More quilts. Hang in there… I wrote this post yesterday and then managed not to press ‘publish’… so today you’re getting a long double one effectively. Grab a cup of tea and let’s go
So first up Ruth Singer , who had a residenship at the Staffordshire Record Office and researched and created artworks inspired by female criminals who’d been imprisoned in Stafford Prison from 1877 to 1915. First of all let’s ignore for a moment the horrible things that go on in society right now and marvel and rejoice for the fact we live in a world that still makes space for art and where a Record Office has an artist in residence. There’s hope after all, right? Second… what an interesting job!!
The series is called ‘Criminal Quilts’ and it’s strangely (or perhaps not) moving.
This is a shawl made by photographs of the prisoners… a lot of the prisoners were wearing shawls in their photograph so the link is tangeable. Also… I have a box full of familly vintage photographs… this kind of gives me an idea… mmmhhhhh
hands of prisoners embroidered on vintage linens
Heights
And now for some old ones…
Nothing is really known about this top, provenance nor maker, but these mauve fabrics came into vogue in the second half of the nineteen century, when new dyes were discovered that yielded this colour. In 1856 a gentleman called William Henry Perkin accidentally discovered a dye that turned silk purple: mauveine. Mauve was also an acceptable ‘half-mourning’ colour after a period of ‘black’ mourning… so perhaps… who knows…
Gorgeous, crazy gorgeous crazy patchwork coverlet from 1886
Bratton Baptist Church Coverlet 1913
Topsham Museum Crazy Patchwork coverlet 1889, signed Emily Seward
Printed cotton hexagon coverlet 1780 1820
… and the famous 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet… 300 years old…
let’s walk the floor for a while:
Stupidly I didn’t take a note of the author of this wedding ring quilt… but it was made out of paper it seems… absolutely gorgeous.
And check out this quilting! (Deborah Lobban, Where’ s Dave)
Another whose name escaped me… part of the SAQA Concrete and Grassland exhibition
Snow in the desert, Caroline Villars
Then there was the 14th Quilt Nihon
366 days, Yogo Eguchi
Welcome to the heavenly flower garden, Yukiko Nakao
We meet again, Tomoko Tanabe
Card Magic
And to conclude this tour de force a few from the Fine Art Quilt Masters 2018:
Strelitzia, Karen Callaghan
detail of Electric Storm, Ann Barbara Smith
Captivated by nature, Olga Gonzales-Angulo
And that’s a wrap… you’ll be relieved to know. I enjoyed the show this year, I went on the last day and it wasn’t too crowded and the photos I’ve shown you are only a very small percentage of the amazing quilts that were there… the ones that cought my eyes, the ones that rang a bell in my mind… but there were more many more… and I already look forward to next year!
while you're ahead... 