Patchwork # 2

The next book I found was a bit of a jump into the 'future' compared to last book.
Contemporary Quilts By Barbara Hallas is described as a 'gallery of modern textile hangings' I think the main use of the book is to inspire quilt makers on 'what to make next'. It's a good insight to what was deemed 'modern' quilting in 1994.

There are some really impressive designs in the book along with some really dated and awful ones. All of which have taken an awful lot of time and planning to create.
I have picked out a couple of really nice geometric patterns which look quite simple to replicate but i'm sure a pretty frickin' difficult.

I have not yet looked into the details of quilting iteslf as far as how to quilt goes but I think i've got a pretty good idea. I know that it's really difficult and time consuming if you've never produced one before but i'm not exactly looking to make a direct copy of 'a patchwork quilt' I just know that i'm going to be using textiles panels of imagery and stitching in a patchwork style, not necessarily with the word quilt on the end.

PATCHWORK

Since the final peice I want to create is inspired by the idea of a patchwork quilt, I decided to trawl Vernon Street & Blehneim Walk libraries.

These are photos of a few examples of the book 'Samplers' (V&A) By Donald King.

Samplers are old embroidery peices from the early 17th to the middle of the 19th century. They were usually produced by young school girls from ages as young as 5 up to around 15 years old. Although sometimes they were also made professionally for specific purposes. (cover)

The pieces I have selected are those I find the most applicable to my own work and hope to get a little bit of inspiration on layouts and themes. After a lot of reading it's really amazing to think about the work that has actually gone into them. They are all hand sewn which is the most impressive thing. Most of the book is very old fashioned craftwork but I really love the examples with animals involved, they remind me of ancient cave paintings or Egyptian hieroglyphics. I love the sense of storytelling in some of them, where some have a central focal point surrounded by pattern and others have horizontal left to right composition like a page of a book. It's a shame the whole book is in black and white, It would be nice to see some coloured samplers to see what was used at the time, although seeing as they're Victorian they'll have faded with time.

When I think about it, I'll have deffinately seen some samplers in real life at the V&A but obviously not payed a heck of a lot of attention. Next time i'll not be walking straight past!










Check out the intricate needlework! Those poor little fingers!

FOLDY ROLLLLL PART DEUX

-> CLICK ME <- To see my bookbinding & paperfolding workshop!!! One of the tutors, SARAH taught us how to make different styles of concertina books. It was fun but I wasn't too great at it!

FOLDY ROLLLLLL

Here's some examples taken from one of my favourite places on the internet! High up in Tree's. It's a blog by artist Gracia Haby

LITTLE BOOKS

These are two examples of the style of book I would like to produce..... The top book "Hints to Cat lovers" is a very very old book I got from Ebay a while ago. It's hilarious but really good! It is quite literally TIPS on keeping a cat. Everything down to worms... but it's just how old fashioned it is that makes it so funny. The old illustrations of cats in those but funnel type collar things to stop them from licking their wounds are just so funny. The books are the same size a lot smaller than a5. About as big as my hand. I've got small hands. Not as small as Jeremy Beadles hand... but still small... oooooooooooooooh shouldn't say that should I, that's awful.... Anwyay, the 2nd book I bought from a little sidestreet in Barcelona ...It was amazing there. Here's another post about it because frankly, darling, I can't be arsed to write it all out

AYE AYE AYEEEEEEEE ARRRRIBA ARRIBAAAA CLICK MEEEEE!!!