Then and Now
- A Collection from Contemporary Textiles Contemporary Textiles is the updated name for Contemporary Quilt, one of the five Special Interest Groups (SIG) of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles (QGBI). The SIG was founded in 2002, and our 25th anniversary is in 2027. In recognition of this, the current committee asked founder members to reflect on their creative practice over those 25 years and to choose two quilts to represent their work ‘then’ and ‘now’. We were delighted when 14 of the founding, and still current, members offered work to display. The diversity of approaches to textile art is apparent in this collection, as is the commitment of the individuals to sustained development in this textile discipline.
- Contemporary Textiles has continued to be a vibrant and exciting part of QGBI. The group now has over 650 members throughout the British Isles, and further afield. Regular challenges are set for members; the results of these are curated into collections that are exhibited in galleries across the UK.
- Further information, including details of how to join CT, can be found by contacting the CT Coordinator on [email protected], or by visiting the website contemporaryquilt.org.uk.
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Greta Fitchett
I am inspired by travel and keep a visual record of where I have been, and what I have seen in my sketchbooks. These are a mixture of drawing, photography and mixed media pages and are a starting point for new quilts. I have made a monthly journal quilt since 2007 and found this a good way to try designs, ideas, materials and techniques on a small scale.
Venice Water and Glass
Inspiration came from contemporary Venetian studio glass with its flowing lines, and colourful millefiori beads, each one containing unique creative patterns. Water is represented with reflections on the surface of the lagoon, sometimes perfectly still and at other times constantly moving and changing.
Based on the traditional strippy quilt, the borders are constructed from free cut curved piecing. Bonded applique shapes form long reflections with echo stitching in machine satin stitch. Shapes from beads and gothic windows add detail. Quilted with a twin needle with threads retained on the surface.
Battersea Power Station
This is the latest in my Reflections and Distortions series, a theme I have been exploring for several years, inspired by reflections seen in modern glass curtain wall buildings. This continues the travel theme and uses the graphic style of vintage railway posters. The old Battersea power station, on the Thames in London, is now surrounded by reflective new buildings. The grid of quarter inch sashing represents the windows of a modern building. The reflection is made with free cut curved piecing, and detail added with applique. Quilted with lines of machine stitch.
I am inspired by travel and keep a visual record of where I have been, and what I have seen in my sketchbooks. These are a mixture of drawing, photography and mixed media pages and are a starting point for new quilts. I have made a monthly journal quilt since 2007 and found this a good way to try designs, ideas, materials and techniques on a small scale.
Venice Water and Glass
Inspiration came from contemporary Venetian studio glass with its flowing lines, and colourful millefiori beads, each one containing unique creative patterns. Water is represented with reflections on the surface of the lagoon, sometimes perfectly still and at other times constantly moving and changing.
Based on the traditional strippy quilt, the borders are constructed from free cut curved piecing. Bonded applique shapes form long reflections with echo stitching in machine satin stitch. Shapes from beads and gothic windows add detail. Quilted with a twin needle with threads retained on the surface.
Battersea Power Station
This is the latest in my Reflections and Distortions series, a theme I have been exploring for several years, inspired by reflections seen in modern glass curtain wall buildings. This continues the travel theme and uses the graphic style of vintage railway posters. The old Battersea power station, on the Thames in London, is now surrounded by reflective new buildings. The grid of quarter inch sashing represents the windows of a modern building. The reflection is made with free cut curved piecing, and detail added with applique. Quilted with lines of machine stitch.
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Margaret Ramsay
I make art textiles inspired by the natural world, a sense of place, and my own photos and drawings. I use repurposed textiles (including vintage quilts), indigo, paint and stitch. I’ve been quilting since the 1980’s, joining the QGBI in 1986. As an early member of Contemporary Textiles, it was exciting meeting others who understood that quilts could be art and have appreciated their support over the years. My preference is hand stitching, a slow process, my latest quilt “Strandline”, (CT “Pathways” Challenge) took me 7 years!
