Monday 29 April 2013

A Weekend with Wildflowers, Quilts and Cake

Having established that spring may be a little late this year but has never-the-less sprung, it is good to get out and see it coming into its glory in the countryside. A spell between April showers tempted us to put on our walking boots and take a stroll along the lanes. Many of the  country lanes around here are narrow and bordered by steep banks topped by hedges. For walkers, the drawback is that should motorists using the road overlook the fact that they are  on a road with  not even a B classification, mistake the conditions for those on the M3 and come hurtling around the bend behind you at an wildly inappropriate speed, you may have little choice but to throw yourself on the scant mercy of a bed of nettles. Fortunately this very seldom happens and walkers  enjoy the shelter and peace of the road,  able to get a good view of  the wildflowers on the banks without having to stoop. Primroses and violets were making the most of the sunshine before the taller cow parsley and jack-by-the-hedge overshadow them.
And wood anemones seem to have found this year's weather has been ideal for them.
This weekend was also the date for the Meon Valley Quilters' Exhibition. Having missed it several times in the past I was determined to go along this year. Held in a local church it was stunningly staged. The combination of stained glass windows and glorious patchwork was quite inspiring. Small quilted panels were hung on the ends of many of the pews, large quilts hung from the ceiling and  smaller items  were displayed on window sills; there was just so much to see, so many quilting styles, designs and colour combinations. Most items were labelled with the creator's name and something of the source of the materials and designs. One of the most appealing to me was a star pattern made with pieces from the quilter's son's old shirts, lots of fine stripes and checks in blues and greys set against plain white as a background. I loved the idea of re-using material and reminded me of the fabrics I have used for Rag Baskets.
So come on, you may well be thinking, where are the pictures of all this creative magnificence? As I entered, I had sought and been given permission to take photos. Standing in front of the first exhibit I wanted to 'snap' I reached into my bag for my 'point and shoot' only to have an instant mental image of it still on the side table where I had left it after our walk.Not to worry I thought,  I have a camera in my mobile phone. I discovered that learning to use an application you have never used before is not best done in public when there are others who would like to stand where you're standing or have to walk around you. Stifling annoyance with myself, I thought I would just make the most of looking at what was there, breathing in the almost palpable creativity.
I left remembering the last time I had seen an exhibition of quilts. It was in my hometown in South Australia, eight years ago. Several months earlier there had been devastating bush fires in the area with lives lost and people rendered homeless with little besides the clothes they had escaped in. Almost before the fires were out, the people of the state rallied donating all kinds of things to replace what had been lost.It was the local quilting group who recognised that so much was irreplaceable,  unique, sentimentally valued, heirlooms and family items and decided that they would appeal to quilters across the country to help them to provide a special handmade quilt for every family who had lost their home. The response was fantastic and I found the  consideration and generosity of those craftswomen (and men!) very moving.
So here are my mementos of last weekend's exhibition. ( The background is an hexagonal patchwork stitched by my mother-in-law.)
 Check this site for other Quilting Exhibitions. Was I inspired to start patchworking or quilting? Much as I was so impressed by what I saw, I don't really think so. Several years ago I tried cathedral window patchwork and made a cushion.
I enjoyed making it and made another as a Christmas present for a friend. I have thought that it might be a way of using some of my Hapa-Zome samples but it called for a lot of 'precision ironing', I remember, and as neither precision work or ironing are particular strengths as far as I am concerned that is likely to stay nothing more than an idea. But there is so much value beyond the introduction to the specific skills in any exhibition like this. Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way talks of going on artist's dates to feed curiosity and creativity. This would be an example of just that for me.

And as for the cake?

  That would be a slice of Chocolate Lumpy Bumpy from the Tenth Hole Tearooms in Southsea.

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