Studio Saturday - carving the "Korean doll" woodblocks

My blog holiday continues. Part of the reason is the computer setup - I've been standing at the computer for a year and a half, since an attack of sciatica -

Note the worn area of the floor!

Finally - yesterday - I could bear it no longer, and took everything off the desk. Some "real beeswax" furniture polish emerged from its place in the cupboard, where it had been for nearly 25 years, and gave the surfaces a nice shine -

So I'm sitting down writing this, and getting whiffs of that "old beeswax" smell.

Now for a clearout of the peripherals - the items from the top of the desk are heaped to either side. (Not a pretty sight.)

But first, a report on arty progress this week. No pots were prepared, but some sewing was done in those quiet mornings in the studio - this lap quilt, started some 35 years ago (dreary colour, what was I thinking) will become a play mat -

And there were lots of goings-on with woodblocks, specifically the "Korean dolls" started a couple of weeks ago.

I'm happiest when a project contains, in its final form, traces of its evolution or making. The dolls on which the drawing is based were the result of a lesson in fabric dyeing in the microwave, a long time ago when that technique was new - we dyed and re-dyed, layering the colours.

To replicate that effect, the blocks are divided into three areas for each doll, with the collars a combination of those colours, which may look different depending on the order they are printed.

 One block will be red, one blue, one yellow - but the shades in different areas could be different, or there could be layering of areas. How to do this will evolve once printing starts.

Before carving started, there were minor adjustments to the drawing ... and I almost forgot to turn it over before transferring to the block.

First colour block underway - the many thin lines of the "black" block will have to wait -

The "easy" cutting does give a chance for practice with thin lines. I'm keeping a list of podcast episodes listened to: when podcasts are on autoplay, one tends to slip into another and be forgotten immediately. The hours pass unnoticed!

The shapes look like pieces of dressmaking patterns, which is totally appropriate -

 Another session and the easy bits were all done -

 Starting the tricky bits -

Meanwhile, I'm missing the family - they're having a great time in Greece -

Saw this and...

... wanted to make one immediately! 

By Erica Waaser (via)

Is it a traditional quilt, or is it "contemporary"? The slight irregularity in the pattern might remove it from the traditional category... as might the colourway.

And it's the colours that appeal to me. Though - "tone does the work and colour gets the credit" - it's the dark/light contrast, and the distribution of the slightly different shades of light and dark, that works the magic. 

I also like that it's made of plain fabrics, and am fantasising making one out of wool. 

Indian quilts at FOQ

Various people mentioned that this quilt is the one thing they'd like to take home from Festival of Quilts this year - it was in the "Banjara: Historic Indian Textiles" display -

Some close-ups of the many layers, worn through by much use -

A godhari from Geeta Khandelwal's slide show -

It's made from sari borders, with the addition of a humble seed bag when the sari fabric ran out. Other quilts shown in her lecture, made in the rural area around Mumbai (Bombay), were available in her display -

The quilts are made for personal use, not sale, and are rooted in religious beliefs and rituals.

Some show an African influence - the population of the area includes descendants of traders from East Africa.

Unusually, quiltmaking starts from the outer edge, with strips being added until the centre is reached. A razor blade is used to cut the strips, and the cut edges are folded under to make the triangles.

Including the name of the child for whom the quilt was made is unusual, and there is often suspicion about going to school in these villages - the main education is to learn the religious texts, orally.

Quilts are washed in the river, and laid on roofs to dry. This is done before and after the monsoon. The monsoon is the most productive time for quiltmaking. Quilts are stored by being hung over rafters.

The quilts are heavy - they are filled with old clothing - sari, dhoti, lunghi.

Quilting is with white thread - white is the only colour available. A cloth thimble is used, and a large needle. The fabric is held in place by stones during sewing, and measurements are based on body parts - for example, quilting lines are spaced one finger apart or two fingers apart.

The black sari is worn on only one day of the year, 14 January - Makar Sankrati, to celebrate the arrival of spring -

At the centre, when the quilt is finished, rice, jaggery and powders (turmeric, kumkum) are sewn into a little pocket, offerings to Anapurna, goddess of food, cooking, and nourishing care. They are left in place when the quilt is washed.

The tentmakers of Cairo

My splendid cushion was obtained in the Street of the Tentmakers, Cairo, by a friend after I told her (based on what I'd read on the internet) how to find it. She got another for herself, and I feel right at home when I see her "twin" cushion on her sofa. This beautiful work, with its long history, brightens my day - but it saddens me to think that it is under threat.

