to be a child: contemporary quilted textiles by Ruth de Vos

to be a child 

contemporary quilted textiles by Ruth de Vos

26th April - 5 May 
at the Showcase Gallery, Central Institute of Technology,
cnr Aberdeen St and Beaufort St, Northbridge, Western Australia
Open Wed - Sat (11am - 4:45pm), closed Anzac Day
Ph: +618 9427 1318
www.gallerycentral.com.au

14 - 25 May 
at the Vancouver Arts Centre, 
85 Vancouver St, Albany, Western Australia
Open Mon - Fri (9am - 4pm), Sat (10am - 3pm)
Ph: +618 9841 9260
http://www.albany.wa.gov.au/website/page.php?folder=17l

Observing small children notice budding flowers, snail trails, ripening fruit, textured leaves, floating bubbles, dripping rain and pencil marks on paper for the first time is a wonderful reminder of just how special these ordinary things are. In an effort to retain some of that wide-eyed wonder herself and to share it with others, Ruth has stitched these vibrant textiles which incorporate traditional quiltmaking techniques in a contemporary way to powerfully record the learning experiences of little children.

Another birthday quilt

 

After Hannah's birthday last year, Aaron very sweetly asked if he could maybe have a quilt for his bed too, for his next birthday. Of course, I had to think long and hard about that one... just kidding... I was already planning to make him one, but wasn't sure if he'd appreciate it as a birthday present, so I was very happy to be proven wrong.
 

With regular little reminders that February is birthday month, I blocked out today for piecing the top together. So happy how it's looking. I was mulling over various ideas involving plain fabric and simple geometric designs, but when I loved this quilt by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts the moment I saw it. I took chose colours to coordinate with the old school maps hanging in Aaron (and Caleb's) room.

 

The piecing was completed 10 minutes before the kids came home from school - perfect timing!

Photographing my quilts

I finally took 'official' photos of the seven completed quilts I had in my studio!

I like to take the photos outside to ensure sufficient natural light. At our previous house I used a large white board for this. I suspended the quilts from hooks that hung from the top edge of the board. It worked well, but the board was heavy and awkward. Now, thanks to the design walls I have seen in the homes of other artists, I have two polystyrene boards about 5cm thick. These are light enough that I can move them around by myself. Today we only needed one board, which made it even easier. And the other think I like about this setup is that I can pin the quilt to the board so that the pins are hidden and I don't have to try to hide the hanging system in photoshop.

I put the board against the southern side of the house (best light for this) and my happy helper held on to it to stop it blowing away in the howling east winds. This is the first time I've taken quilt photos at this house and I'm very happy that it all worked as I'd hoped!

Piecing my "Regeneration 2012" quilt

 

Piecing of my "Regeneration - Contemporary Quilted Textiles 2012" quilt is progressing well. It's a little bit challenging to get into the studio at the moment, what with holidays and swimming lessons competing for my time and energy, but I'm making daily progress all the same. I hope you are enjoying this time of the year too, whether in the summer heat, or in the middle of winter!

Piecing my "Regeneration" quilt

 

I keep thinking that because this quilt needs to be finished some time next year, I still have plenty of time. Reality hit yesterday when I realised that it needs to be completed in a months time, including burying all the threads, so that it can be photographed, and posted to arrive in NSW on time. Considering the time of year we are in, this is going to be a challenge! So it was heads down in the studio today!

(I alway enjoy watching the pile of offcuts grow).

Beginning to piece my "Regeneration 2012" quilt

 

I started the piecing phase of my quilt for "Regeneration - Contemporary Quilted Textiles 2012" - this afternoon. Some weeks ago I cut up my working pattern and ironed all the pieces onto the correct fabric.

 

Today I trimmed the first section...

 

...and with the help of my quilt drawing...

 

...laid the pieces out like a jigsaw puzzle, all ready to be stitched together.

I didn't spend much time in the studio, but it felt good just to have made a start (that's often the biggest hurdle!). I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together!

