CQ Challenge 2016 - On the Edge

Hello everyone, I have just begun working on a new quilt for this year's CQ Challenge, run by the Contemporary Quilt Group of the Quilter's Guild. You can read more about the challenge and see quilts from previous years here I have been lucky enough to have my quilt selected for the past two years so feel I have to set my standards high! The theme is open to lots of interpretations and initially, I was planning on doing a piece exploring the use of line as part of my current abstract series 'The Overuse of Metaphor'. After all, lines always mark the edge don't they? But I have also been looking recently at the work of Gunta Stolzl who was a weaver and the only female Bauhaus Master. She took over and revolutionised the Weaving Section of the Bauhaus which was rather dismissively referred to as 'the Women's Section', combining artistic flair with technical skill and knowledge of her materials to produce beautiful woven pieces as both stand alone pieces of art and as functional, decorative pieces for commercial production. To me, she epitomises that dreadful prejudice that textile art is somehow inferior to other art media as it is associated with the female/domestic/functional. Therefore textile art is marginalised, 'on the edge' of the genuine art world. See what I did there?!

Here is my first draft, inspired by one of Stolzl's sketches. I will draft a full size drawing and might tweak the colour palette as I go. I am not yet fixed in my choice of techniques but there will be some fabric collage, possibly some improv piecing, bubbles if I can find a place for them and needless to say, lots of stitch by both hand and machine. I will try to be good and post progress photos as I go along but don't hold me to that as sometimes, life gets in the way! k3n x

Beer retreat landscapes update

Here is a photo showing the end of the week's progress and a second photo showing one completely finished! k3n x

South West Quilters Retreat - Landscapes at the Seaside

I spent a fabulous few days in beautiful Beer on the Devon coast teaching Fabric Collage Landscapes to a group of 16 intrepid ladies from South West Quilters. From the minute I arrived at the hotel on Sunday evening, I was made to feel welcome and part of the group. After dinner (mine was a fabulous crab and prawn salad served on a platter the size of a dustbin lid!), I gave an informal talk, showing some of my Evolution quilts and a few of my current abstracts. Then I showed some of my landscape quilts and talked briefly about the techniques I would be teaching. Over the following few days, all the ladies dived in with gusto, even those who were new to patchwork and quilting and those who had always done more traditional work. They all soon got over any fear of collage and raw edges and tiny ¾” wide strips and were busy turning their source photographs into beautiful landscapes. I was particularly impressed with the range of styles that emerged, from the deceptively simple but very atmospheric and elegant quilts to the pieces with a wealth of surface detail and texture. I would strongly recommend to both potential tutors and participants reading this, if you get the chance to go, take it. It is a great venue and a really friendly and well-organised retreat. Thanks to Jean and Jenny and all the ladies for having me and I am really sorry my team cleared up on quiz night! k3n x

What a beautiful group of ladies - even without airbrushing!

The beautiful quilts after just two and a half days - I am hoping to be sent a photo of progress at the end of the week.

Mapping Evolution at the West Country Quilt Show

My joint exhibition Mapping Evolution with Alicia Merrett will be at the West Country Quilt and Textile Show next week from Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th November at UWE in Bristol. Follow the link for more details. Hope to see you there. k3n x

View from a Northumbrian Shepherd's Hut

Hi all, I finished this a little while ago but only just got round to buying a canvas to mount it on. It measures 12" wide by 32" high and is inspired by a photo I took from the doorway of the shepherd's hut at the Wild Northumbrian campsite where we stayed on holiday in August. The setting was idyllic and this view greeted us every morning.

Cosmic Jigsaw Quilts at Midsomer Quilting

I had a fantastic workshop today at Midsomer Quilting teaching part two of my new Cosmic Jigsaw Quilts workshop which is based on my Evolution series currently being exhibited at the Arts Centre in Ilminster (until 31st October). In part one a month ago, students created their design from an inspiration photo then drafted templates and foundation blocks and began work with all sorts of fabric collage and stitching techniques. Some suggested by me and some their own ideas. They continued to work on their pieces at home and today finished embellishments and joined their pieces together and mounted them on artists canvases. Here are some photos of their work, the colours haven't come out very vividly but I hope you will agree that their work is fabulous. Many of them were fairly new to art quilting and agreed that this technique gave them a structure which formed a good basis to get creative. I will be teaching the two part workshop again at Midsomer Quilting in January and February and at Barrington Patchwork in February and March. Alternatively, if you are a member of a quilt group, you can book me to come along to your own venue to teach this. Please contact me for further details.

Stitch a Rainbow

I taught this workshop at Pauline's Patchwork in Dorchester last week and had a message from one of the participants, Sue Wild that she had blogged about her quilt which you can see here
It's so great to get feedback from students and to see the finished piece - thanks Sue, I especially love the 'bling'! xx