My first sampler quilt, following a workshop given by The Quilters’s Haven in Wickham Market
My second sampler quilt. I used Kaffe Fassett’s fabrics for this one, initiating an enduring love story with bright colours. At the time many quilters I met were dubious of my choices in fabrics – but tastes have evolved a lot in the last decade.
Cushion triptych composed of two different images of a wheat field in different light and weather. I dyed all the fabrics, except the black one, by hand, using Procion dyes. The lines are sewn by machine with single and double needles, the poppies and tree are embroidered by hand. The tree was first painted with Jacquard fabric paints, as well as the hedges on both sides.
The trapunto technique has been used for the back of the cushion, with a repetition of the tree and cloud. The thread used for the stitching is a variegated thread from King Tut.
Not everything is about quilting and patchwork. In the evenings and during the winter, when there is less natural light, I turn to other forms of textiles and crafts. Knitting is my predilection but I occasionally do crochet. One of my daughters has a taste for the 70s fashion and decoration so I made this blanket for her
The idea was to have a random placing of the granny squares. It is less easy than it looks. The blanket is about 1m60 by 1m60, and took a little more than a 100 hours to crochet and assemble.
The beauty of applique is that it can be used on many textiles. In summer 2019, I cut and saw two dresses using Japanese patterns. I dyed one with indigo. Then I added traditional Japanese Kamon ( traditional Japanese crests) that I re-designed and reformatted. Studying Japanese colour arrangements, I came to notice that they often use pastel colours with a touch of brightness that seems to disturb the harmony of the design. I made sure to include this quirkiness in my designs. The dresses were then hand embroidered with the patterns directly or I appliqued the patterns after having embroidered them.
Reproduction of the Mistley factory. The building I tried to reproduce was in a state of disrepair. Its windows were partially obscured or broken, and the bricks have different shades. I printed the bricks using a stencil and a Gelli plate on calico, to translate some of the walls’ roughness. The windows were painted with metallic fabric paints from Jacquard, mixed with opaque ones to give the illusion of the sky’s reflection. The windows frames were then machine embroidered to give them some depth, and the stitching was sometimes irregular in order to show the frailty and damage of the frames. I used some Moda Grunge fabrics for the ground and roof.
This quilt was my biggest project to date- literally (1.50 by 2m40) and …literally! (9 months from beginning to end to realise it).The top of the quilt was inspired by a picture called “Neo Tokyo “from Darius, aka the Baka Arts, which I found on Pinterest. Darius kindly allowed me to use part of his picture for my design, which represents the “futuristic” side of Tokyo, with its big and heavy buildings, straight crossing bridges and wires, and darkness. The forefront represents the smaller streets of Tokyo, with their small but brighter shops, that give you a feel for the suburbs, with old bicycles at their doors and narrow sidewalks. While I was working on this quilt, which was made during the first English lockdown of 2020, I went back to reading comics. This inspired me to use defining black threads around my subjects. The sides are purposely dark and with little shape in order to draw attention to the centre. The bright neons lights and almost all the fabrics were dyed by hand. This was my last try with procion dyes – they give me bronchitis. I used some Moda Grunge fabrics for some buildings. The ground was first (unsuccessfully) dyed then painted with Jacquard fabric paints and black threads, to give the impression of the neons’ reflection on a wet ground. The rest of the quilt is based on several pictures I had taken personally during a trip to Tokyo. The three people in the centre are my husband, my eldest daughter and me. In 2020, after having gone through throat cancer harsh treatment, my husband had decided we should accomplish one of our dreams and go back to Japan with our daughters. The covid pandemic’s lockdown put an end to that dream – hence my quilt. If we couldn’t go in person we could at least be there in spirit! The people are machine embroidered and appliqued. The bicycle and the writing on the neon signs are hand embroidered, with a few of them hand-painted, like the lanterns. I used very little red in my quilt in order to have the lanterns really popping out. Because of the period, and my shattered dreams, I decided to include some of my values and hopes in the quilt. So instead of writing signs saying things like restaurant or cinema, my signs all have hidden messages. They say (the list is not exhaustive) things such as “experience”, “hope”, “enthusiasm”, “gratitude”, “growth”, “happiness”, “vitality”, “trust”, “wisdom”, “justice”, “peace”, “generosity”, “kindness”, “tolerance”. “courage”…The lanterns compose a sentence: “Love and peace on earth for all”. Now I must sadly admit that, although a friend’s Japanese teacher double-checked my vocabulary and spelling, once I used Google and Word to reproduce them on paper, it seems that different types of writing were used. So I apologise to any Japanese speakers if I made mistakes. They are entirely due to my ignorance
I started working on a series of sampler quilts using Kaffe fassett and Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics in November 2020. During the pandemic I started to reflect on how our personal environment can reflect or change our moods. I have always chosen to have a very colourful decoration in my house, with bright blue sofas or apricot walls. Like many people I had accumulated quite a stash of fabrics through the years, and I thought that my Fassett’s series would have a joyful influence on my private space. The different uses of the same colours can make stunning changes, and the advantages of Fassett’s fabrics is that they warm up an interior or light up a garden whatever the weather or the season. They are always successful! The first one is a small lap quilt, with red and blue undertones.
Introduction of yellow and rainbow colours
More green with a different arrangements of yellows, reds and blues
Using linocut, I reintroduced my traditional Japanese designs and colours and hand-printed some cotton kitchen towels.
I particularly like this process because you can easily control the nuances of the colours you introduce. You can give the flowers shading, and variation. The results were simple but effective.
Getting ready for the winter months, I undertook some wool dyeing exercise. Spread on several days. The control of the colours is much harder than fabric paints, but much easier than procion dyes (and less damaging to my lungs, which is very surprising.) I have been exploring different harmonies of colours, starting with the use of the basic red-yellow-and-blue, and little by little expanding my palette of nuances. It’s a work in progress, and so far I used mainly Superwash Merino wool for socks, with either 25% of nylon or silk (for a more luxurious feel).
Example of the finished products – hand-dyed and hand-knitted. A pair of socks take on average 12 to 14 hours to make, including the dyeing process. Knitting alone takes 10 to 12 hours.
I received my first Award for excellence for my work, in particular Tokyo dreams.
