a house to purchase and continued our settling-in process. My sons continue to adjust to the changes confronting them. We have changed schools in the case of the eldest while the middle one has been awarded an Aussie of the Month award for citizenship. The youngest was happy to attend kindergarten two days per week and spending the rest of the week as Mums companion.
The holiday season approached as the temperature rose and the vision of Christmas decorations and swimming costumes left us feeling a bit disoriented.We had some friends from England visit for Christmas and Rick spent Boxing Day at the MCG watching the rain. He returned two days later to watch with inward glee as the Australians collapsed under the British attack.
The New Year found us in Canberra and then the beautiful coast in New South Wales. We have all developed the daily habit of applying sun screen and the schools have a NO HAT/ NO PLAY policy.
The new school year began in February. My eldest is closer to home and much happier. My middle son has been elected house captain and my youngest is attending all day, everyday which leaves more time to quilt! The weather is becoming cool again and we anticipate some visits from Grandparents over the Easter break.
The friends I have made through quilting, old and new, have made this transition less painful than it could have been. However, I think of you often so keep those e-mails, cards and letters coming.
Happy Quilting - Judith.
(You can reach Judith Hammersla on <rick@projectx.com.au>)
GALLERY REVIEW
by Stefanie Rickard
At last the ‘art world ‘ is waking up to the value of works produced by the use of sewing in its many manifestations. Surely no gallery has higher credentials as an exponent of high art than the Serpentine, yet within three months it had two important displays of works involving needles and thread.
The first (August - September 1998) was called Loose Threads and featured 17 international artists working in a technologically unsophisticated medium, but in a radical way and with a strong historical content.
The second (November 1998 - January 1999) was a selection of recent work by Louise Bourgeois, regarded as one of the most important contemporary artists, still prolific at the age of 87. Her recurrent themes are spinning, sewing and weaving, and are connected with her childhood in a family of tapestry restorers. For Louise Bourgeois the needle is a positive emblem of women ‘s creativity, and the act of cutting and stitching the equivalent of sculpture. The act of spinning is represented by casts of gigantic spiders, a tribute to her mother. Couture clothes have had a strong influence, and have been reconstructed by her into installations which charge essentially lifeless items with emotions of life, death and sexuality. She also produced stuffed copulating figures which are self-explanatory, and ‘cells ‘ - enclosed spaces containing objects alluding to her childhood home. There where several drawings on display, and also ‘object trouvÚs ‘.
A third exhibition of great interest was at the Barbican Concourse Gallery: Art of the Stitch with Insights (March - April 1999). Though mainly embroidery, it illustrated the wide variety of work derived from the stitch, encompassing the traditional and the innovative and using a great variety of materials.
The Patrick Caulfield exhibition at the Hayward Gallery was inspirational. His work is characterised as interior landscapes; he uses large areas of plain colour, in the earlier paintings outlined in black, in later paintings without oulines. His colours and draughtsmanship are outstanding and provide wonderful ideas for patchwork quilting. One of the paintings on show is even called ‘Cathedral Window ‘.
Current Exhibitions
These are exhibitions which are especially recommended as inspirational sources for quilting:
Kandinsky - Watercolours and Other Works on Paper, at the Royal Academy, Piccadilly, W1. April - July 1999
(Un)limited at the Crafts Council, Pentonville Rd, N1. Until 6 June.
The Art of the Sikh Kingdoms - paintings, textiles and decorative arts. At the Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, SW7. Until July 25.
Jackson Pollock Retrospective at the Tate Gallery. Until 6 June.
Quilting Exhibitions
by Members of London Quilters
Kate Cox - Quilt Artist: 27th April-1st May, at The Mill Lane Gallery, 82 Mill Lane, West Hampstead, London NW6. Tel. 0171 431 5022. Open 10-6 Tuesday to Friday, 10-4 Saturday.
Jean Edwards and Kate Cox - Textile Artists: Wednesday 30 June - Sunday 18 July, at Burgh House, New Ends Square, Hampstead,
London NW3. 11 - 5, admission free.
REQUESTS
Does anyone have a dressmakers dummy for sale/hire/borrow? Please contact Kate Cox on 0181 830 3734.
BOOK REVIEW
by Claire Crocker
COLOR: The Quilter ‘s Guide
by Christine Barnes
Moan as I might about the apparently endless examples and exercises required by my City and Guilds P&Q Course, I still felt at the end that I hadn ‘t quite got to grips with the complexities of colour - I ‘m not one of those people the whole things seems to come to instinctively. So I was delighted when I found Christine Barnes ‘s COLOR: The Quilter ‘s Guide (That Patchwork Place, 1997). I had so far found the other books on colour for quilters I ‘d read too restricted - just taking the author ‘s own pet theory, demonstrated with limited examples. Extremely thorough and with many beautiful and carefully annotated quilt photos, COLOR: The Quilter ‘s Guide convincing manages to bridge the gap between classical colour theory and quilt-making. It ‘s a reference book I shall keep by me to use again and again.