“City Girls Dream of the Sea” (1999) was inspired by “La Baie de Cannes” (Pablo Picasso) and my stash: some commercial quilting fabrics but mainly charity shop finds (the palm tree was a motif on a batik dressing gown). Hand stitched with Coton a Broder, it won 3rd prize in the themed category of the Great Northern Quilt Show in 2000.
“Nautical Dawn” (2013) was made for CT “Horizons” exhibition from a section of an old red and white strippy quilt, with acrylic paint applied over torn masking tape stencils. Hand stitched with vintage silk buttonhole threads, I finished it on a CT weekend retreat, using over 100 metres of thread!
In 2017 I won “Fine Art Quilt Masters” at the Festival of Quilts with “Birchington Breakwaters”, (a re-configured antique red and white log cabin quilt) which is now in the QGBI museum collections. I spent the £5000 prize on art courses and a work by Dorothy Caldwell.
I make art textiles inspired by the natural world, a sense of place, and my own photos and drawings. I use repurposed textiles (including vintage quilts), indigo, paint and stitch. I’ve been quilting since the 1980’s, joining the QGBI in 1986. As an early member of Contemporary Textiles, it was exciting meeting others who understood that quilts could be art and have appreciated their support over the years. My preference is hand stitching, a slow process, my latest quilt “Strandline”, (CT “Pathways” Challenge) took me 7 years!
“City Girls Dream of the Sea” (1999) was inspired by “La Baie de Cannes” (Pablo Picasso) and my stash: some commercial quilting fabrics but mainly charity shop finds (the palm tree was a motif on a batik dressing gown). Hand stitched with Coton a Broder, it won 3rd prize in the themed category of the Great Northern Quilt Show in 2000.
“Nautical Dawn” (2013) was made for CT “Horizons” exhibition from a section of an old red and white strippy quilt, with acrylic paint applied over torn masking tape stencils. Hand stitched with vintage silk buttonhole threads, I finished it on a CT weekend retreat, using over 100 metres of thread!
In 2017 I won “Fine Art Quilt Masters” at the Festival of Quilts with “Birchington Breakwaters”, (a re-configured antique red and white log cabin quilt) which is now in the QGBI museum collections. I spent the £5000 prize on art courses and a work by Dorothy Caldwell.
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Annette Morgan
Annette would describe the main technique she uses as collage. This may mean using fabrics which she has dyed, painted, screen printed and/or manipulated in some way. These fabrics are then placed on a base which is hand or machine stitched and quilted. This makes her work original to her. Photography and collage also play a part in her design work, using her own printed and painted papers.
During and since lockdown, the use of found, vintage and antique fabrics and lace has found a place in her work.
Charlecote Fences was made shortly after Annette had completed her City and Guilds course in Norwich, Norfolk, in the mid 90s, using fabrics bought at a show in a mixed lot.
The design came from a photograph from a visit to Charlcote Manor in Warwickshire, where the fences on the estate follow the same pattern.
The Fisherman’s Door is based on a photograph of a fisherman’s door on a hut in the boatyard of Old Felixstowe in Suffolk, sadly the door is no longer there. Most of the fabrics in this piece came from the African Fabric Shop, which I painted and distressed to give the effect I wanted of old wood. It is reversible.
It was juried into a Fine Art Quilt Masters exhibition and then travelled to America where it was included in the World Quilt and Textile show. Sadly, the quilt disappeared. Five years later it reappeared with together with its original packaging and postage date!
Annette would describe the main technique she uses as collage. This may mean using fabrics which she has dyed, painted, screen printed and/or manipulated in some way. These fabrics are then placed on a base which is hand or machine stitched and quilted. This makes her work original to her. Photography and collage also play a part in her design work, using her own printed and painted papers.
During and since lockdown, the use of found, vintage and antique fabrics and lace has found a place in her work.
Charlecote Fences was made shortly after Annette had completed her City and Guilds course in Norwich, Norfolk, in the mid 90s, using fabrics bought at a show in a mixed lot.
The design came from a photograph from a visit to Charlcote Manor in Warwickshire, where the fences on the estate follow the same pattern.
