The Beast Submits

31 December 2012

You may recall, dear reader, that a little while ago I regaled you with tales of Beast Taming (or to put it another way, getting used to my new quilting frame).

I have managed to grab the time between Christmas and New Year to do a bit more and have now finished quilting a small lap sized quilt based on a simple 9 patch design.

So what have I learnt?

Well, as I reported in an earlier post, I bought myself a quilting frame (how rash) and I has a few issues getting used to it!

Well, perserverence and I have cracked it!

My biggest challenge was getting used to working with the machine side on - it seems daft but that really took some time to get my head around that. Other challenges were:-

Not being able to see when the bobbin was due to run out! That caught me unawares a number of times.
The trolley 'sticking' sometimes causing the stitching to jump slightly. I have no idea why that was - something to keep an eye on perhaps (though interestingly when I did the very last bit of quilting around the border of the quilt I did take the quilt off and put re-attach it to the frame and it ran much smoother - mystery!)
getting my head around planning the quilting in 'a line' along the quilt to accommodate the 'arm' of the machine and planning for that.

But golly it makes quilting a whole lot quicker. Once set up and in the groove, so to speak, I fairly whizzed along, and this thing is quite heavily quilted (I used it as a sampler to see what techniques worked best etc.)

So, after a slightly shaky start I have to say that I am really, really pleased with this purchase. I have a paper based quilt to finish (one of the Spanish Garden series) and was finding that impossible on the machine set up conventionally, and I bought it with larger paper quilts in mind (it's a one off purchase and while extravagant my reasoning is that it will last me years!)

There is a post script to this, which I am sure you traditional quilters will recognise - the need for some more gadgets and gizmos!

First up, I need a stool with wheels to use with the frame (perching on a chair back is not really very good!) and, guess what, I think I need another machine! One with a longer 'neck' so that I get more scope with the frame, and one that I can dedicate to using on the frame alone. Ebay here I come!

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Persephone Books and Campbell and Collier

21 December 2012

There is a little gem of a book shop tucked away in a little London recess.

Persephone Books prints mainly neglected fiction and non-fiction by women, for women and about women. (which gives me a sneaky suspicion that they will appeal to the textile sisterhood). According to their blurb "the titles are chosen to appeal to busy women who rarely have time to spend in ever-larger bookshops and who would like to have access to a list of books designed to be neither too literary nor too commercial. The books are guaranteed to be readable, thought-provoking and impossible to forget."

Now that may be reason enough to pay them a visit (literally of virtually - depending on where you are) but another reason that they may appeal is because of the way that they are presented.

Again - let me quote from their website.

"With their distinctive plain grey jackets and cream ‘labels’ for the title wording, all our books look the same from the outside.

Inside, each is different, with the endpapers chosen especially to match the date and mood of the book.

Fabrics are as much a part of our daily lives as furnishing and dress materials, yet we rarely see them used in any other context. However, fabric design should be celebrated for its own sake; and because it is a field in which women designers have been particularly prominent we would like to use their work whenever possible."

And they have recently published the 'Persephone Book of Short Stories' with end papers by Collier and Campbell. The latest edition of their lovely newsletter includes a fabulous article about Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell, and I discovered that at our East Dulwich house we had curtains made from Kasak fabric designed by Collier and Campbell for Liberty in 1977. We bought the fabric from Liberty but it was in a sale (I think it was a second) and in those days I had not heard of Collier and Campbell. Who knew that we had a bit of design history in our living room?

photo by Tania Covo

In writing this blog I have found that Collier and Campbell are still going, although in 2011 Susan Collier sadly died. Apparently the company was acquired by a lady called Judy Lever, a long-term friend of Susan and Sarah, who had built up Blooming Marvellous, the maternity and childrenswear business. So their designs live on. Which on the one hand is lovely, but on the other hand we need to encourage the next generation of textile designers, so my feelings are a bit mixed!

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Hemmed In 3: The Long Gallery

15 December 2012

This is the final gallery at MK Gallery - this one curated by Mr X Stitch.

This is the gallery that truly embraces the word 'beyond' - in every sense.

Spirals are Free - Essay on Huntertwasser 2012 by Cheryl Montgomery

Detail of Spirals are Free

City Streets by Rosie James 2012 (UK)

Come Back to the 5 and Dime 2011 - by Lucky Jackson (Canada)

Night knife 2012 by Ben Venom (USA)

Hellfire by Karen Grenfell 2012 (UK)

Blue Door 2008 by Sarah Greaves (UK)

Detail from Playground 2008

Playground 2008 and Welcome to the Real World 2011 by Tilleke Schwarz (Netherlands)

Gold Rhino and Saola 2011 (needlefelted) by Zoe Williams (USA)

Bath Tub 2011 by Sarah Greaves (UK)

Un-homely furnishings - Side Table 2012 by Cate Hursthouse (UK)

healing sutras by Erin Endicott 2011-12 (USA)

Detail from Healing Sutras

Loot 4 and Loot 5 (below) by Erin Riley (USA)

Flat Glen by Luke Haynes (USA)

Detail from Way of Roses

Way of Roses by Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene 2007 (Lithuania)

Circle of Life by Spike Dennis 2012 (UK)

Women Rise Up 2011 by Penny Nickels (USA)

2 sides to the Story by Joetta Maue (USA)

Rock n Roll Outlaws 2012 by Bridgeen Gillespie (UK)

Whitby Abbey at Sunset by Mr X Stitch

The Hog and The Horse by Hagar Vardimon (Netherlands)

Losses by Kirsty Whitlock (UK) 2009-10

White Faced Girl by Jessica Wohl (USA)

Over the last few blog entries I have managed to capture most of the pieces being exhibited. Some items did not photographs so well.

My apologies to all artists whose work I have omitted. This is not a commentary on your art, rather on my photographics skills.

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Hemmed In 2: The Middle Gallery

Here are some more photographs from the Hemmed In exhibition at Milton Keynes gallery. This gallery focuses on work by the MK Branch of the guild or artists selected by the guild.

Linda Miller - Eight Inch Square 2012