Christine, who is a writer and quilter, begins with an explanation of the technical ‘language of color ‘ - hue, value, intensity, etc., and a full analysis of the colour wheel, which is helpfully shown in fabric examples as well as in plain colour. She then works through the classic colour combinations - monochromatic, split complement, double split complement, tetrad, etc. This might sound dull, but the text refers to many quilt examples, often with an accompanying colour wheel diagram and colour analysis. In fact, there is lots of cross-referencing to stunning photos of quilts throughout the book in a huge variety of colour schemes, and I felt I was learning a great deal from every example, as I did from her accounts of special effects such as luminosity and transparency.
Christine then works through what happens when you are considering fabric, rather than pure colour, covering different types of patterns and pattern combination, how to collect fabric discriminatingly (!), and how to sort and catalogue your fabric collection, for example by glueing squares of fabric corresponding to different hues onto paper for easy reference. (Far easier than that desperate and increasingly messy ferret around in your boxes....). The book continues with worked examples, showing the effects of changing, one by one, the different fabrics in blocks.
It has a helpful section on ‘avoiding the pitfalls ‘, together with a comprehensive set of exercises and some ‘worked examples ‘ by different quilters, with instructions on working through similar projects yourself. It ‘s a real strength of the book that it includes accounts of approaches to colour by a variety of other quilters - together with the worked examples and exercises it really demonstrates that there is no one right approach, and simply encourages you to ‘have a go ‘.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN A COLOUR WORKING GROUP ?
We are planning an informal series of small ‘get-togethers ‘ to work through some of the exercises in Christine ‘s book. If you are interested, please call Claire Crocker on 0171 722 4226 or Alicia Merrett on 0171 609 1013.
LONDON QUILTERS LENDING LIBRARY
Videos available to borrow
Foundation Piecing by Roz Wade
Completely Quilted and
Really Sharp Piecing and
Really Quick Quilts by Barbara Barber
Dyeing to do Patchwork and
Sunshine and Shadow by Helen Deigham
Patchwork and Quilting by Barbara Chainey
Patchwork and Quiltingby Lynne Edwards
1993 AQS Quilt Show
IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is requested that people that borrow books and videos should return them one month after the date they borrow them. If they are unable to come to the meeting, please send them with a friend.
THE QUILTERS GUILD
20th ANNIVERSARY
A year of celebrations!
FESTIVAL OF QUILTS
at Lord ‘s Cricket Ground
London
September 21-26 1999
THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THIS NEWSLETTER AND HELPED MAKE IT SO SUBSTANTIAL AND INTERESTING.
BRITISH QUILT STUDY GROUP
by Celia Eddy
The British Quilt Study Group was formed in 1998 under the auspices of The Quilters ‘ Guild of the British Isles.
THE AIMS OF BQSG are to fullfill those Aims of The Quilters ‘ Guild concerned with promoting appreciation, knowledge and understanding of the heritage of quiltmaking:
* to foster an interest in both historical and contemporary aspects of British patchwork, quilting and applique through study and research.
* to promote the development of research skills through training, worskhops, mentoring and bursary schemes, and to provide the means for publication of research.
* to provid a forum for the exchange of information and ideas thorugh seminars and study days.
* to forster links with Quilt Study Groups and related academic organisations in other countries.
To be a member of The British Quilt Study Group you DO need to be a member of The Quilters ‘ Guild of the British Isles. Members enjoy all the benefits of Guild membership, including access to all the Guild ‘s resources such as the Library and Slide Loan Service, also to the quilts in the Heritage Collection when the plan to house the Collection in a Study Centre is realised.
SUBSCRIPTIONS to BQSG
The subscription for this year (1999-2000) has been set at Ł 7.50. We aim to keep the subscription as low as possible while effectively carrying out the aims of the Group. The subscription year will coincide with that of the Quilters ‘ Guild, running from the 1st. May. If you would like to join, please contact Sue Brown (address below), enclosing S.A.E. and stating whether or not you are a Quilters ‘ Guild member. We ‘ll send you full details and application forms.
Sue Brown: 320 Mumbles Road, West Cross, Swansea SA3 5AA, Tel. 01792 405364, e-mail: brown320@aol.com
Celia Eddy, The Brown House, Fleming Place, Maryport, Cumbria CA15 6ES, Tel 01900 814959, e-mail: celia@eddy.u.-net.com
BRITISH QUILT STUDY GROUP
ANNUAL QUILT STUDY DAY
SATURDAY 23rd OCTOBER 1999
LEICESTER MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
RESEARCH PAPERS WILL BE PRESENTED
KEY SPEAKER:
CLARE ROSE, TEXTILE HISTORIAN.
