I'm just having a little pause and taking the opportunity to post a report on my first day
at Festival of Quilts 2013. This year I am staying for the full four
days and thought I would therefore have plenty of time to see
everything but, with lectures and workshops (and the limitations of
having a foot in a pot), I'm not sure that even four days will be
long enough. This is an incredible show with a wonderful variety of
exhibits, to say nothing of the traders (yet).
Yesterday I heard Alice Fox speak about
her work, and especially her artist in residency at Spurn Point
Lighthouse. It was lovely to learn how her work developed and today
I hope to see her again in the “virtual studio” where she will be
demonstrating some of her mark-making techniques. I am inspired to
go to the beach and see what I can find to use in textile projects.
I met up with several friends and
bloggers yesterday which was lovely. Julie Mackinder pointed me in
the direction of the exhibition of Banjara: Historic Indian
Textiles, collected by Jan Petranek. These were intricate and aged
pieces of cloth, created for everyday use and now preserved by Jan.
I took a few pictures but please excuse the reflections of the
lights.
I was delighted to meet up with Janine,
one of my Indigo Sisters. She was with an interesting collection of
quilts entitled Crossroads – A Middle Eastern Festival. There was
a wide variety of quilts reflecting this area of the world and
demonstrating dynamic colour choices and themes. Janine was able to
tell me some of the history of quilts in the Middle East and I was
especially interested to hear how all the cotton filling was removed
from her quilts during the summer and aerated and left in the sun,
fresh and ready to be put back into the quilts, which were then
re-quilted, for the winter.
Lots more to share but it's time to eat :-)