The Fisherman’s Door is based on a photograph of a fisherman’s door on a hut in the boatyard of Old Felixstowe in Suffolk, sadly the door is no longer there. Most of the fabrics in this piece came from the African Fabric Shop, which I painted and distressed to give the effect I wanted of old wood. It is reversible.
It was juried into a Fine Art Quilt Masters exhibition and then travelled to America where it was included in the World Quilt and Textile show. Sadly, the quilt disappeared. Five years later it reappeared with together with its original packaging and postage date!
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Kate Dowty
In the early 2000s, I made a series of quilts which featured raw-edged bias-cut strips of fabric woven across a pieced background and stitched into place. At the time I found this very exciting especially as I realised that the raw edges did not fray. Weaving the Fuchsia, like several of the others, included dyed and painted blue and magenta fabrics, a popular colour choice for me at the time.
By the time I made Circular Walk I had moved house and had been living near the sea in the south west for many years. The environment changed the palette that I worked with to reflect the local landscape of countryside, farmland and coast. Circular Walk was made during the pandemic when I was especially grateful to be no longer resident in the south east. I was so lucky to have lots of outside space on the doorstep where I could walk in safety. The piece uses the colours of the crops in fields I walked across regularly. It is a painted wholecloth quilt with raw edge scraps representing the ever-changing colours of the crops and applied red cord to indicate walking the same route over and over again.
In the early 2000s, I made a series of quilts which featured raw-edged bias-cut strips of fabric woven across a pieced background and stitched into place. At the time I found this very exciting especially as I realised that the raw edges did not fray. Weaving the Fuchsia, like several of the others, included dyed and painted blue and magenta fabrics, a popular colour choice for me at the time.
By the time I made Circular Walk I had moved house and had been living near the sea in the south west for many years. The environment changed the palette that I worked with to reflect the local landscape of countryside, farmland and coast. Circular Walk was made during the pandemic when I was especially grateful to be no longer resident in the south east. I was so lucky to have lots of outside space on the doorstep where I could walk in safety. The piece uses the colours of the crops in fields I walked across regularly. It is a painted wholecloth quilt with raw edge scraps representing the ever-changing colours of the crops and applied red cord to indicate walking the same route over and over again.
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Carol Dowsett
“Not all tulips are blue.”
Using a digital camera I took images of tulips and transferred them into Photoshop Elements. Different ‘filters’ were applied and the resultant graphic images were printed onto hand dyed fabrics.
Free machining with different threads completed the hanging.
“My Tulip Palimpsest.”
Inspired by the meaning of the word “Palimpsest”: a surface reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
My tulips in glorious colour are fading away into ghost images, with barely discernable writing underneath.
Made using black discharge cotton fabric and transfer painted sheers.
“Not all tulips are blue.”
Using a digital camera I took images of tulips and transferred them into Photoshop Elements. Different ‘filters’ were applied and the resultant graphic images were printed onto hand dyed fabrics.
Free machining with different threads completed the hanging.
“My Tulip Palimpsest.”
Inspired by the meaning of the word “Palimpsest”: a surface reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
My tulips in glorious colour are fading away into ghost images, with barely discernable writing underneath.
Made using black discharge cotton fabric and transfer painted sheers.
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Judith Barker
Throughout my stitching life I have made work influenced by items from museums, archaeology, and latterly, by mythology.
The small piece “Where will it all end?” was inspired by the scroll and interlace patterns of Celtic / Anglo-Saxon / Viking art, which seem to go on for ever. It is conventional machine appliqué over a collaged background, silk and cotton.
The later piece, made last year, “The Journey Home” was based on Greek myth, and refers to Odysseus’s 10 year journey home from the Trojan War, during which he fought monsters, had love affairs, and met with both setbacks and triumphs. A metaphor for life, too, maybe. It is effectively a wholecloth, painted lawn, with one single line looping backwards and forwards, and small elements of appliqué and beads.
Both pieces are densely machine quilted, but I now add a lot of hand stitching detail too, to provide an interesting surface. I still work a lot with blue fabrics, and often mix cotton with silk or wool.
(And for myth nerds – I have also now made 2 pieces about Odysseus’s wife Penelope).
