prints, books and quilts

slow, quiet note no.19

I’ve been channelling Julia Cameron this week, booking myself not one, not two but four ‘artists dates’. In my defence, one was an evening author talk and the other yesterday on Saturday but, still, a lot of out and abouting (some might say gadding perhaps). It’s been brilliant, beyond inspiring but slightly overwhelming and I have had to do a lot of emailing, weeding and laundry today to balance things out.

Here goes…

I spent Tuesday trying to remember how to make Gelli plate prints with the members of one of the textile groups I belong to. We had a great time but my attempts were not pretty. I bought two of the (relatively expensive) silicon plates for a course I attended a couple of years ago and have used them maybe three times since? Despite the almost constant algorithm-driven appearance of Gelli plate videos on my Instagram feed, I would still rather be stitching.

On Tuesday I watched everyone around me make beautiful, subtle floral prints while I ripped a few paper stencils from an old magazine and overprinted geometric shapes onto the prints I made last time. My results weren’t entirely satisfactory but I played about with different papers and fabrics and now have some potentially useful backgrounds for future pieces. What I enjoyed most, as ever, was doing my own thing but working alongside other artists, helping each other out and sharing knowledge. It was a good day.

On Wednesday, I went to Toppings in Bath for an early evening author talk - I’d heartily recommend Topping’s newsletter as they host many UK and international author events either in their shop or in one of the larger venues around the city. This time we were in their grand York Street HQ with Alice Vincent talking through her process and the writing of ‘Hark: How Women Listen’ which I’m very much looking forward to starting.

As reading in bed has become something of a farce lately (I invariably fall asleep before I’ve reached the bottom of the first page) I’ve decided to try ‘habit-stacking’ morning reading alongside my daily morning stitches. The plan is to start tomorrow and if you’re interested Mr James Clear can explain ‘habit-stacking’ far more, well, clearly than I can.

Thursday’s 7.15am National Express coach was its usual busy self with airport drop-offs and early risers. My destination for the day was the new London College of Fashion building in Stratford where Deb McGuire and Dr Jess Bailey were hosting an afternoon quilting bee and evening talk as part of their project ‘Within the Frame’. Again, their website explains the project, its research focus and aims far better than I can but on Thursday quilters, stitchers, students and anyone with an interest in historic domestic textiles were invited to sit around one of three quilting frames and contribute fabrics and stitches to what will become a collaborative quilt - each of the participants added a word or two, perhaps some appliqué and, in my case, tried to master the traditional rocking stitch. I admit this did not go well.

The event was convened to highlight the inclusion of frame quilting as ‘critically endangered’ on the 2025 Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts which sounds alarming but, crucially, raises the profile of this historically important skill and releases potential funding for a new generation of makers, artists and crafts people to pick up their needles and learn from its current practitioners before it disappears entirely.

Deb McGuire sharing her historical research

I spent Friday at home, catching up on jobs, looking through my notes and (unsurprisingly) pondering the purchase of a quilting frame either by scouring local auctions or putting in an order with James Forble of Loose Fit Furniture who has worked with the Reframing the Quilt team to design and build a contemporary version of the traditional frame made with UK-sourced timber. However, I am not convinced that I will ever embark on handstitching a whole bed quilt by my own good self, rather I can see using a frame to hand quilt and stitch my own fabric collages.

To test the idea, I’ll be setting up one of my embroidery frames with some linen and wadding to see how it feels to quilt in a frame rather than on my lap. I have tried quilting in a hoop but found it awkward. I prefer to sit amongst the fabric and load my needle with several stitches at a time - much more difficult to do if the fabric is stretched over a hoop.

And yesterday, I was back on the train, this time heading west to Bristol for a day at the newly opened textile exhibition ‘Soft Power’ at the Royal West of England Academy Yesterday’s event was convened by The Textile Society - we spent the morning with curators Alice Kettle and Dr Lesley Millar who shared their collaborative approach to selecting work for the show and in the afternoon, several of the artists spoke about their own and each others’ work. I knew I was going to enjoy the exhibition, what I hadn’t anticipated was being moved by so many of the pieces, particularly those documenting often difficult personal histories. The exhibition runs until 10th August - plenty of time to go back and spend a little more time there.

Curator, Alice Kettle, with The Mantle by Alice Maher and Rachel Fallon

This week of looking outwards, hearing about other peoples’ work has, inevitably, meant a lull in my own practice and it’s now time to reset and catch up. I have several workshops planned for June that are filling up nicely but need a little more promotion and a couple of submissions to make for exhibitions and residencies. A few days of creative inspiration was just what I needed but it’s time to get back to the needles, threads and sketchbooks.

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s slow, quiet note and I hope you’ll find the links to the galleries and projects listed interesting. As ever your likes, shares and comments are very much appreciated.

Have a good week.

J x