Today's Quilter - UK (2020-03)

OLD TRADITIONS l english paper piecing

faintestofhopeoeredbythegood

wishescontainedincardsreceived

followinga catastrophiceventinmy

family.Acetateenabledmetoinclude

theuniquehandsofthosewell-wishers

withoutdamagingthepreciouscards.

I confinedtheirwordsofhopebetween

theprintedhope-lesswordsfrom

doctorsat thetime.Muslinsuggests

old-fashionedbandagesandthe black

knots medical stitching.

FURTHER

INFORMATION

TheQuilters’Guildhasseveral

Englishpaper-piecedpatchworks

in itsMuseumCollection,many

ofwhichcanbeviewedonline

atwww.quiltmuseum.org.uk

Theheritagepatchworksshown

onpages 64 and 65 featurein

thebookForty:TheEvolution

ofa Collection, whichexplores

thegrowthanddevelopment

ofTheQuilters’GuildMuseum

Collection.Availablefrom

http://www.quiltersguildshop.org.uk

LucyBoston(1892–1990)–

famousforheraward-winning

GreenKnowechildren’sbooks

• wasa skilledneedlewoman
  whomadethemostincredible
  Englishpaper-piecedcoverlets.
  Bypriorarrangement,her
  patchworkscanbeseenatThe
  Manorin HemingfordGreyin
  Cambridgeshire,thehomein
  whichtheywerecreated.The
  PatchworksofLucyBostonby
  DianaBostonis anabsorbing
  read.Aswellasphotographsand
  detailsaboutthepatchworks,
  throughLucy’sownwritingsand
  letters,wegainaninsightinto
  thededicationandpassionthat
  producedthem.Findoutmore at
  http://www.greenknowe.co.uk

FlossieTeacakes’Guideto

EnglishPaperPiecing(The

QuiltingCompany,2018)provides

anup-to-datetakeonEPP.

BloggerFlorenceKnapp(Flossie

Teacakes)sharesherloveof

fussy-cutEPPthrougha rangeof

step-by-steptutorials.Thereare

alsoinspiringchaptersaboutthe

historyoftheEPP,thebenefitsof

makingbyhandandprofilesof

modern-day practitioners.

Whatis themessageofFadingii?

Fadingii is aboutfadingmemories.

Myfatherspentthelastsixyearsof

hislifewithdementia.Helostthe

memoriesofthelasthalfofhislife,

buthecouldrememberhimselfasa

youngfisherman.Myfatherdiedseven

yearsago,andjustashismemories

faded,somyrecollections of him are

diminishing too.

Howdidyou interpret this theme

inEPP?

I wantedtocreatea portraitofmy

fatheranduseda photographofhim

fishingthatwastakenbymymother.

Pixelatingit intohexagonsproduced

a slightlyblurredeect,reminiscent

ofmemoriesbecomingconfused

andthendisappearing.Transparent

fabricsina rangeofmonochromatic

toneshintat thedelicacyofmemories.

Thediaphanousnatureofthepiece

alsomeansthatit canbedisplayedso

peoplecanmovearoundit andbeen

seenthroughit,alludingtomemories

rarelybeingshapedinsolitaryisolation.

Thefragmentsoftextonsomeof

thehexagonsrepresentsnippetsof

recollectionsmyfathertriedtograsp

at,butwithoutcontextordetailsno

one was able to help him reach them.

http://www.christinechester.com

Left,FaintHope,detail:Thevarietyofthe

hand-writingin thesetracingsfromcards

fromwell-wisherscontrastswellwiththe

harder look of the printed medical comments

Above,Fadingii,

99cmx 130cm:This

workwasdesigned

tobedouble-sided

sopeoplecan

viewtheworkin a

context,justasour

memories are made

Artist’s own images

Artist’s own images