Throughout my stitching life I have made work influenced by items from museums, archaeology, and latterly, by mythology.
The small piece “Where will it all end?” was inspired by the scroll and interlace patterns of Celtic / Anglo-Saxon / Viking art, which seem to go on for ever. It is conventional machine appliqué over a collaged background, silk and cotton.
The later piece, made last year, “The Journey Home” was based on Greek myth, and refers to Odysseus’s 10 year journey home from the Trojan War, during which he fought monsters, had love affairs, and met with both setbacks and triumphs. A metaphor for life, too, maybe. It is effectively a wholecloth, painted lawn, with one single line looping backwards and forwards, and small elements of appliqué and beads.
Both pieces are densely machine quilted, but I now add a lot of hand stitching detail too, to provide an interesting surface. I still work a lot with blue fabrics, and often mix cotton with silk or wool.
(And for myth nerds – I have also now made 2 pieces about Odysseus’s wife Penelope).
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Caroline Wilkinson
I first came across quilt making when I was living in America. I was hooked: I had found a means of self-expression. It was an opportunity to escape into a kaleidoscopic world of colour and patterns. My fascination for colour stems from my childhood in Africa; the warm shades of sunset and bold shapes of the open savannah have remained with me and influenced the choices I make in my work. Belonging to local groups, joining the Quilters’ Guild, and teaching have also been invaluable to my development as a stitcher.
My early quilts followed traditional patterns, but I soon began reinterpreting conventional designs. I no longer saw quilts as functional bedcoverings, but as standalone artworks. I was drawn to strong, geometric shapes and curved piecing, collecting fabrics from as far as Africa and India. Now, because of the environmental cost of fabric production, I try to upcycle my scrap fabric and repurpose old clothing.
“Southern Seas” uses old linens, cottons and silk, dyed in colours of the ocean. Commercial cottons were then carefully selected. Handmade paper, organza, shells, beads and buttons were used as embellishments, with machine embroidery and couching.
“From Harrods to the High Street” was made from 20 plastic bags; part of the quilt disintegrated and was remade in 2023. I hope this piece serves as a reminder that plastic, though useful, does not biodegrade and is detrimental to the environment. Machine-piecing and appliqué were used to construct the blocks, and decorative threads were stitched to the surface.
I first came across quilt making when I was living in America. I was hooked: I had found a means of self-expression. It was an opportunity to escape into a kaleidoscopic world of colour and patterns. My fascination for colour stems from my childhood in Africa; the warm shades of sunset and bold shapes of the open savannah have remained with me and influenced the choices I make in my work. Belonging to local groups, joining the Quilters’ Guild, and teaching have also been invaluable to my development as a stitcher.
My early quilts followed traditional patterns, but I soon began reinterpreting conventional designs. I no longer saw quilts as functional bedcoverings, but as standalone artworks. I was drawn to strong, geometric shapes and curved piecing, collecting fabrics from as far as Africa and India. Now, because of the environmental cost of fabric production, I try to upcycle my scrap fabric and repurpose old clothing.
“Southern Seas” uses old linens, cottons and silk, dyed in colours of the ocean. Commercial cottons were then carefully selected. Handmade paper, organza, shells, beads and buttons were used as embellishments, with machine embroidery and couching.
“From Harrods to the High Street” was made from 20 plastic bags; part of the quilt disintegrated and was remade in 2023. I hope this piece serves as a reminder that plastic, though useful, does not biodegrade and is detrimental to the environment. Machine-piecing and appliqué were used to construct the blocks, and decorative threads were stitched to the surface.
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Alicia Merrett
I have been stitching since I was a child, following my mother. After studying first Sociology and then Photography, I became a Dollmaker and Toymaker, designing, teaching, and writing a number of books. In the early 1990s I discovered quilting, and was fascinated by the American art quilts which I first came across at an exhibition in the Craft Council in London. A few years later I achieved my goal of studying with my favourite art quilters, in the US, UK and Europe. Among them, Nancy Crow, Michael James, Caryl Bryer Gentry, Melody Johnson.