Jenny Bowker got to know the men during her years of living in Cairo and has been championing the continued survival of their craft - and livelihoods. There is no historical documentation of the men and their craft, but now a film is being made. The film maker, Kim Beamish, is having to fund this himself, and is asking for donations via a crowd-funding site, http://www.pozible.com/tentmakers  - where you can make a donation, or rather a pledge, as no money will be collected unless the target amount is reached. (He also has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CharehElKhiamiah?fref=ts.)

This is what Jenny wrote on the SAQA yahoogroup - I've put in some photos found on the internet to show off the gorgeous work.

''The Tentmakers are a group of men in Cairo who make spectacular applique. Nowadays most of what they make is intended for the walls of houses or on beds, but in Pharaonic, early Islamic, and Ottoman times it
was intended for the inside walls of tents. With canvas behind it which formed the outside wall, the rich appliqué glowed with light on it, and was intended to amaze visitors to a leader's tent. Did you know that Cairo was originally called Fustat - which means the big tent? In pharaonic times the tents were appliqued leather, now all the work is cotton.

The art has been slowly dying. Big pieces of cheap, badly registered, printed fabric made in China have poured into Cairo and people buy this rather that the real appliquéd pieces. On top of that disaster - tourism has stopped with unrest for the last two years. Without the work sold in the exhibitions that I have been arranging in other countries they would all be gone by now - instead - stitchers who left are coming back and young ones are learning again. I am thrilled with the progress we have made and very happy with the AQS who committed to them for three years. But - it is still hardly documented at all. There is not one piece in the Cairo Museum or even in the Cairo textile museum. The best article I have ever found is in the Uncoverings magazine and there are no books. Older stitchers are dying and no history has been written.

Kim Beamish is an Australian friend who - when I took him to visit the street on his third day in Cairo - picked up the baton I offered and ran with it. He is making a film about the Tentmakers in these difficult times. He has given most of five days a week for the last seven months - or more. He has paid his own way to shows in England, and has had to pay for three more that have not even happened yet in France and two in America. He has become part of the street and the men are used to him and his camera. He has two young children and a wife who works in the Australian Embassy in Cairo. They have to pay a nanny so that he is free to film. He is, like I was, a trailing spouse. He did not choose to live the 'cocktail parties and bridge' life, but has chosen to go out on a limb
to tell a very moving and necessary story. I know that at the moment he is on the bones of his behind financially and simply cannot afford anything else.

The movie will not be made without funding for the essentials - the long and boring stages when the filming is done and the hard work starts. Editing, top level translation and the rest has to be done by experts and paid for. Please help. Even a little bit from a lot of people will add up to a lot - that is what crowd funding means. The link is now open and working. If he does not get to his total he gets nothing. Kim will spend the month hovering over the site and biting his fingernails.The work is really special and the film is essential.

http://www.pozible.com/tentmakers - this is the link to support the film - The Tentmakers of Chareh el Khiamiah. If Kim Beamish does not get this money the film cannot be made. Even tiny donations will help and big donations will help more. Please.

If you use PayPal it will ask you to preauthorise. It sounds odd but it simply means that when the total is reached the money will then be taken from people's accounts so it has to be done this way. Kim gets nothing if he does not reach his total and that is the way that Pozible works. He is a bit worried at the moment as only about 29 have helped in three days.

I am hoping a lot of people will have read this far and be willing now to help us. PLEASE send this on to as wide an audience as you can reach. The moment the total is reached the project will be assured. Until then it looks as if it might be dead in the water.''

The tentmakers of Cairo were at Festival of Quilts and also at Art in Action, so you may have seen their work. A UK champion of the tentmakers is Barbara Chainey, who lectures on the tentmakers and has a workshop based on an Egyptian-style design. Two of her books are inspired by the tentmakers' designs.

LQ at Indian Cottage

A crowd of women around the gates of our meeting venue - London Quilters were locked out! But across the road the owner of Indian Cottage (9 Fairhazel Gardens, Swiss Cottage) let us use his basement dining room. It was a squeeze but very congenial! And we were all very grateful -The Chairman's Challenge - can the group make 100 Linus quilts by the October meeting? - produced its first dozen -
Lisa Walton had to forgo projector and slides, but the good lighting in this ad hoc venue made up for that. An entertaining and informative talk, as was her workshop. Here's her beading sampler -
and she passed her quilts around for examination and photographing -
Show'n'tell brought this log cabin from Janice, recently shown at Hever -
Lucy's "Strawberry Jam" made from a jelly roll [technical term] hadthe perfect strawberry fabric on the back -
Tricia's beach hut cushion -Linda's "Thin Blue Line" entry -My "eyelash quilt" from Lisa's workshop had reached this stage in the quilting - border done (and binding on) but about 1/4 left to quilt. I'm revelling in the loopy pattern and might not be able to resist filling in the blank bits with more quilting in a different colour thread.
After the meeting, our host brought down plates of yummy samosas - what a great guy! (That address again is Indian Cottage, 9 Fairhazel Gardens - tube stations Swiss Cottage or Finchley Road.)

