Spot the difference

Only a week or so before the Prism exhibition, Liminal, opens in central London, so here's an update on the picture I posted earlier, right, of a detail of my entry - now with slight changes. Gone are the pesky red roses and the lion's human eyes (both hangovers from previous projects that I wanted to make work but couldn't) and now there are various types of sequins and small beads. But, most importantly, there is now stitching.

And as always I'm amazed at the difference it can make, adding movement and uniting the disparate elements. It's probably heresy to say I don't really enjoy the nuts and bolts of stitching (and this involved a lot of machine applique with invisible thread just to hold it all in place). But I find the result of the more decorative stitching so exciting - here, and especially in quilting - that it draws me ever onwards.

This is just one of four pieces that make up my installation. And I am just one of 50 textile artists exhibiting. Should be fun.

Visit my website at www.valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk
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Handmade textiles for stylish interiors, off the shelf or to commission

email: valerie@valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk; 020 7515 0701 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7515 0701 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting; 07518 885960

Kaffe Fassett: Once more - with feeling

It's not that I'm obsessed with Kaffe Fassett  you understand, but a couple of long-standing friends wanted to visit the exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum http://ftmlondon.org/ftm-exhibitions/kaffe-fassett/ and so I went along too (which also involved the eating of lots of cake in the adjacent cafe). And like all the best exhibitions, a second visit revealed new delights. Not least the "feeling wall" - a section of bright pink painted board upon which was pinned a riot of fabric swatches.

Alongside was a notice saying "Please touch", but when I reached out to do so my friends were horrified. "Look at the notice," they hissed. We are so conditioned not to touch that even a sign inviting us to do so is misread and cannot override our conditioning in How to Behave in a Gallery.

But there's a fundamental tension here. Fabrics are made to be touched. It's one of their charms. Clothes and quilts by their nature enfold, comfort and warm. And the urge to feel them between our fingers is almost irresistible. "Preventing people from touching things at an embroidery exhibition is always a nightmare," wrote a reviewer in Embroidery magazine back in 1977. (And yes, I've done it too, and been told off, as if my hands have no connection to my brain.) Bed quilts don't belong on walls. But if we didn't put them there who would see them?

A further thought: "Why don't you do a wall like that?" asked my friends, to which my kneejerk reaction was "Oh if only I had the time." But on further consideration I think that even given the time I wouldn't want one. I love the element of surprise when I go through my shelves and boxes of fabrics. "I'd forgotten about this one", "Oh wow, I haven't used that one for years", "Fantastic, that's just what I need", or even "Haven't I thrown that away yet, it's hideous". Take away the unexpected and some of the joy drains away.

Talking of the unexpected, Kaffe Fassett himself was there leading a workshop in an upstairs room. With a pop-up fabric shop for one day only selling his designs. Can there be four words in the English language more resonant than "pop-up fabric shop"? I think not.



Visit my website at www.valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk
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Handmade textiles for stylish interiors, off the shelf or to commission

email: valerie@valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk; 020 7515 0701 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7515 0701 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting; 07518 885960

Show and tell (but not much to show)

I've been really busy. But I haven't got much to show for it. I was reaching for a metaphor, but the off-the-shelf one of the swan frantically paddling underwater doesn't really work, as it implies a serene gliding across the surface. I am reminded more of the bluetit that took up residence in our nesting box last spring, sitting on a clutch of eggs while endlessly fussing about getting enough to eat and keeping the nest clean. None of the eggs showed any sign of being at all interesting until they hatched almost simultaneously.

So, what am I sitting on, carefully nurturing towards a semblance of independent life?

Firstly, my entry for Prism, the textile show later this month at the Mall Gallery in central London.  The flyer is above, but for more information  see  http://www.prismtextiles.co.uk/index.html Please come. There are so few contemporary, professional-standard textile exhibitions that this really does deserve to be supported. And I say that on behalf of all my fellow textile artists, even if you hate what I do personally.

My installation (I dislike that word, but it's useful) is coming on apace and has evolved from the bare bones of the sneak preview on my posting of April 13. And I have to say I'm quite excited. I don't suppose anyone will ever buy it - what would one do with a series of four pillows? - but sometimes you just have to let loose the inner creative demon.

Secondly, the wallhanging to commemorate my aunt. This too is mega exciting, but more of this later. Suffice to say that I have come across a cache of her own textile and wallpaper designs from the Sixties and I am hoping to get them printed on fabric via Spoonflower. http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome

Thirdly, there's  a new design for a bed quilt that's ready to roll and  the Beast is foaming at the mouth wanting to quilt it.

I wish I didn't have to waste time sleeping.

(Sadly, the bluetits have not come back this year. But, as the young lad next door pointed out, why would you choose a house with a camera in the bedroom and toilet? To which there is no answer.)


Visit my website at www.valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk
....................................................................................
Handmade textiles for stylish interiors, off the shelf or to commission

email: valerie@valeriehugginsquilts.co.uk; 020 7515 0701 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7515 0701 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting; 07518 885960