QUILTS AND OTHER TEXTILES FROM THE COLLECTION OF LEICESTER MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY ON DISPLAY
Details and booking forms from Sue or Celia
at addresses above.
NEW ZEALAND IMPRESSIONS
by Christine Restall
Although I spent most of my recent visit to New Zealand at sea or visiting the beautiful South Island national parks, I was able to fit in a few textile µexperiences µ - and some of them were rather special.
It µs a recent craze in New Zealand to open your garden or your house, informally but with a small charge, to passing visitors or tour parties - rather as gentlefolk did here in the 18th or 19th centuries - and very interesting this is if, like me, you µre nosy about other people µs lives. In particular, we visited a fascinating quilter µs house: Tradgar, near Napier, build and owned by Dorothy Bell and her husband.
Unlike my house (and other British quilters, I feel), everything was perfect - immaculate, polished, tidy - and hung everywhere with relatively traditional but lovely quilts large and small, hangings, cushions, etc., predominantly in blue, grey and cream - Gustavus Adolphus/Swedish colours, like the house itself. She had even made a quilted doorstop. There were heaps of quilts for sale - mainly machine pieced and hand quilted, all made by herself, and very inexpensive even by our standards. I already felt very slow and idle - but this was compounded when we learned that she also did the garden, which was vast and also immaculate. She had even made the cakes we ate. How does she do it? I hope she will come to London and tell us her secret.
There were some charming children µs quilts at Rotoiti Lake, commemorating efforts to bring back rare native species to the area, and there were interesting Maori textiles on show too (feather cloaks, grass weaving). The new, and stunning, national museum in Auckand, Te Papa, also has some wonderful Maori and other Polynesian textiles including the fabulous red and yellow feather cloak given to Captain Cook in Hawaii.
There are some home-grown Maori prints in the shops too (despite most of the quilting shops stocking US fabric, like everywhere else). We know from our own New Zealand members that quilting is strongly supported there, and most towns, even small ones, have good fabric stores (and yes, I did buy lots...).
But perhaps the best find was the Wearable Art show, sponsored by Montana, again in Auckland. This celebrated the tenth year of what seems to have become an extraordinary and spectacular show for young textile designers, fashion and art students - and the exhibits showed high creativity, energy, humour and passion. There were some remarkable bras, for a start - ice cream cones, cakes, flower pots, engine casings, telephone receivers and more being pressed into service, or created out of fabric, paper, plastic, netting and other materials. All the clothes that had been worn at the live show were displayed on a video. Wonderful fluorescent costumes reminiscent of the Czech Theatre of Light were shown in darkness; fantastical hats and evening dresses were made out of cans and bottle tops. The winning piece, µRock me Aphrodite µ, was a lovely, fragile yet substantial confection of paper, net and plastic, sculpted to look like large oyster shells, adorned with beads, and lined with satin like mother of pearl. It was extremely beautiful and impressive - and wearable for those with the body to match. Sadly, there was no catalogue, but I did find and article with a few photographs, if anyone is interested.
Wyoming
Wabi-Sabi (c) 1999
Last fall I attended a workshop with the Queen of Wonder-Under. Sue Benner of Dallas Texas was a delight, but she did leave us with one burning question. What do you do with the yards and yards of plastic directions that come with Wonder-Under and Bond-a-Web? After serious consideration I finally found a way to put my plastic to good use. Combine it with masking tape to mask the carpet in an area where you want to paint. I tried it in our closet with good results.
For twenty years my husband has had 28 ‘ of closet rod for his clothes. We recently moved his rod up and installed a new one underneath. Not rocket science; however, it is a task that you just don ‘t seem to get around to. In our zeal for closet harmony we weeded out articles of clothing that had not been worn in the last two years and gave them to charity. You may have heard me speak of the two extremes that dog my existence. Either less is more or even too much is not enough. In this case I assure you less is more. Georgia O ‘Keefe dressed in only black and white for this very reason. If you have fewer choices it is easier to decide.
I ‘m not sure what has gotten into us this summer, but we have opened boxes and gotten rid of junk that has crowded our lives for years. Believe me, it is nice not to have so much to think about, and consequently not so many places to look when you want something that you do have. I challenge you to get organized.
Your own Auntie Eve Geppert cuts out the articles that she wants to save from the American Quilter's magazines that she subscribes to and places them in a notebook. "at least half of the magazine is lot of rubbish anyway.....why do I need that part?" I admit I am not so organized. I do cut down a breakfast cereal box and cover it with contact paper so I can keep my subscription together for future reference. I need more courage to throw out the rest.