My early quilts were improvisational and abstract, but I experimented with a number of styles. Then I started creating map quilts, the first of which was made for an exhibition by the then Contemporary Quilt group of the Quilters’ Guild (now Contemporary Textiles). I created those for several years, until before Covid, when I moved to designing with iPad apps and photography. Those new abstract digital designs were then commercially printed on fabric, layered and machine quilted.
I exhibit world-wide, and have taught workshops in the UK, Europe and Australia. I belong/ed to a number of groups: ColourFX, CQ West, Viewpoints Fiberarts International, SAQA, among them. I have now retired from quilting.
‘Port at Dusk Diptych’ is one of my favourite map quilts. ‘Coral, Amber and Ebony’ is a digital one, part of a Viewpoints project interpreting Cavafy’s poem ‘Ithaka’, about Odysseus journey back home after the Trojan War.
I have been stitching since I was a child, following my mother. After studying first Sociology and then Photography, I became a Dollmaker and Toymaker, designing, teaching, and writing a number of books. In the early 1990s I discovered quilting, and was fascinated by the American art quilts which I first came across at an exhibition in the Craft Council in London. A few years later I achieved my goal of studying with my favourite art quilters, in the US, UK and Europe. Among them, Nancy Crow, Michael James, Caryl Bryer Gentry, Melody Johnson.
My early quilts were improvisational and abstract, but I experimented with a number of styles. Then I started creating map quilts, the first of which was made for an exhibition by the then Contemporary Quilt group of the Quilters’ Guild (now Contemporary Textiles). I created those for several years, until before Covid, when I moved to designing with iPad apps and photography. Those new abstract digital designs were then commercially printed on fabric, layered and machine quilted.
I exhibit world-wide, and have taught workshops in the UK, Europe and Australia. I belong/ed to a number of groups: ColourFX, CQ West, Viewpoints Fiberarts International, SAQA, among them. I have now retired from quilting.
‘Port at Dusk Diptych’ is one of my favourite map quilts. ‘Coral, Amber and Ebony’ is a digital one, part of a Viewpoints project interpreting Cavafy’s poem ‘Ithaka’, about Odysseus journey back home after the Trojan War.
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Hilary Gooding
Crown of Thorns
‘Crown of Thorns’ grew from a workshop with Nancy Crow, titled ‘Improvisation’. It was the beginning of my introduction to the possibilities of abstract, free cutting and piecing. How liberating as I had always been very precise about cutting and piecing traditional patchwork.
My first steps on day 1 were panic stricken and I almost packed my bags. How on earth would you know if free-cut shapes would fit together? Easy – you just lopped bits off until they did! Fantastic! There was no stopping me now. I spent the next three days happily chopping up fabric to my heart’s content. Did I mind if the points were missing? NO! If I was not happy with a curve, out came the rotary cutter and I made it a more satisfying curve.
Back home I had a suitcase full of strips and bits and pieces. In my new-found freedom I put pieces together, adding and subtracting until I was happy with the overall piece. The name comes from the black and white border which seemed like thorns.
Materials: commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabrics, Polyester wadding.
Techniques: Machine pieced, hand quilted.
Deconstruction
For many years I was a member of an international group of quilters, 12 By the Dozen, who challenged themselves three times a year on given themes. The theme that inspired this piece was ‘deconstructivism’ (look it up, it’s a late 20th-century architectural movement characterized by fragmentation, non-linear design, and the manipulation of a structure's shape). I admit my interpretation was pushing it a bit, but the Trade Towers were deconstructed! An expression of my horror of the cruelty and inhumanity of our present times.
Crown of Thorns
‘Crown of Thorns’ grew from a workshop with Nancy Crow, titled ‘Improvisation’. It was the beginning of my introduction to the possibilities of abstract, free cutting and piecing. How liberating as I had always been very precise about cutting and piecing traditional patchwork.
My first steps on day 1 were panic stricken and I almost packed my bags. How on earth would you know if free-cut shapes would fit together? Easy – you just lopped bits off until they did! Fantastic! There was no stopping me now. I spent the next three days happily chopping up fabric to my heart’s content. Did I mind if the points were missing? NO! If I was not happy with a curve, out came the rotary cutter and I made it a more satisfying curve.