And when I got home, the beautiful moon was high in the sky -

Dear Jane and good causes

London Quilters' group quilt was shown at the group's show at Swiss Cottage Library in May and June. It will be raffled, with proceeds going to two charities - North London Hospice, and Hope for Grace Kodindo. Tickets are £1 each, and the draw is at the Knitting and Stitching Show on Sunday 12 October. Hope for Grace Kodindo works to make birth safer for 11,000 women a year in the main hospital in Chad, central Africa. Outside the developed world, childbirth is dangerous, even deadly. In the UK, maternal mortality is 1 in 5000. In Chad, the figure is 1 in 11; they have a saying, "a pregnant woman has one foot in the grave." And 40% of women have at least one child, or are pregnant, by age 17; 6.3 children are born per woman. Life expectancy is 47 years (it's 78 years in the UK). And in Chad, infant mortality is 93 per 1000, compared with 1.6 per 1000 in the UK. Amazing that just £5 will save the life of a pregnant woman in Chad.

The past comes back to haunt you

(Or, the subconscious influence of unexpected good fortune ...)

Looking for a different bit of information, I was surprised to come across the Spring 2004 newsletter on the London Quilters website, and see that I'd written this - which might explain my fascination with buying "interesting" men's shirts in charity shops:

"Lucky Raffle Ticket by Margaret Cooter

"A few meetings ago I won a prize in the raffle, and want to take this opportunity to thank the unknown London Quilter who donated that prize. It was a book, "Traditional Quilts from Around the World" by Miranda Innes, and it's a delightful book. Published in 1992, it’s still in print, and if you are a traditional quilter or interested in historical quilts, this book should be in your library. It would be a good present for someone who's just discovered quilts and wants to get going on a medium-sized project.

"The book centres on "18 easy patchwork, quilting and appliqué projects to make by machine" - but don't let the thought of yet more projects put you off (after all, who needs more UFOs??) - that said, the instructions look to be clear and complete, and the projects eminently manageable, even for the time challenged among us. It's as a reference book that this book comes into its own. The sections introducing each of the projects contain a two-page spread with a succinct exposé of the art form and several sumptuous photos of examples. These circle the globe: Hawaiian appliqué, Ghanaian Ewe cloth, an Australian tailor's quilt, simple Amish shapes, British strippies, French boutis, Japanese sashiko, Pakistani tasseled quilt, Seminole patchwork, Swedish woolen quilt.

"As a transplanted Canadian, I was enlightened to see a tradition I'd not been aware of: Canadian shirting quilts. Aha, a catalyst for finally reusing those recycled stripes and plaids (a.k.a. old shirts); obviously, fate has taken a hand by putting this book my way ... it must be time to start a new project ...."

And above are some fabrics reclaimed from men's shirts, still waiting to become that "new project". (The pale lime green near the top will provide the "spark" in the essentially dull selection.) The book in my 2004 review seems to have disappeared from my shelves, but researching shirting quilts on the net has turned up some inspiring pictures and interesting snippets of history.

Lauren Phillips is working on a shirting quilt based on a Kaffe Fassett design - it needs 1,116 triangles!
Round about 1900, shirting fabrics were popular for offsetting dark colours, as in this quilt - see a detail on this site

And there's more yet to be discovered...

Signature quilt takes off

The idea of a signature quilt was well received, and Region 1 members flocked to pay their £1 and join in. We did a couple of mock-ups of possible designs
But there are a gazillion possibilities, as shown in "Spectacular Scraps" by Judy Hooworth and Margaret Rolfe:At the next Regional Day (15 March, International Quilting Day!) we'll be voting on what layout to use. Among other things... speakers on Red Cross quilts and hexagon quilts, traders to tempt us to part with our cash, the drawing of the annual raffle, show & tell, challenge (small item inspired by the Indian embroideries shown by John Gillow on Saturday.