August 2022 – Cas Holmes Workshop and the Festival of Quilts
"Of many arts one surpasses all; the threads woven by the strange power of the hand, threads which the dropping spider would in vain attempt to imitate.”
Jacob van Eyck, 1651
This month I was lucky to attend a Cas Holmes Workshop in Extreme Stitching at West Dean college in Sussex. Cas studied in Fine Art at Maidstone College of Art (UCA) before researching Japanese art, textiles and papermaking in Japan. Her practice uses found materials and the inventive applications of textiles and mixed media to comment on the world around her. We had great fun exploring momigami - the Japanese technique of paper kneading and using this to create our own mixed media pieces.
Also this month was the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. Many hardened quilters attend for the whole four day extravaganza but as it was my first time I just went for a one day trial. I started with an early morning workshop which was a lovely introduction, making selvedge ‘port holes’ with Janet Goddard, a very relaxed and encouraging tutor.
The galleries and exhibition spaces were fascinating with so much fabulous work to look at, incredible standards of workmanship and really interesting textiles with stories to tell.
COVID Commemorative Quilt
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| Best in Show - |
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| Close up of In the Midnight Garden, Caroline Nixon |
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| The Weight of the World Caren Garfen |
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| Stems and Stalks Marian Jasmik |
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| Fiona Radley |
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| Poppies in Diamonds Hopkin Rees |
I’d entered my Blue and Yellow 2022 piece, rather than stuff it in a drawer unseen, and was pleased to see that some visitors were interested enough to take photos.
With a head buzzing with ideas and feet getting tired of standing, it was good to attend the talk Text and Context – Quilts and the Written Word which was a really well presented lecture that explored the use of the written word in historic and contemporary quilts from The Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection.
