At work in my workshop

I wanted to create a series of projects that could be completed by experienced and inexperienced stitchers alike. The following is an article I wrote about the development of the project for the English quilting magazine 'Patchwork & Quilting'.

The initial inspiration for the quilts came from an Edward Burne Jones painting that had amongst other things a delicately embroidered quilt draped over a table. It looked exquisite and precious - I wanted to capture the detail and beauty in a contemporary way.

The fabrics I chose were soft cotton and finely woven silk satin. Silk has the ability to absorb more dye weight than any other fabric does, so it is possible to obtain vibrant colours on a weave that is relatively light and fine. The satin being woven with long threads on one side had a double benefit. The extra sheen created by this weave reflected the colours of the silk beautifully. The fact that there was less thread on the other side meant that the transfer adhesive that I use was attaching itself to the minority of the fabric.

The background colours on which the silk motifs are placed contain deep dusky shades that I find contrast pleasantly with the lighter rainbow coloured silk. The seven shades I use are rosy red, inky blue, burnt gold, turquoise, sage and dried violets.

To create the pallet of colour on the silk, I use twelve different shades of procion dye on a single sheath. Once the silk has been dyed the surface has a jewel like shimmering and luminous quality. The method I use causes the dyes to run into each other leaving abstract patterns that give subtle effects to the appliqué shapes.

I do a lot of drawing. Working in black and white creates a balance with using vibrant colour. From the drawings I make detailed motifs for the appliqué. I take a series of photographs then make sketches when I get home. The out lined shapes are used to make templates from card and the details I simplify as details to copy when embellishing with embroidery. Many of the motifs have to be discarded, as they simply don’t work with the appliqué.

Transfer adhesive is the genie of the technique. It allows me to cut intricate shapes from the silk, without it that would be impossible – the silk would fray uncontrollably. Leaving the transfer adhesive paper on the silk means I can draw around the shapes without leaving marks and the crisp surface makes it easier to cut out the shapes.

Only a fellow textile fanatic could understand the exquisite joy I get from selecting and mixing colours chosen from the palette on the silk. I indulge in using some quite obscure combinations. I have found a certain shade of turquoise that looks strangely metallic when set against the copper brown cotton. A favourite combination of mine is a light lime green silk next to a wisteria blue/violet silk blend on the burnt cotton ground. Working with colour is fascinating, the more you look the more the eye picks up subtle variations in colour and observes the effects of setting colours against each other.

Once the base has been assembled and the motifs have been cut from the sheath of silk, the final design is composed. This can be a fairly simple matter of arranging a balanced design or I may have a more complicated composition to try, usually with the colours. An example of this could be using a colour arrangement I have seen in a Degas painting – a halo of gold’s in one corner moving down to an intense cluster of contrasting colours in the opposite corner. I often leave the final arrangement overnight. Seeing it again with fresh eyes I may notice two insects pointing in the same direction or a cluster of colours that would look better more evenly balanced. When I am totally happy with the design, I secure the shapes with an iron. I then tack around each shape before beginning the appliqué quilting.

The appliqué shapes are quilted onto the base using either metallic or rayon thread and a delicate zig zag stitch on the machine or buttonhole or twisted chain stitch by hand. When all the shapes have been outlined with stitchery I begin embellishing with embroidery. I use a mixture of unstructured wriggles and swirls plus the details copied from the original sketches. I like to use a combination of hand and machine embroidery and at this stage I often use space dyed threads.

I also paint, mostly close up portrayals of flowers. There are many different textures in the details of flowers and I enjoy finding ways of describing these, initially with paint and then embroidery. The colours in flowers are quite subtle and vary according to the way they capture the light.

Frequent visits to London in order to visit art galleries are a great source of inspiration for me. Paintings by Redon, Degas and Bonnard are the inspiration behind the colour collections I use. Art also generates ideas regarding composition and texture. Looking at the work of Braque I was fascinated by the abstract and disconcerting way he used line. It has made me think more about composing colour and shape in textiles. I make lines of colour when I am arranging a design and experiment with surface texture, getting ideas from and trying to interpret the many descriptive marks made by the painters brush.

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