Festival of Quilts 2013 - The Last Post!

As I stayed at the Festival of Quilts for the full period this year I was able to take advantage of some of the wonderful classes and lectures on offer.  I spread these over the four days as follows:
Thursday afternoon:  Alice Fox - 'Coastal Perspective'
Friday morning:         Leslie Morgan - 'Inspirations - Origin and Outcome'
                                  Sheena Norquay - 'Seasonal Inspirations'
Saturday:                   Jane Callender - 'Wholecloth Shibori'
Sunday morning:       Pat Archibald - 'Japanese Inspirations'
Sunday afternoon:     Jane Callender - 'Indigo and the Tightening Thread'*

*  Lecture given was actually 'Indigo, Shibori and Pattern'

As things turned out I was treated to several different perspectives on design.  Alice Fox spoke about her residency at Spurn Point which I have previously blogged about and it was a delight to see some of her sketch books.  She uses found objects to make marks on both paper and fabric and explained how she makes 'collograph prints' from collages of found objects.  Earlier this year Alice worked on Gifts from the Pavement in Saltaire and her work reminded me that I saw wonderful manhole covers in Japan.
Leslie Morgan, Sheena Norquay and Jane Callender all spoke about design.  Jane has published a book and her talk showed how she 'tiled' designs from a simple starting point to create the complex designs shown in her book.  Leslie and Sheena both described how their daily walk, their surroundings, inspired their designs, via sketchbooks and photography.  During the later part of Sheena's lecture I found myself scribbling down ideas for possible projects of my own and, as a result of all these lectures, I decided I must start keeping a sketchbook/ideas journal.  Also I appreciated that a quilt does not have to be a pictorial representation of the inspiration, I might use the colours I see, or the textures, or the feelings they inspire.  I came out of the lecture rooms feeling all creative!  Sheena had a display of quilts on the Aurifil stand which I photographed for my reference but agreed not to share on my blog.  This quilt, Transported - Windblown Leaves, however, was in the QGBI Challenge exhibit so I am happy to include it here:

Leslie and Alice both worked in the "Virtual Studio" at FoQ and it was interesting to see them actually at work, practising what they preach if you like!
On the subject of practical work, I did workshops with Jane Callender and Pat Archibald.  I'm afraid the full day with Jane was very disappointing so I shall write no more.  The hour with Pat, however, was brilliant.  She showed us how to use iridescent Markal oil paints with a stencil to create a design of falling maple leaves (hence the "Japanese" in the title of her class).  She then offered us the choice of stitching into the design for the rest of the workshop (with the lovely Wonderfil thread provided) or "gathering round" and learning lots of techniques that she uses in her work, with the Markal paints, glues and foil.  We all decided we could stitch later!  Pat was fun and so generous as a tutor, it was an excellent way to spend an hour.  My maple leaves piece has become a 12" block which will join others sent to me by Global Piecers for my recent birthday to create a lap quilt in Autumn colours.
Well, that concludes my reports from what I think was a very successful Festival of Quilts.  I enjoyed seeing a wide variety of well crafted quilts and textile creations, meeting up with friends old and new and spending time with them, learning from experts and being inspired to go forward along my own textile path and, of course, one or two shopping opportunities.