at the OZ Centre Finchley Road, NW3

on Monday January 10th 2000.

There will be music and a buffet to suit all tastes for ú 16.99 each to include a welcome drink. There is a normal bar for further drinks.

Payment is in advance by November 15th 1999 at the AGM, cheque payable to London Quilters, but anyone interested please let Kate know asap on 0181 458 4119. After October 15th please contact either Sarah Cohen on 0181 444 7456 or Ysabel Field on 01442 255839.

The December meeting will not now take place. Babe Ruth's event will replace it.

Don't forget about the London Quilters Millenium Challenge - the theme is:

Entry forms will be available at the AGM on 15th November.

London Quilters will be holding three great events - lectures and workshops - in 2000.

Number One is Virginia Avery from New York, who will give us a lecture on Thursday 18th May at the International Methodist Centre in Euston St., around the corner from Euston Station; tickets will be available in the new year. Phone Kate or Marlene for details. There will be a two-day workshop following this, on Friday 19th May and Saturday 20th May at Claremont Road Community Centre, NW2 (near Cricklewood Thameslink Station) on The Big Coat - this ages-old, one seam garment for the modern woman - or man. The cost will be approximately £60, according to numbers.

Number Two is Irene MacWilliam from Northern Ireland, who will be teaching a class on Tuesday 17th October 2000, the day after her talk to the normal Monday evening London Quilters meeting. This will be either foundation piecing or applique, whichever gets the highest vote, and the cost will be approximately ú 30, again according to numbers.

Number Three will be Sue Wademan from Australia who will be on a tour of Europe. She will give a lecture on Monday 18th September 2000 and a two-day workshop either on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th, or on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th, September 2000. The subject will be around collage - either Collage for Art Quilts or Collage for Landscapes. Cost t.b.a. but along the same lines as for Virginia Avery. Kate has Sue's folder if anyone wants to see it.

For further info call Kate on 0181 458 4119 (she will be away October 15th through November).

It was good to see so many new faces at the September meeting - in fact we had six visitors. As we all know how difficult it is to visit a large group

alone I would like to thank those of you there for making our visitors so comfortable and welcome. Also, I apologise for 'collaring' a few of you and asking you to become 'buddies'. However, you responded well and hopefully you will have lots more 'buddying' to do in the future. Two of the visitors telephoned me to say to say how much they enjoyed the meeting.

The summer has suddenly disappeared and with it, so many "summer" exhibitions. I had particularly been intrigued by the show entitled "The secret block for a secret person in Ireland" - a show of drawings by Joseph Beuys. As I have yet to meet anyone who saw this, I will continue to enjoy my fantasies regarding the secret blocks. I have some secret blocks too but I do not think they will ever be on show unless we have an evening where we share our disasters.

I think most quilters would enjoy a visit to the Verner Panton Light and Colour exhibition held at the Design Museum. Panton, a Danish architect, who died last year, was involved in designing the exhibition himself. His intention was to create colour-coded environments in order to arouse a range of sensations and emotions in the visitor - and he certainly achieved this. His unique theories on colour and space were applied to furniture, textiles, lighting and interiors. I found it fascinating to see a Panton chair - the kind we see every day - and be taken through the thought and design processes that created this item, one which is so familiar to us that we no longer see or question its particular qualities and design. Do check this out for yourself - I have put an small illustration of the chair in question on our Notice Board.

I missed many things last summer, including the Proms. It is probably just as well because you will probably realise by now that each time I visit a good art exhibition, I return stimulated and raring to go and over the past few months I have been talking a lot about how freed and open I have become in willing to try new things. Yet, the question is where are these new things? How much have you actually seen from me in Show and Tell ? I think there is an expression that begins "all mouth and......." and it probably refers to me.

However I think I have discovered the root of my problem. It is neither a lack of time nor a shortage of ideas. I am manifesting the symptoms of a recently discovered condition entitled Fear of Using Fabric Syndrome or FUFS. And I contracted it from contact with that great quilter, the

"American National Living Treasure" Nancy Crow!

In fact, at the time this edition of our Newsletter reaches you, I should be at Port Townsend, Washington, USA - on a workshop with this great quilter. The problem for me has been the requirements list which I received almost a year ago. It includes a demand to bring at least 100 x 1/2 to 1 yard different solids plus black, navy, cream, warm and cool white as well as 20 stripes and checks and another 20 large prints etc. So over the past few months I have been happily adding to my fabric stash and trying not to use it. An impossible and taxing feat that I am delighted to say I failed to accomplish. Last week I strayed - produced two quilt tops and now have an excuse to buy more fabric. So fortunately I arrive in Seattle a few days before the course and will be heading directly to the quilt fabric shops recommended by an ex London Quilters' member, Sue Conklin, who lives in Washington state.

