Catching Up and Moving On

This weekend was 'back to school' for me - the start of the new year for my City and Guilds course. I've not had time to blog because the last two weeks has been non-stop catch up on last year's work.  I got a bit behind and as usual left it almost to the last minute to get down to finishing off! The photo above is of one of my 26 embroidery samples which all measure 10" by 12". I'll post pictures of the others on my City and Guilds blog later this week. It is rusted fabric with holes burnt through to reveal the shiny metallic fabric beneath. It's one of my favourite pieces.  I'm really pleased I finished the module, had it 'signed off' and can now put it away and move on.

In the coming 10 months we'll be completing two new design and make modules - Wholecloth Quilt and Quilted Wallhanging. I'm really looking forward to these two and am eager to get started with the wholecloth quilt. I'll be planning a design from a source of inspiration, making samples to trial techniques and, of course, making the quilt.

To get me in the mood today I've been looking through my photos from the recent Great Northern Quilt Show and picking out lots of inspiring wholecloth quilts.

First a stunning hand quilted traditional quilt  by Heather Walker- look at the detail below to see the lovely stitching.

Here's another made on a lemon fabric by Beryl Baker:

There were smaller traditional quilts in the cot quilt section;

 This one is called 'Lullaby' by Jacquie Harvey - lovely!

Jacquie Harvey had a solo exhibition with several other pieces in the show - all absolutely stunning. She called them 'A Little Love in Every Stitch'. All have previously won prizes in other shows.

 Heritage Christening Gown

 Wedding Waistcoat

 I Wonder as I Wander

'Wax Lyrical' above was coloured with wax crayons!

On our course we are encouraged to try new ideas so although we will start with one piece of fabric we may choose to add colour by dyeing, painting etc so I was also looking for more contemporary quilts which would perhaps be included in a more modern interpretation of wholecloth.

Another solo exhibition by Cherilyn Martin, although not wholecloth because each was made of several panels, used stitch on dyed and embellished cloth. This example included a very traditional looking gold silk panel.

Here's a closer look which showa the quilting and embroidery on the coloured silk:

And another piece  had been discharged (bleached) to add designs on dyed fabric. This is something we will be trying out at college next month.

The City and Guilds syllabus doesn't clearly state a definition of a contemporary wholecloth quilt other than saying the stitching should be the main feature. I wonder if  it is be acceptable to print images onto the quilt for example like in this quilt ( I showed it in my last post on the show) which has transferred photos of leaves:

What do you think? What is your definition of a wholecloth quilt?