Back home I had a suitcase full of strips and bits and pieces. In my new-found freedom I put pieces together, adding and subtracting until I was happy with the overall piece. The name comes from the black and white border which seemed like thorns.
Materials: commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabrics, Polyester wadding.
Techniques: Machine pieced, hand quilted.
Deconstruction
For many years I was a member of an international group of quilters, 12 By the Dozen, who challenged themselves three times a year on given themes. The theme that inspired this piece was ‘deconstructivism’ (look it up, it’s a late 20th-century architectural movement characterized by fragmentation, non-linear design, and the manipulation of a structure's shape). I admit my interpretation was pushing it a bit, but the Trade Towers were deconstructed! An expression of my horror of the cruelty and inhumanity of our present times.
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Judy Fairless
I have always loved colour and enjoyed printing and stencilling, often incorporating the use of text. From hand printing and stencilling in the early days I now employ screenprinting with Thermofax screens and also increasingly use digital technology to print my designs to fabric. I have always worked exclusively on the machine although lately arthritis has hindered my output.
It’s a Scorcher was made in 2008 for CQ’s challenge The Thin Blue Line.The quilt’s title, colours and design came from a CQ Summer School session working with pastels with tutor Sue Dove. It was the hottest day of the year (a ‘scorcher’!) so I stencilled words like scorcher, sizzling, sunshine etc on a background painted in ‘hot’ colours with thickened Procion dye and then appliquéd other shapes on top. Added texture was made with small torn strips of fabric. The whole quilt was free-machined with a design of flames.
Marsh Fritillary is one of a set of three small quilts made in response to a friend’s poems inspired by the hospice where she was Trustee and made specifically for that location. The poem involved in part the observation of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly and the scabious plant on which it laid its eggs. The poem and the butterflies were Thermofax screen printed onto a dyed background. The scabious plant heads were printed with handmade blocks and the colours were inspired by the first lines of the poem:
Tessellated wings, translucent,
pearl, ebony, gold, marigold,
sparkle in the sun….
I have always loved colour and enjoyed printing and stencilling, often incorporating the use of text. From hand printing and stencilling in the early days I now employ screenprinting with Thermofax screens and also increasingly use digital technology to print my designs to fabric. I have always worked exclusively on the machine although lately arthritis has hindered my output.
It’s a Scorcher was made in 2008 for CQ’s challenge The Thin Blue Line.The quilt’s title, colours and design came from a CQ Summer School session working with pastels with tutor Sue Dove. It was the hottest day of the year (a ‘scorcher’!) so I stencilled words like scorcher, sizzling, sunshine etc on a background painted in ‘hot’ colours with thickened Procion dye and then appliquéd other shapes on top. Added texture was made with small torn strips of fabric. The whole quilt was free-machined with a design of flames.
Marsh Fritillary is one of a set of three small quilts made in response to a friend’s poems inspired by the hospice where she was Trustee and made specifically for that location. The poem involved in part the observation of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly and the scabious plant on which it laid its eggs. The poem and the butterflies were Thermofax screen printed onto a dyed background. The scabious plant heads were printed with handmade blocks and the colours were inspired by the first lines of the poem:
Tessellated wings, translucent,
pearl, ebony, gold, marigold,
sparkle in the sun….
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Janice Gunner
Hot Spots - I hand printed fabric for this piece with Thermofax Screens and sponges. The paint used for the spots is Thermochromic – it disappears when heat is applied such as touching with your hand. In 2012, June Barnes and I presented a joint exhibition at The Festival of Quilts called Unexpected Pleasures – interactive quilts that could be touched, moved or made noises! This quilt is one of several pieces I made using heat sensitive paint. Cotton fabric, hand printing and screen printing and machine quilted.
Singing the Blues – This piece features my signature techniques of Indigo Dyeing & Shibori resist techniques. I have used Itajime (clamp resist) to make the spots on both silk and cotton fabric and combined a variety of other Shibori techniques on cotton and linen, shibori dyed silk from Japan, dyed with Kakishibu (Persimmon) and a square of linen that was my contribution to an art installation by Rowland Ricketts called Ai – no – Keshiki shown at The Smithsonian Museum (USA) and in Tokushima (Japan). Machine pieced and machine quilted, my quilt featured on the front cover of The Quilter (185), including a four-page article by Patricia Belyea.
