patchwork placement

During the summer break i looked for placements for my dissertation. i found out about a lovely lady called Katherine May, who makes beautiful handmade patchwork quilts amongst many other projects.

i went to her studio just above Dalston market which she shares with 3 other ladies who all together are in a collective called bricolage.

bricolageproject.com

all of which have graduated from Chelsea college of art and design in textiles

from the right to left; Naomi knitts with different types of yarn and has made these real nice little floor cushions and had knitted the panels for a deck chair with multiple strands of yarns to make one thick one, and was currently working on copper frame lamp shades where she is then stretching panels of knitted paper yarn, they were looking good but didn't get to see a finished one.

Clara woks with digital print and makes wallpapers, hangings and beautiful printed textiles which she then had made into garments using traditional techniques such as batik like the dress below, to digital print, where she made this jacket taking patterns from table cloths, and then coated it to give it a shinny ripe-able tablecloth finish which was super cool and very retro!

these were some really nice digital patchworks, i love this idea and also the fact you could still see the frayed edges on some of the cut out shapes which make it look 3d but its all flat and smooth.

Yemi also knits and was knitting on a machine using different types of yarn such as cork, whilst weaving in other materials such as wooden strips, bamboo and jewels.

she was working on these amazing lights weaving in long strips on wood into the knit when i was in the studio

cork

Polly makes textiles using hand drawn marks, stencils and screen print onto natural fabrics to create cushions and framed panels for interior spaces.

and Katherine makes patchwork quilts using traditional techniques but in a beautiful handmade contemporary way. she uses fabrics which have been used or recycled and often collaborates with clients with their own personal textiles to create quilts that have a sentimental value and stories.

her work has recently been shown in the quilts exhibition at the V&A and in liberty's 'quilty pleasures'.

Katherine also sets up patchwork and quilting workshops and is apart of many other community projects and groups

i started of by trying to come up for a new logo that Katherine could use on her work; here were some ideas...

also cutting up patches ready for her next quilt

which is going to be dots

around the studio: things were being moved around to paint the floor and to get the place set up ready for the open studios weekend event. this is where the book of studios that they worked in were going to open up to the public, so everyone could see all the different artists work.

knitting machine

i learned traditional patchwork techniques, where you rap your fabric around the cardbord cut out shap then you stitch the edges together

these were going to be for little lavender bags to go with her quilts to keep them smelling fresh.

i started to patching together some of the triangles i had cut out on a industrial machine.

then Katherine lays them out ready to stitch together then quilts

studio cat

hers all the strips layed out

then the quilting

the finished piece

ready for show

for the open studio Katherine was making circular bunting to hang outside the studio so people new were to go, so i got to work cutting the fabric from the market...

preparing from the open studio event:

making business cards and goodie bags which included a bricolage red badge spot i made from bits of fabric...

hanging and displaying work...

here is a lamp shade i made with Clara to show

hanging the bunting

it came in of the street through the studio

all over

i loved working in the studio environment it Katherine and the girls, it was really inspireing to be around all the work and projects which were constently flying around the room.

all the girls are very much into kind of recycleing, reusing, making textiles sustainable, and using natural organing materials and getting community and people working together, these are some things i have taken away and would like to adapt to my work.