On Collating Samples of Work

This is a draft cover for a fabric book that has a triple function. It will not only hold examples from the workshops I did during the South African National Quilt Festival, but also the memories of those marvellous five days, and it will serve as a kind of a workbook that I can refer to when I want to repeat methods that I learnt.

If I may say this — I think it is a brilliant idea.

The cover is 11 inches square and contains the logo that graced the paper goodie bag I found on my bed in the hostel. I cut out the design and appliquéd it onto the fabric for the cover, along with a logo from the quilt festival catalogue. In both cases the paper is strong and my sewing machine zig-zagged through it with ease. The badge comes from the goodie bag I received when I registered. (Yes, I got two goodie bags, containing thoughtful, handmade, useful gifts. What generosity!)

After three weeks of travelling and visiting friends and family, I arrived home this week and am happily settling back into my sewing space and familiar routines.

Above are the examples I made during Sue Cameron’s one-day workshop Magic with Fabric, laid out on my work table at home. During the class Sue showed us how to create texture with (mostly) synthethic fabrics. We layered, stitched and burnt textiles; we folded and inserted prairie points into cotton squares; we felted chiffon and yarn; we made chenille by layering and cutting fabrics; and generally played happily with the enticing fabrics and yarns in the provided kits and from favourite bits and pieces we had each brought along.

This array is now stitched into the first signature of the book.

Watch this space for further developments.

Feast your eyes

The fibre art group exhibition DiVERSiTY is on show at the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch until 29 January 2023. It was mounted in collaboration with the National Quilt Festival and curated by Dal Botha. There is an online e-catalogue.

There is another online delight of South African fibre art. The group Fibreworks recently launched a virtual exhibition titled Passage.