A bit about me
I’ve been making quilts since the early 1970s. Originally they were very traditional and many of them stitched entirely by hand. I still love to see the hand of the artist in a finished piece! My textile work gradually evolved to combine my love of fabric and thread with my original passion for drawing and painting. I have found it very liberating to realise that many of the creative effects possible on paper or canvas can easily translate to cloth with a simple switch of medium or process.
I enjoy layering images, textures and patterns to produce complex designs and often involve many different techniques to achieve the final composition. Most recently I’ve taken advantage of new technology and many of my quilts now feature digital printing used in happy combination with more conventional techniques. All of my quilts are heavily free motion quilted and sometimes they have hand stitched embroidery and embellishment. Did I mention I love a few beads? I take my inspiration from my immediate surroundings, especially the rural landscape, my garden, and the beautiful birds that I see every day.
I hate writing this kind of stuff because it all sounds like “I did this and I did that” but people ask for the info so here goes;
I’ve been obsessed with art in general and painting in particular for as long as I can remember. I went to Art School in the dim and distant but I didn’t stay the distance, preferring to leave before graduation in order to travel. I had been very lucky to have a wonderful art teacher at grammar school but since then, most of what I know about drawing, painting and stitching has been acquired by just doing it. I’ve been a member of the Quilters’ Guild of Great Britain since 1981 and was an area rep for several years. I took City & Guilds Patchwork and Quilting Parts 1 and 2 and was awarded the Medal of Excellence in the mid 1990s. I also achieved a City & Guilds’ qualification in Papercraft. I went on to teach those qualifications both in the UK and the USA for a number of years. I worked as an External Verifer for C&G for many years and became their National Advisor for Stitched Textiles. I also enjoyed devising the Creative Sketchbook syllabus for C&G. Working with my daughter Laura as DesignMatters, we were the first centre in the world to offer C&G creative qualifications online and we did that successfully for over 13 years. I was made a Licentiate of City & Guilds and in 2007 was honoured to be appointed as an Honorary Member of City & Guilds of London Institute in recognition of significant involvement in vocational education and training.
Laura and I still work together every day. We co-wrote our book, ‘The Painted Quilt’ in 2007 and collaborated with Catherine Nicholls to self publish 5 thr3fold journals. Now most of our time now is devoted to Designmatters TV – our online  video service where we regularly offer new videos and short, online courses. We’ve been doing this many years and have a growing number of loyal followers. I’ve been lucky enough to teach in Houston at International Quilt Festival, in Lyon and Strasbourg, France for Quilt Expo, and regularly in North America. I’ve judged several WI competitions at Denham College, judged for several years at the UK’s Festival of Quilts and juried submissions for exhibition in the Netherlands. I’ve been able to combine a love of travel with that of textiles and this has provided the opportunity to see how traditional quiltmaking techniques endure and how contemporary practice is evolving year on year.
Selected Publications
Quilting Arts Magazine 2020
Through Our Hands Portfolio 2015
The Painted Quilt, David & Charles, 2007
Color Moves, Martingale & Co., 2001
thr3fold journal Issues 1-5, Self published
Guest columnist for Quilting Arts Magazine
Featured artist in Quilting Masterclass, Katharine Guerrier, Apple Press 2000
Featured artist in The Quilters’ Guild Collection, David & Charles, 2005
Featured artist Patchwork Professional 01/2009
Selected Exhibitions
Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork, France Patchwork Prize winner, Best Machine Quilting Winner, 2016
Through Our Hands, Maker, Making, Made, 2015
Earlville Opera House Arts Center, New York, 2015
Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork, Alsace, 20th Anniversary, 2014
Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork (Winner, Best in Show), 2012
With Hand and Heart, Linda and Laura exhibition, Cynon Valley Museum, 2011
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, UK, 2010
Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork Linda and Laura exhibition, 2005
Work toured to Denmark, USA, France and the UK with the exhibition group ‘SiX’
‘Demons in my Head’, is held in the ’90s Collection’ of the Quilters’Guild of Great Britain