Congratulations to all London Quilters who had a quilt exhibited at the Festival of Quilts at Lords. It was a really fine show - the quilts were beautiful and the standard was very high. I think we should all be proud that the Guild can make such a strong statement and demonstrate the high quality of work being achieved in the UK today. My favourite piece was 100 NOT OUT by Anne Fleeton which may be a rather gimmicky choice as I am not sure that it qualifies as a quilt. Regardless, I thought it exquisite - the colour, the translucency, the shimmer - all so beautiful. Also, quite similar to Mustard Hill by Janet Ledsham who like Anne Fleeton is also Irish. Other works that particularly appealed to me were by Pauline Burbidge, Sarah Impey and Anne Jones.

Without doubt Sandie Lush scored a winner. I have always admired Sandie's quilting skills but this is the first time I have seen them displayed in such an ingenious, modern and amusing construction. Her quilted piece - Slip One Knit One - was an outright winner.

Overall I thought the Red and White Challenge was well responded to but it dominated the show and the two display areas were confusing. The range of

interpretation and design was immense but there seemed a lot of cheating with many fabrics containing colours other than the two demanded by the title. I understand those were not included in the judging. Perhaps it might have been better to have disqualified them.

The other challenge - Under the Covers was a little more of a mystery and I failed to see how many of the quilt makers had responded to the title. And as to the title, well I have aired my views on that previously.

The Birthday Suitcase quilts were wonderful. A truly rich treasure. How creative we all are. Sadly (and I do hate to criticise because we know how much hard work goes into getting quilts on display) many of the quilts were impossible to see and overall they were not hung straight. The lighting was also poor and, unless you knew, it was impossible to find out and identify the makers.

News of the Festival did not appear to reach the general public and it would seem there was little attendance from non-quilters other than those dragged along by their friends. Publicity and marketing are such important areas to ensure any exhibition is a success. The Guild is dedicated to education and in the future should consider it necessary to employ a professional person to undertake this role. Hopefully it would pay for itself with an increased attendance. However, it may be important for the Regions to start communicating to the media just what we are all doing and of its value and place in education. It is time to seek some guidelines so that exhibition organisers do not come into this area cold. Hopefully the Guild will take a lead in this.

Well, if you haven't started thinking about your entry to our Millennium Challenge - do start now. Time is moving on and the entry forms will be with

you shortly.

On 15 July Ricky Tims gave us an evening we shall not forget. It started with a piano arrangement of Greensleeves and took us via Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lloyd Weber, and many other much loved pieces of music to a fascinating Show-and-Tell of Ricky's work. On the way he showed us slides of wonderful quilts by many artists to illustrate his ideas. What he tried to do - and, I think, did quite successfully - was to relate the processes of creating, arranging, embellishing and performing music to those of designing, making, embellishing and viewing quilts.

The story began when, as a boy born in a small town in Texas, he visited his grandmother and formed a strong attachment to her. When in 1956 she lost her only son in a tragic accident her husband bought her a sewing machine, hoping its use would take her mind off the sad event. She began making quilts using recycled materials for the tops and army blankets for wadding.

Ricky started playing the piano at age 3 and the organ at age 5. Music became his life and in 1989 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to take up what he called "a music job". In 1991 his grandmother died and he inherited her sewing machine. This prompted him to start quilt making, developing skills, techniques and designs and eventually dyeing fabrics to obtain the colours and textures he wanted.

Ricky is not only a talented musician (he plays, conducts, and composes) and a gifted textile artist - he is also a brilliant entertainer and had us spell-bound for the best part of two hours.

The meeting was arranged by Connecting Threads, an association of several groups in the Borehamwood area meeting in each other's homes. It took place at their regular meeting place, Haberdashers Aske's School, Elstree, which with its beautiful grounds was a joy to visit on a lovely summer's evening.

Thank you, Ricky, and Connecting Threads, for a delightful event.

Marion Barnett, List Owner, BQL

Co-owner, AlternativeQuiltlist, BQSwap

Many people ask me how I have been able to come so far so fast in my career as a fiber artist. The simple answer is that I have had help and advice from some very powerful mentors in my life.

