All work and no play... OK, I confess!! I abandoned Laura to hold the fort yet again and disappeared across to France a couple of weeks ago to visit with my sister Maureen at her house in the Pyrenees. As a special treat she had bought tickets for us to see Christophe Mae in concert (yes, he is wearing a patchwork jacket and hat!). We had a fantastic time on a hot and sultry evening surrounded by hordes of screaming teenage girls! It's no joke being the oldest people in the audience by quite a number of years (or maybe that should be decades). It's funny how you still feel the same inside despite the changes the years bring isn't it? A couple of days later we were excited to spot a number of Scarce Swallowtail butterflies - although our garden teems with butterflies we never see these beauties in England.
Back to work now! Laura and I will be at Festival of Quilts this month and we hope that you'll come and see us. Our stand (A60) this year will be even bigger than before and we're going to pack it with plenty to see. We'll be demonstrating our favourite techniques each day so if you're interested in free motion quilting, digital embroidery, needle-felting, hand stitching and lots more, then do come and take a look. As ever we'll be happy to answer any questions that you want to ask and chat to you about any of the work on display.
We'll be joined on the stand by the rest of the DesignMatters team so if you're an online student past or present, do drop by and say hello. There will also be an opportunity to spend some of your ill-gotten gains - we'll have a selection of hand dyed fabrics and threads, all of our books including the new thr3fold journal, and this year, we're very excited to have enough space to bring you a huge selection from the machine embroidery thread range from Madeira.
If you can't make it, then check out our page on Facebook - we'll post as many photos from the show as possible!
Laura, Catherine Nicholls and I usually collaborate as thr3fold, but we've recently worked together on a completely different project organised by the Surface Design Association in British Columbia, Canada. When I say 'worked together' I am using that phrase in the loosest possible sense - the challenge posed was for the three of us to create a single piece of work for exhibition, but as you'll read below there was a twist - none of us would know what the others were doing! We agreed to join in without quite knowing what was involved but we'll let Catherine explain:
Q. How did you get involved with organising the Exquisite Corpse exhibition?
A. I am a relatively new member of the British Columbia Surface Design Association, (BCSDA) and being on the committee is a good way to get to know the other members. I also love the idea of the "Exquisite Corpse" and wanted to be involved in helping to make the idea come alive.
Q. The title of the exhibition is intriguing, tell me how that came to be?
A. Our exhibition is titled "The Game: Another Take on the Exquisite Corpse" and is based on a traditional pastime. In the 1920's the Surrealists developed a game to create a collage of words or pictures called the Cadavre Exquis or the Exquisite Corpse. It is played with several people, each of whom writes a phrase, or draws an image on a sheet of paper then folds the paper to conceal what they have created and passes it on to the next person who will add their contribution. Only at the end of the game is the whole poem or creation revealed. From this game came the phrase: “The exquisite--corpse--shall drink--the young--wine." hence the name.
Q. Does all of the work conform to the 2D format?
A. Our version of the game includes 3D pieces as well as the more traditional 2D format and many of the 2D pieces have 3D features. Because we are the Surface Design Association and work with fibre, one of the rules of the game is that all pieces must include the use of surface design techniques or reference textiles or fibre art made with these techniques. So a lot of the entries have dimensional features.
Q. As organisers you've taken the decision to accept all the work as unframed and frame it yourselves - why was that?
A.
We have taken that route because the very nature of the game means all of the entries are quite eclectic! Each entry is created by 3 separate artists, and each artist hasn't seen what the other two have done. Because there are mixed colour palettes, techniques and materials used within a single entry we decided a uniform framing would give the exhibition a sense of continuity for the viewer.
In our call for entry we are specific about the size each entry must be so they fit nicely into the frames we have chosen. It's going to create a really striking exhibition!
Q. The idea of working collaboratively in this way is such fun. What rules did you develop to help guide the artists?
A. There aren't any real rules in this game other than it's important that players do not see each other's sections before they complete their own section. We did mention to the entrants that a group could discuss “connectivity” within the piece as a whole, a single background fabric, paper- or similar if they wanted to use one. But we really wanted the participants to honor the rules of the game and play in the spirit of the original artists... and above all, to have fun with their entries!
Q. How many exhibits/makers are involved in the exhibit?
A.
We have 33 pieces submitted for the show and about 48 artists are involved. A lot of the groups of 3 created 3 pieces or more! The artists were having so much fun with this idea that they joined several groups and yet it is amazing how different each of the pieces look.
Q. Where will be exhibit be on display?
A. The Game will be exhibited at several times and places this year and next. The following Canadian venues have been confirmed:
Leigh Square Community Arts Village, 2253 Leigh Square, Port Coquitlam, BC
September 23 – November 7, 2010
FibreWorks Gallery, Madeira Park, BC on the Sunshine Coast
Spring, 2011, Exhibition dates to be announced
Seymour Art Gallery, 4360 Gallant Avenue, Deep Cove, North Vancouver, BC
September 13-18, 2011
If you're interested in finding out more about the BC SDA then why not visit their website where you'll find each member has their own page.
