Cut and Paste

As you all know collage is at the heart of my practice, even if I do it will cloth rather than paper, so I was delighted to go to "Cut and Paste" at Edinburgh gallery of Modern Art yesterday. Well worth a visit and covers 400 years of collage including a quilt, some work incorporating textiles and stunning work from John Piper, Picasso, Vanessa Bell, Mrs Delaney and many many more. You need to allow at least two hours to go round as it is a large exhibition with a good catalogue to back it up. Here are a few pieces that are really old.

about 1700-50. The fabrics are inserted UNDER the engraving in these pieces

George Smart The Goosewoman 1830

Old Bright the Postman 1830 George Smart

French Book

Recently I was teaching for Crafty Retreats in France and set the students the challenge of creating a fabric book using pieces of fabric that had been unpicked from an A4 size piece of old quilt that had a sandwich of many layers. I started one myself too but have only just had time to finish it today. I made a small concertina which is sewn in to a cover made from the original quilt. The collage is the thing really with the stitch just adding a little bit of surface interest. The photos are not too wonderful as it has been dark and rainy here all day!

Loving Baltimore

I have been to The Festival of Quilts today and the highlight of my day was to see the very old Baltimore Album  quilts up close. What was new to me was the drawing in Indian ink on to petals and to add details here and there. I have never seen this detail through reproductions in books. It made me want to go off and do even more appliqué and I hope looking at my photos makes you feel the same way!