They taught me some valuable things and I would like to share a few of them with you...

The professor that taught me ceramics often looked at my work and said "what you are doing there is good.....make 20 more like that." He knew that there is a certain failure rate in the glaze fire/process and if I made more work I would not consider the piece he had praised so precious. I would learn control of the medium and not rely on "happy accidents". I would learn to be consistent in the quality of my product, learn to use my time well and be able to fill one shelf of the kiln with ware that was all the same height. Economy of resources is important in creating art.

The Swedish farm woman who taught me to weave placed great importance on doing things slowly and carefully with a rhythm and proven method so they would be correct the first time. She said there is no shame in a mistake as long as you make an effort to set it right. She taught me that repetitive motion can be a form of meditation and that Jazz or classical music can transport you to another world without altering your focus on the task at hand.

My most influential mentor has shared his knowledge with me for the last 17 years. He is the famous German architectural stained glass designer Jochem Poensgen. He reviewed my work and made suggestions when I was making windows for public buildings in the 80's (before fiber art). We continue to share an interest in each other's work, even though I have focused on fiber art for the last 9 years.

Jochem taught me that to be a successful artist; certain elements in my designs should be repeated across the body of my work. This would assure that what I made would be recognizable as my own. He cautioned me never to impose my statement on an architectural space but rather let the space speak its own needs for a human touch. Most importantly he taught me to see the existing design elements in architecture and to echo them in a fresh and playful way in my designs for the windows.

He taunted me saying that I come from a culture of lazy people who take their first idea and try to mold it into something that may or may not work. If it doesn't work you just call it art he said. Jochem got this impression from teaching two summers at Pilchuck north of Seattle Washington.

He encouraged me to make 60 idea drawings of a project so that I could be sure that when I selected the best of all the ideas I could truly say that I explored many possibilities. Then he said I should work with three of those ideas to a final solution and finished drawings. I admit that most Americans do want instant gratification. I usually made it to 30 drawings and developed 2. My work was still the better for it. Often that "eureka moment" did not happen until somewhere in the 20's.

I have seen Jochem's sketch books. He does indeed makes 60 drawings for every project. Because he has more discipline and patience he is a much better artist than I could ever hope to be. At the ripe old age of 60 he mastered the drawing programs on his computer. Seven years later he is a computer whiz kid. Now making 60 variations is easier and much faster.

After a period of famine and rejections due in part to the disaster of Reaganomics I turned to fiber art. Now I make windows that cannot break. I use what I learned about color, contrast and design for windows to make quilts.

Fiber art is a medium of less discipline than architectural stained glass design. Fiber is less permanent. The materials are much less expensive. The result will likely not impose itself on generations of people in a public space. I feel free to make 5 sketches for a quilt and work out some of the details later. I have no client in mind and there is no architecture to speak to my solution.

My aim is to let my quilts be a voice for my concern for endangered animals and the environment. Now after 25 years in the art business I let my quilts express my opinions. My work is content based. Influenced by the Conceptual Art Movement during my formal education I suppose that I have a hard time letting go of that. This brings me to another mentor.

Most of you know Diana Bunnell. I have the privilege of spending a good deal of time with Diana since her cat died in 1991 and I came to stay instead. We have a wonderful time painting and bleaching and cutting and constructing. We experiment. We don't worry about what we have made until months later when we gather our bits and pieces in the solitude of our respective studios.

Diana taught me the value of play. You don't have to make something. You don't have to know what you are doing until you do it. You can add something later. You can "edit" your design flaws. You can Wonder Under it all together and rotary cut it apart in a million different ways. It is only when I finally decide how it will all fit together that I need the discipline of a potter, the patience of a weaver and the experience of a stained glass designer to be assured that what I have made will please me esthetically and have the level of craftsmanship others view as excellent.

Thanks also to Marta Amundson for a wonderful workshop on Machine Quilting given to a group of London Quilters on 25 September.

The group of 17 textile artists now comprising Quilt Art had a show, called 'Poetic Licence', in Surrey during August. This was billed as new, but actually turned out to overlap very considerably with the Quilt Art show at Alexandra Palace last October: a little disappointing, though there were a few new artists and works to see. But the whole event was intriguing, and set me off on a series of questions that I am still puzzling over.