DesignMatters Student News
Online course students here at DesignMatters have been busy again. This month we have some beautiful work by Carolyn Collins to share with you. Carolyn has just completed Level 2 Patchwork and Quilting. You can see her final assessment quilt here on the left, but there's more to see in her online exhibition.
New Courses
We've had lots of enquiries about the brand new Creative Quiltmaking course we are starting at the end of September. Many of you may already be aware that City & Guilds inroduced new Creative Techniques schemes at the end of last year. These are an equivalent level of qualification to what we have been offering here at DesignMatters for almost 10 years but are delivered in modular form. Each Level 2 course involves 4 units of study and satisfactory completion of all 4 units leads to a Certificate of qualification from the awarding body, City & Guilds. The first 2 units are all about finding inspiration and recording and developing ideas that will provide everything a designer maker needs to create an exciting and individual body of work. Students will explore visual sources of inspiration and develop their ideas using a range of design techniques. They will interpret their design ideas into experimental samples using general craft materials and also those more specific to quiltmaking. In the 2 remaining units, students will design, sample and create 2 art quilts using patchwork with quilting for the first piece and applique with quilting for the second. We are very excited at how creative the new course is looking. We think it satisfies the growing appetite people have to produce imaginative and original textile design with the emphasis on originality.
When City & Guilds launched the new schemes our existing Design and Craft classes were all fully subscribed and we decided it was the ideal time to take advantage of the closed registration time to re-write our course content to bring it into line with the new schemes. For a short while we'll be overlapping our courses to enable existing registered students to complete their qualifications, but all new registrations will be for the Creative Technqiues courses.
It's normally at this point that we'd send you over to the dedicated Online Courses area of the website to find out more. Right now, Laura's still working on tidying up all of the information and making sure that all the details you need are listed there clearly. Bear with us, the information will be appearing shortly. Don't forget, if you're signed up for our e-newsletter (put your email address in the box at the top of this page), then you'll receive notifications direct to your inbox.
In the meantime if you have questions about the new courses please don't hesitate to email and we'll do our best to advise you.
Thank you to everyone who made the trip up the FibreWorks on the Sunshine Coast in B.C., Canada to see the latest thr3fold exhibition. The show has just closed and some of the work will shortly be heading back to UK shores. If you're coming to Festival of Quilts then do head over to our stand A60 as we'll have a number of the pieces on display. Catherine will also be joining us and she'll be on hand every day of the Festival to answer any questions you might have and also to show you the latest journal. We'll have copies for sale and don't forget, we can sign them if you like, just ask!
If you've not yet purchased your copy of the journal, but are keen to get your hands on one before the show, or maybe you can't make it to Festival this year, then you can order direct from us, or the thr3fold website. We're also thrilled that the journal is available through a number of stockists. You can find them listed on the thr3fold website or get in touch and we'll let you know if there's a shop in your area. If you'd like to stock thr3fold journal in your shop please email for the details.
While Catherine's over in the UK she'll be teaching a two-day class at The Bramble Patch. As I write, I think places are still available, but do telephone to check!
The Bramble Patch, Weedon, Northants, UK
25th & 26th August 2010
It’s time to find out those images you have tucked away - you know the ones! They are beautiful images of an inspiring subject and you have always wanted to do “something” with them, now’s the time! This 2 day workshop will show you how to create your own designs from chosen images or sources of information. Day one will include a series of activities to develop your thoughts and ideas. Day 2 will involve students developing their own subject matter towards the goal of creating their own design and a finished piece. Students can chose to create multiple designs and work only on paper with art products or move their design to fabric. This workshop is for students ready to develop their own ideas – we will look at how your work can be inspired by personal sources, how to develop those ideas and how to extend your personal creativity.
Please contact The Bramble Patch for more information and to reserve your place.
35/35 - Extended!
June 20th - October 17th 2010
Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Ville de Neuchatel, Switzerland
We've just heard that due to popularity the run of this exhibition has been extended until 17th October. Laura and I both have a quilt in the 35/35 section. If you're in the area do add a visit to your list!
For more information about the exhibition please visit: www.mahn.ch/au-programme-exna
Needless to say since starting DMTV we've learned a lot and behind the scenes we're
If you've not yet subscribed to DMTV then you can find out more about it here. Of course we're biased, but we think a subscription to DMTV is excellent value and a great way to find inspiration without having to head off to a workshop or class somewhere. DMTV is online all the time and there's always a wide selection of shows to watch.
Don't forget, over on our Facebook page you can post questions or comments to us, images of your work, or get in touch with other DMTV viewers. You'll also find the latest information about shows and other events we're involved with and many more photos from exhibitions than we can post on this News page. Remember, you don't have to be a Facebook user to view the page, but you do need to sign up if you'd like to post.
During the next few weeks you'll notice that the website will be getting a facelift. We all need to redecorate every once in a while and the website is no exception! We're doing our best not to move too many things around and we hope you'll like our new look.
Talk to you all again soon!
Linda and Laura