Do have a look in The Quilter's Winter Issue for my article about freezer paper. Patchwork and Quilting has my tirade on Better Basting in their Dec/ Jan issue. What they both failed to mention is that I will be in the U.K. in September. I am still looking for a few good women who are eager to learn more about Colour for Quilts or Machine Quilting. Kate Cox is keeping a list of interested workshop participants. Stay in Stitches!
marta-amundson@wyoming.com
LONDON QUILTERS
INTERNATIONAL LINKS
Thank you again to all the international quilting groups and people that responded to our request for links and wrote such interesting accounts of their activities. Here is a selection. More in the next Newsletter.
Christchurch Quilters- New Zealand
Cheryl Comfort writes:
We are a very inclusive group and don't get too hung up on the technique chosen - i.e. we have no problem with machine quilting. We would have 120 members which range from early thirties (e.g me) or possibly younger, up to 80s, with the bulk 40-60. We have a large number of members who work full time, or have young children - so our main meeting is on a Tuesday evening. We also have a monthly workday on a Saturday.
While the majority of our members would probably be classed as traditional, we have quite a strong group doing more innovative/original (or whatever) work. I think this rubs off on other members even in colour choices etc. Hand dyed fabrics is quite strong in the group also.
Cotton-on Quilters - Wanganui, New Zealand
Margaret Pearson writes:
Wanganui does not compare with London but you may be interest in small city (40,000) activities and quilters are the same the world over. NZ is so small that we do get to know most people of like interests and we have a huge 800+ biennial National Quilt Symposium which is a great week of live-in activities, workshops and exhibitions. The next is in Queenstown in September 1999. I went to the 1997 in Hamilton and there were some tutors from England then.
Carnarvon Community Quilters Guild - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Valerie Levens writes:
I am a former resident of north west London who has been living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the past thirty years. Whilst here one of the hobbies I have taken up has been quilting, and it has consumed me with a passion. Whilst surfing the net, I came across your site and was so pleased to find it. I visit London, usually once a year and have looked around on previous visits for quilting groups, but without success. I am coming over this year from May 20th to June 9th and am hoping that you will be meeting at some point during that time, so that I could drop in and visit at one of your meetings. I will be staying with a friend in Willesden Green and know the Finchley Road area.
I belong to a small group of fifteen quilters, called the Carnarvon Community Quilters Guild, who meet regularly once a week on Monday nights in a local community school. We are quite informal and bring our work to our meetings where we share ideas, patterns, fabrics, books, give opinions and advice freely (sometimes taken, sometimes not), and generally support each other in our quilting endeavours. A couple of times a year we bring an instructor in to teach us a new concept or idea and generally broaden our knowledge.
North Israel Quilting Group
Shula Magal writes:
There are several groups in the North of Israel. Ours is based in the Galilee. There are 18 of us, and we have been meeting in members ‘ homes for the last eight years. As we have to travel a distance, we meet every two months for four hours at a time. First there is a talk about a quilt-related subject, for example textile art, or about art in general. Then we eat (everybody brings a specially delicious dish - we are about to publish a Cookery Book!), and then we finish with a Show and Tell. Some of our members have participated in exhibitions in Europe, U.S.A. and Japan, and some received prizes, such as Tirza Levine, for her work ‘Jerusalem - A Dream of Generations ‘ in Quilt Expo IV (Karlsruhe, Germany, June 1994) and Shula Lys (one of whose pieces was chosen for Quilt National 1997, and who recently received a Bronze Award in World Quilt 98 in Tokyo, Japan). We would like to keep up our contact with you, is anybody planning to come to Israel in the year 2000?
Los Angeles
Marlene Peterman writes:
I am a Scot living here in the Los Angeles area and have been quiltmaking since 1975 and teaching professionally since 1981. I have taught all aspects of quiltmaking at one time or another and have found that applique is my first love. This year I am returning to Britain to conduct workshops at Cabot Conferences in Bristol and then up to Scotland to teach at various stores and guilds. You can find my designs on the website www.quiltemporium.com and also on The Applique Society website at the appliquesociety.org
The Applique Society is a group open to quiltmakers interested in applique. They have a wonderful website with information on many well known applique teachers and their quilts, patterns and books.
I will also be returning to teach at the Houston International Festival this year for the 5th time and would enjoy meeting with any of the London Quilters who are making the trip. The British quiltmakers are making quite a name for themselves with the prestigious awards they are winning at these venues. My favourite quilt in Houston last year was Margaret Doherty's with the miniature Mariner's Compasses flowers. She was there to receive her prize and has a wonderful sense of humour. Americans do not expect proper looking English ladies to be hysterically funny but she had us rolling in the aisles!
TO MEMBERS OF LONDON QUILTERS: IF YOU HAVE CONTACTS WITH ANY QUILTERS ‘ GROUPS ABROAD, PLEASE TALK TO MARLENE ABOUT IT.