It has been a very VERY long time since my last post. This is not because I have not been sewing but I have just taken a bit of a breather, taken some time to regroup, started a few new ventures & certainly been on a bit of a sewing learning journey. Sometimes we can get stuck in a rut & need to branch out to re-engage with our mojo and this is exactly what I have been doing.
Midway through last year I joined an inspiring group of quilters called Selvedge/Salvedge headed up by the inspiring Jan Mullens. The groups is based in Fremantle WA and when I joined they had just started on a new project making quilts to be auctioned. All the profits will be going to the School of St Yared in Ethiopia, the school gives children a solid education, a safe and loving home, and a future instead of a ‘reprieve’, certainly a worthy cause which you can read all about HERE.
The Selvedge/Salvedge project consisted of making quilts based on three different themes entirely from donated fabrics & materials. The fabrics donated were an amazing array of kimonos, kimono silk, upholstery fabrics, suiting fabric . . . basically anything that wasn't conventional quilters cotton.
I have made three quilts for the projects, two on my own & one with a group of friends. I absolutely love all three quilts and it has been hard to part with them. Each quilt has taught me new skills & opened my eyes to working with different fabrics & textures. I have also been challenged to work well outside my comfort zone thanks to the guidance of Jan Mullens. Working amongst such a creative group of women who all made me feel so welcome has been such a bonus.
Next month over 80 quilts made by the entire Salvage/Selvedge group will go on display at the Moore’s Building Contemporary Art Gallery in Fremantle. The exhibition will be over two weeks from 16 May to 1 June 2014.
It is hoped that visitors to the exhibition will bid big bucks at the silent auction and will be welcome to attend the live auction night on Friday 23 May.
The first quilt I made for the group (pictured above) has been selected as the raffle quilt for the event which is such a honour. The project has run two raffles already over the last few months to cover costs of wadding, backing & thread as it aims that the money raised at the auction is all profit for the school so it is really important that my quilt raises lots of money over the two weeks.
The quilt started off as a kimono lining that I was given to unpick on my first evening with the group. (Did you know that traditional kimonos were hand sewn then unpicked to be washed then sewn backed together again - just a little snippet i learnt!) The blue in the kimono is a soft indigo blue that I became a bit attached too . . . so Jan suggested I cut it up & turn it in to a horizontal strippy quilt for their first round of quilts!!
So I did . . . .
Then I teamed it up with an array of silks from kimonos & scarves, gorgeous satins that came with a truck load of sewing issues & few other Japanese fabrics. The panels went up on the design wall, were viewed by everyone at the group, everyone chipped in with their opinions, the panels all got cut up a bit more, the balance of the blue & the coloured flashes were played with, we looked at it through a viewer, took photos of it on the Ipad, moved it around a bit more, cut it up a bit more, then finally sewed it together in the perfect balance. It was a journey, a challenge & a joy!
. . . and the best bit, the quilt could be yours if you get yourself down to the Moores building in May & buy yourself a raffle ticket.
The work that the group has done is nothing short of extraordinary, they have put together a truly beautiful & magnificent collection of art quilts that I am in total awe of & I feel very privileged to have been a small part of it.
If you are in Western Australia, please make the time to visit, take your wallet along as this is a very rare opportunity to own a gorgeous work of art. . . . and please bring all your friends!
x x Claire
p.s. I'll be posting pictures of my other quilts in the next week so please check back
Moore’s Building Contemporary Art Gallery 46 Henry Street, Fremantle WA
Galleries open 10am-4pm, seven days Moore & Moore Cafe open 8am-4pm, seven days
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