The setting was certainly different. The Grace Barrand Centre, Nutfield, is a craft foundation, very classy, very Surrey, with marvellous goodies for sale and courses on offer - well worth a visit in its own right if you are nearby. Quilt Art occupied the first floor - more like a private house than a gallery, and the quilts looked indeed more domesticated in that setting - more 'crafty' and less 'arty', and somehow less impressive than at Ally Pally. So the first puzzle was, do art quilts need a gallery to look like art?

It seemed a brief had been given: up to three pieces per artist, all of a given (small) size - about 60 x 85 cm - and also mounted identically: more of that later. Some artists had produced three related pieces clearly close to the 'Poetic Licence' theme, but others were less obvious. So the next issue - one which persisted - was, what WAS the unifying theme? Did it matter? Did it need one? I felt that Poetic Licence was rather a loose idea, even, perhaps imposed afterwards.

The strongest work came from those - like Deidre Amsden - whose textiles fare well in a smaller size and a home setting, with links to traditional quilting her 'Focal Point' pieces looked marvellous, as did those of Inge Heuber, Rita Humphry and Annie Viche. These were at the 'quilt' end of the spectrum, rather than the 'art', and in this setting they looked almost traditional. I felt that the people whose work was normally on a grander or more monumental scale were less well-treated by the task. Mary Fogg usually does beautiful rugged, architectural work, but her three 'Material Evidence' pieces - hat, gloves, knife - were curiously muted, even inhibited. Similarly, I missed Bethan Ash's large-scale, rhythmic approach - her pieces seemed more bitty than usual. Frankly, overall the theme was not perceptible to the uninitiated eye. Perhaps a few 'signposts' or clearer labels would have helped.

Then, the whole exhibition raised the issue of what is quilt art. A fairly traditional quilter like Janet Twinn seems to me to be on the edge of the definition - and, at the other end, the works of Ann Fahy stretch the medium towards textile art in general. Perhaps it doesn't matter - and at least it made me think - but again there was a certain lack of cohesion. Perhaps unkindly, I felt that there were a few pieces which, in design terms were quite dull, and a few more which were somewhat overdone; but perhaps this is inevitable given 17 artists working to a fixed size, which must have been challenging.

The works were all identically mounted on deep stretchers, like canvasses. This suited some of the more abstracted work excellently. I particularly admired Inge Heuber's 'A1 Poetic Licence', and my companion liked Bridget Ingram-Bartolomeo's strippy 'Taking some licence'. I was less sure of the mounting's suitability for Deidre Amsden's work (and perhaps she was too, for she had made a piped edging to emphasise the quilty qualities), or Sally-Anne Boyd's seminole 'In London', which called out to be draped, I feel.

But enough carping. There was some beautiful and interesting work that was new to me, at least: particularly Elizabeth Brimelow's 'Bird's Path I - III', with golden manipulated and stitched abstracted landscapes of ploughed fields and meadows. (Prices were too high, alas, to warrant spontaneous purchase, though I was tempted.) I also greatly admired Charlotte Yde's 'The Cutting Edge', showing this adventurous quilt artist striking out in yet new directions black slashed netting revealing colours shimmering beneath, and impeccable stitching. I was also taken with Ann Fahy's 'Monet's Garden', using plastic and mirrors to suggest reflections, yet retaining a familiar grid structure. Quilt or not-quilt, this was lovely work.

Quilt Art was founded in1985 as a sub-group from the Quilters' Guild, and it is now a limited company with charitable status. I saw, and bought, some literature about aims and membership, but I would like to know more. How is it run? Is it a collective? Who decides what they do, and who joins? Intriguingly, who doesn't join? Is it deemed a success, whether in artistic, publicity, or even commercial terms? Maybe someone at London Quilters knows the answers?

An exhibition of stitched textiles and quilts by

For further details contact Jean Edwards (member of London Quilters) on 0171 267 9803.

A few members of London Quilters have made some blocks and then made them into child's quilts for the children of Kosovo. They finally traced a charity that was interested in sending the quilts, Children's Aid Direct. They will raffle the quilts to raise funds. The blocks they want should be 9 1/2" in 100% pre-washed cotton, and any technique is acceptable.

If any other members would like to make a block to contribute to quilts for the children of Kosovo, the details and addresses are set out in a form which will be available from the London Quilters' desk at meetings, or from Monica Millner. You can also send the blocks direct to Gaynor Jones at Children's Aid Direct, 12 Portman Road, Reading, Berks., RG30 1EA, or phone her on 0118 958400.

will take place on April 6-9, 2000, in Strasbourg, France. Further details obtainable by e-mail from: