It's easier to let go of your "old" quilts and quiltlets when you know they're going on to a new life, or are helping a good cause. I met Ruth in a textiles class at City Lit and over the years she has had several "tea and textiles" events in aid of various charities, Greenpeace among them.
This time she's fundraising for Medecins Sans Frontieres. I'm happy to contribute some of the quilts made for Contemporary Quilt's challenges, and also some journal quilts (those will be mounted on board to fit into a standard frame, or glued to deep-edged commercial canvases), as well as embroidery that dates back before The Quilting Years.
Here's the selection so far -
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| Celtic Connections |
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| Verge Blur |
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| "The Rose in Winter" was in the "Figure it Out" suitcase collection |
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| "And Flowers Almost Poems" incorporates old silks from a friend's mother's stash |
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| "It was her favourite tipple and it done her in" was made in 1999, before I knew anything about dyeing fabric, and many of the squares were appliqued on car journeys. The long thing shape rather reminded me of a coffin cover (hardly cosy!), hence the title |
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| The theme for the fabric-printing challenge on the Quiltart list in about 2001 was "Ten" - I hadn't learnt how to photo edit then, in fact hadn't moved to digital camera, so it had to be text... |
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| Columns were constructed by randomly pulling strips from one or another bag of fabric, then sewn together. These fabrics were mostly samples made in a textile printing class in the late 90s and finallyput to some use. They look rather geological. |
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| Same construction method; the fabrics are mostly silk, but don't seem to have been affected by hanging in a bathroom for a few years! |
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| Made in Calgary or Halifax, Canada, late 70s. Hand quilted. |
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| Sunshine and Shadows; made in Halifax, 1979. It hung in a staff exhibition at the university and I was surprised to see how small it looked on the wall! |
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| More pink - the largest of the three, and made in the late 90s. Enlivened by confetti and some rather "electric" machine quilting. |
If you'd like to come along to have tea and cake, and be tempted not so much by my textiles but by the prints and ceramics, photography and smaller items that are being contributed by others, get in touch and I'll send you details. Ruth's home is in Camden (north London) and we'll be there on the last weekend in March and the first two weekends in April. All proceeds go to MSF.
2 comments:
Margaret -- I hadn't remembered that you used to be in Halifax. We were there for a day trip off our cruise last fall and really loved the place. We spent most of the afternoon at the maritime museum and the rest of it drinking beer on the waterfront.
I also read a book about the great explosion in Halifax Harbor. A fascinating place -- I'm ready to go back any time!
It's good to lighten your load a bit and help an organization continue their mission with the money that will be raised with selling your items. I have such a pile of quilts I question why I would ever need to make another one!
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