Freewheeling Quilt Exhibition in Edinburgh

Yesterday we spent the day in Edinburgh so I could visit Freewheeling's latest exhibition at the Dundas Gallery on Dundas St.
It was great to see their work in a gallery setting and there was a lovely variety of work on show.
The exhibition continues to Thursday 11 May 2017 - well worth a visit if you can make it.    Otherwise you can find out more about the group here: http://www.freewheeling.org.uk/

Sheila and Dorothy 'on duty'

Quilt Heritage at the Knitting & Stitching Show

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being on the Quilters' Guild exhibition stand at the Knitting & Stitching Show in Edinburgh.  It was lovely being able to spend time amongst such beautiful old quilts and seeing visitors' reactions to them.  As I was there on the Sunday, I helped pack them all away, which meant I was able to look at the backs too and get a sense of how they felt (although definitely through white gloves to help conserve the quilts!).  These are some photos of the quilts.

As well as the older quilts, there was fab work by Effie Galletly and the 62 Group amongst others.  The show felt more substantial than last year and it was great to visit and be a part of it.

Students' Patchwork & Quilting Exhibition

Sue Selwyn - final quilt

Here's some close up shots of my C&G students work from their exhibition at the weekend. It was a gorgeous sunny day, which made photographing some of the work hard, so I can't show you everything I'd like!  But these images will hopefully give you a taste of some of their fantastic work.  Also, these quilts do hang straight - it is my poor photography, not poor making skills.

Mahri Prince - samples

It is difficult to know how to describe their work - say 'patchwork' and people expect bed quilts made from traditional patchwork blocks; say 'creative textiles' and people expect nice homemade curtains; say 'art' and they expect paintings.  As the course is officially the City & Guilds Certificate or Diploma in Patchwork & Quilting, that was the name we used.  This resulted in many, generally pleasantly, surprised viewers.

Mahri Prince - detail of final quilt

Ellen Griffith - corset

Isobel Beveridge

Susan Briscoe - mixed media samples

Susan Briscoe - detail of final quilt

Moira Gaw - sketchbook 

Moira Gaw - final quilt

Chrystine Livingston - final quilt

Chrystine Livingston - sketchbook cover

Pamela Docherty - final quilt

Pamela Docherty - sketchbook

Sue Selwyn - ice dyed fabric

Catherine Palmer - final quilt

My first students' C&G exhibition

So I haven't been very good at writing my blog recently. Happily this is due to positive reasons rather than sad events in my life. I've just been so busy teaching and getting the final round of C&G classes organised and having some exhibitions to run, oh and occasionally see the family, the blog has sat just that one stage too far down my to-do list to get written. Sorry. 

So new resolution - be less wordy and merely put the photos and information and ideas out there. There is definitely more chance of this!

End of grovel!  Now on to something more interesting instead. My first groups of C&G students finished at the weekend with an end of course exhibition. It went astonishingly well. Their work was finished, copious and well presented. I was incredibly proud. Lots of lovely people from far and wide came to see their show and seemed to really enjoy it. It was good to finally let my village see what we get up to and they were also impressed at how far some people had travelled. 

Wonderfil kindly sponsored some boxes of threads to encourage the finishing students to carry on stitching.  

Tea and cake was provided by Friends of Strathcarron Hospice and they raised over £590. 

These photos are some general shots. More details in the next post. They look empty because I took them before anyone arrived and during the private view - I didn't get an opportunity whilst it was properly open - it was all very busy!

PS C&G is sadly cancelling these great courses and there is only one final opportunity to study them with me starting in June.  Do email me at info(at)gilliancooper.co.uk if you are interested in finding out more.

Bedtime Story Quilt at the Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh

Land of Counterpane (detail)

The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh is not a place I would generally go to see a quilt, but what is more associated with childhood than a favourite blankie or quilt?  Unsurprisingly, I don't think any of these are on show as generally by the time a child has grown up, the fabric in its comforter has totally disintegrated through love and use.

Bedtime Stories Quilt

At the moment though, it has a small, but sweet exhibition about the links between bedtime stories and quilts.  For many of us, the idea of snuggling under the covers with a favourite book even as an adult is a lovely treat.  And it can bring back many happy memories of childhood as we recall the magic of the first time we discovered Narnia, Harry Potter or the land at the top of the Faraway Tree.  

Detail

Taking this as a theme, curator Alice Sage asked people to make a quilt block based on their memories of bedtime stories. These were then put together into a quilt which is large enough for a bed.  

Detail

As well as this quilt, there was a quilt based on the book 'The Dream Quilt' by Adèle Geras.  There is also a simple quilt on a bed with the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, 'The Land of Counterpane', complete with toy soldiers marching across it.

Land of Counterpane

Whilst I wouldn't necessarily recommend a special visit to Edinburgh to see such a tiny exhibition, if you are there, I would definitely pop in to see it and be reminded of all those magical bedtime stories.
For those unable to make it, I've written a fuller review for British Patchwork and Quilting and there is a lovely website with details of stories behind each of the blocks, which is well worth a look.