During 2018 – 2020 I studied part-time for the MA Textiles degree at UCA, Farnham where I explored the use and effect of plant dyes on natural fabrics. More recently, I worked with Musa Jaiteh in Gambia to learn about Kola Nut and Indigo dyeing and African Adire techniques. I am currently using plant dyed textiles in some of my work.
Hot Spots - I hand printed fabric for this piece with Thermofax Screens and sponges. The paint used for the spots is Thermochromic – it disappears when heat is applied such as touching with your hand. In 2012, June Barnes and I presented a joint exhibition at The Festival of Quilts called Unexpected Pleasures – interactive quilts that could be touched, moved or made noises! This quilt is one of several pieces I made using heat sensitive paint. Cotton fabric, hand printing and screen printing and machine quilted.
Singing the Blues – This piece features my signature techniques of Indigo Dyeing & Shibori resist techniques. I have used Itajime (clamp resist) to make the spots on both silk and cotton fabric and combined a variety of other Shibori techniques on cotton and linen, shibori dyed silk from Japan, dyed with Kakishibu (Persimmon) and a square of linen that was my contribution to an art installation by Rowland Ricketts called Ai – no – Keshiki shown at The Smithsonian Museum (USA) and in Tokushima (Japan). Machine pieced and machine quilted, my quilt featured on the front cover of The Quilter (185), including a four-page article by Patricia Belyea.
During 2018 – 2020 I studied part-time for the MA Textiles degree at UCA, Farnham where I explored the use and effect of plant dyes on natural fabrics. More recently, I worked with Musa Jaiteh in Gambia to learn about Kola Nut and Indigo dyeing and African Adire techniques. I am currently using plant dyed textiles in some of my work.
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Gillian Travis
Three Indian Ladies
Made in 2010 and looking back, this quilt is quite special. It was made in following a trip to India. I photographed 3 ladies returning from the market in Jaipur. On my return, I made this quilt, liked it, so I made another in different colours.
I went on to make kits to make a smaller version; these were very popular, and I continue to teach how to make a similar wall hanging around the world.
Paint print and applique
Three African Ladies
I visited Ghana in 2025 and took many photos. Many of my photos are of women returning from the market. This year I made this quilt.
I love to experiment with the techniques and materials. Paint print and applique
15 years on, I still enjoy capturing images of women carrying out their daily tasks.
Three Indian Ladies
Made in 2010 and looking back, this quilt is quite special. It was made in following a trip to India. I photographed 3 ladies returning from the market in Jaipur. On my return, I made this quilt, liked it, so I made another in different colours.
I went on to make kits to make a smaller version; these were very popular, and I continue to teach how to make a similar wall hanging around the world.
Paint print and applique
Three African Ladies
I visited Ghana in 2025 and took many photos. Many of my photos are of women returning from the market. This year I made this quilt.
I love to experiment with the techniques and materials. Paint print and applique
15 years on, I still enjoy capturing images of women carrying out their daily tasks.
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Jane Steward
‘Lady Limerick’s Topiary’
This wall-hanging was made in 2003 for a Textile Studio exhibition at Hall Place in Bexley, Kent. Hall Place was built in Elizabethan times and in the early 20th Century it was the home of Lady Limerick.
The group used the house and its extensive grounds as the inspiration for our exhibition pieces and I chose the topiary walk in the grounds as my starting point. I manipulated my photographs in an early computer-aided design app until I was happy with the design. The quilt was made by layering raw-edged organzas to create the colours I needed. The shapes were then hand-quilted into place on white silk using embroidery threads.
Materials: Sheer organza, Habotai silk, polyester wadding, hand embroidery threads.
‘Pizza Deco’
Around 20 years ago, I made a thumb-nail sketch of an Art Deco stone frieze above the doorway of a pizza restaurant in Beckenham, Kent. The intention was to translate it into a quilt one day. In 2016, that finally happened, by which time I had learned how to dye and print my own fabrics at the inspirational Committed to Cloth classes.