New energy

Thanks to Phil's parents who babysat all four kids for the weekend, I got to make an escape for three days to join Phil in Kuala Lumpur (he's working there at the moment). What a treat - eating out (including a delicious meal at this Lebanese restaurant), shopping, and enjoying the Royal Botanic Gardens. And catching up on sleep. Even though I was exhausted before I left, and there was a 10 hour journey (door to door) each way, it was a wonderful break.

Coming home to four small children and a new school term means there is no such thing as 'easing back into things'. High on my list of priorities this week is the quilt-in-progress that was causing me a bit of grief last week.It's getting there, even if it's been all about perseverance and determination this time round...As you can probably tell, it's a bit of a departure from my other 'childhood' quilts. I'm still contemplating whether to do some screenprinting on the background before finishing the piecing.

While they play

This afternoon I managed to sneak upstairs to spend some time in my studio while my kids were busy making a wonderful mess at the dining table. They were having a great time, and I figured I was best off being where I couldn't see the mess!(Yes. that is Hannah there, 'cleaning up' the mess. I do believe there was way more effort put into giggling and dancing with the broom than in actual cleaning.)While they were busy, I made some good progress cutting out a new quilt.Just in case you find all these different quilts confusing, my current quiltmaking situation is as follows:
9 small quilts and 1 large quilt - waiting for the binding to be handstitched down, and the threads to be buried
3 medium quilts - layered and ready for quilting
1 large and 1 medium quilt - cut out and ready for piecing
2 medium quilts - in the process of being cut out
1 TOP SECRET bed sized birthday quilt - layered and ready for quilting

I won't be bored for a while yet...

Sewing in the sun

I found a new sewing spot today. Daniel was determined to play outside with the other children, and because we don't have fences yet and he has a tendency to wander, I need to supervise him closely. So I had no choice but to be outside with him all day. And thankfully I found the perfect place - out on the new (nearly) finished deck, on my recently thrifted table, behind the sewing machine, overlooking the whole yard as well as the valley beyond...
I barely touched the housework today, but I do have a mostly finished quilt top and some sunburn to show for my efforts - and the kids had a wonderful day outside altogether. I think we may be onto something here, for the upcoming school holidays!

Quilt!

For all you east coasters, please note the upcoming exhibition shown above. It should be an awesome exhibition and I'm more than a little bit excited to be included with all those great quilting names. And they're not just wonderful artists, they are wonderful people too.

Science and sewing (or: any excuse will do)

Sometime nearly two months ago, we put up a design wall in my studio. Within a week I had it covered with these scraps. The wall was perfect for playing with the arrangement of the quilt bits. (Because this was a commissioned quilt for my most loyal blog reader and her family, I didn't dare feature a sneak peek here at the time. ) I thoroughly enjoyed making this picnic blanket. It includes a pack of handprinted fabric scraps from mikodesign (featuring kokeshi dolls and babushkas) as well as some of my own handprinted scraps (including some periodic table bits for the science nerd, I mean, whizz in the family).
Speaking of science nerds, we were amused and intrigued by a recent article in Time which suggested that since there have been more women in maths and science disciplines, there has also been an increase in the number of autistic children. To quote:

The same decades that saw a vast increase in the prevalence of autism witnessed an unprecedented
movement of women into math and science professions. This meant that future parents with
similar talents and temperaments - not just like-minded but like-brained - began getting
together to a greater extent.

This article is highly speculative, but seeing as Phil and I both have Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Engineering degrees to our name, it caught our attention. Phil's flippant response to me was: "you better keep working on that art of yours".
Flippant it may be, but I'll run with that!

Pieced and layered, on with the quilting

The 'school' quilt is pieced! That's a major milestone. Now it's quilting time. This has timed rather nicely with Phil being overseas for a few days. My goal is to finish the 'ditch-stitching' (stitching over all the seam lines) before Phil gets back (for no particular reason other than that I like to work to goals). So the kids and I are in easy mode - easy meals (i.e. little cooking), easy housekeeping (i.e. no cleaning), easy routine (i.e. sewing all day). That's something I can only live with for a few days, and only when I'm completely caught up in a project like this, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts!