Monday 15 August 2011

Festival of Quilts

Popular Patchwork stand with a Katharine Guerrier project on show
http://www.katharineguerrier.com/
Jennifer Hollingdale's gallery
A class working on fabric choices for a quilt from a Kaffe
Fasset Rowan publication



















I've just spent a very enjoyable couple of days at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, our great big annual show show. I love the non juried aspect of the show though it leads to some strange entries on occasion and the care with which the work is displayed especially the gallery conditions for invited groups or makers. There were so many wonderful quilts not just the ones of professional standard but lovingly made pieces and intriguing details.


 Unusually for me both my favourites were from the pictorial section. I'm drawn to the geometric side of quilting and as someone who has always loved painting feel slightly uncomfortable when quilts move into this field but I loved Cathy Corbishley Michel's "Endurance 1" using cyanotype printed photographs taken by Frank Hurley of the Shackleton expedition to Antartica. http://www.michelg.plus.com/QC2/QC2Gallery/ (click on the screen and the quilt is one of the first to be shown)
The pictures of the men who endured incredible danger and survived and the haunting images of the dying ship caught in the ice were well served by Catherine's straightforward presentation. Less is more.
This visitor's choice was "Life" by Annabel Rainbow. While some of the quilted writing was quirky and referencing a typical tongue in cheek attitude to weight issues, the age of the sitter and her unflinching gaze had a rather unsettling quality which made this piece a true work of art, I felt. I assume this is a self portrait and the like can be seen rather artily clad at quilt shows everywhere but it's as if she is stripped bare of more than clothing to face mortality and bodily deterioration.
http://www.annabelrainbow.com/2011_2.html (you need to scroll down a short way).
While I can't show pictures of individual quilts I can show some general views to give a flavour of the event. I came across Bonnie McCaffrey filming her report. I expect this won't appear on her site just yet but I enjoy her interviews with other quilters.  http://bonniemccaffery.com/wordpress1/
Bonnie McCaffrey at work





Egyptian Tentmakers Exhibit

One of the galleries





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello there, I've just found you by a very circuitous route and thought I'd just say thanks for the mention; my quilt was the Life (Measures of Time) piece. I'm so pleased it made it to your pages; it's really thrilling to think someone like it. It's not a self portrait though, and was a professional life model.