Using 100% cotton, the main fabric was tray-dyed, and the darker fabric was painted using thickened dyes. The quilt was machine-pieced and then machine-quilted using a variegated thread. I nearly ran out of the quilting thread, having only just enough left in the machine to complete the last couple of stitches. Phew!
Materials: 100% cotton, thickened Procion dyes, cotton wadding, variegated quilting thread.
‘Lady Limerick’s Topiary’
This wall-hanging was made in 2003 for a Textile Studio exhibition at Hall Place in Bexley, Kent. Hall Place was built in Elizabethan times and in the early 20th Century it was the home of Lady Limerick.
The group used the house and its extensive grounds as the inspiration for our exhibition pieces and I chose the topiary walk in the grounds as my starting point. I manipulated my photographs in an early computer-aided design app until I was happy with the design. The quilt was made by layering raw-edged organzas to create the colours I needed. The shapes were then hand-quilted into place on white silk using embroidery threads.
Materials: Sheer organza, Habotai silk, polyester wadding, hand embroidery threads.
‘Pizza Deco’
Around 20 years ago, I made a thumb-nail sketch of an Art Deco stone frieze above the doorway of a pizza restaurant in Beckenham, Kent. The intention was to translate it into a quilt one day. In 2016, that finally happened, by which time I had learned how to dye and print my own fabrics at the inspirational Committed to Cloth classes.
Using 100% cotton, the main fabric was tray-dyed, and the darker fabric was painted using thickened dyes. The quilt was machine-pieced and then machine-quilted using a variegated thread. I nearly ran out of the quilting thread, having only just enough left in the machine to complete the last couple of stitches. Phew!
Materials: 100% cotton, thickened Procion dyes, cotton wadding, variegated quilting thread.
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Khurshid Bamboat
My practice has changed over the past twenty five years. I learned how to dye fabric thanks to Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn and still find that dyeing, discharging or breakdown printing gives me a huge buzz and satisfaction. A few years ago, I did Claire Benn’s Out of this Earth course – that opened more ideas. I have loved working with linen using earth pigments and it has also made me return to hand sewing which I have always enjoyed. Thankfully I can still use my hands despite the arthritis. Friends laugh when I say I am doing another online course but I try to do only what interests me and what I can use within my own textile practice. I have also enjoyed doing some mixed media, especially during lockdown. I would love to be able to exhibit more often but as long as I can continue to enjoy what I do, I am quite content.
MARITIME ADVENTURE is based on a photograph of bunder boats in Karachi Harbour and it was my first designed piece. It has a mixture of my hand dyed and commercial fabrics and is machine quilted. It hangs in our bedroom – it’s very special to me; my growing up piece!
COULD BE KEW started with my trying out different methods and ideas. Various coloured thickened dyes were monoprinted using a Perspex square and the design grew from there. Petals and flowers were freely painted. Machine quilted with some surface stitching.
My practice has changed over the past twenty five years. I learned how to dye fabric thanks to Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn and still find that dyeing, discharging or breakdown printing gives me a huge buzz and satisfaction. A few years ago, I did Claire Benn’s Out of this Earth course – that opened more ideas. I have loved working with linen using earth pigments and it has also made me return to hand sewing which I have always enjoyed. Thankfully I can still use my hands despite the arthritis. Friends laugh when I say I am doing another online course but I try to do only what interests me and what I can use within my own textile practice. I have also enjoyed doing some mixed media, especially during lockdown. I would love to be able to exhibit more often but as long as I can continue to enjoy what I do, I am quite content.
MARITIME ADVENTURE is based on a photograph of bunder boats in Karachi Harbour and it was my first designed piece. It has a mixture of my hand dyed and commercial fabrics and is machine quilted. It hangs in our bedroom – it’s very special to me; my growing up piece!
COULD BE KEW started with my trying out different methods and ideas. Various coloured thickened dyes were monoprinted using a Perspex square and the design grew from there. Petals and flowers were freely painted. Machine quilted with some surface stitching.