1st August

I'm back!

After a longer hiatus than I had planned.  I have missed sharing my textile work on here.  I have shared photos on Instagram but it's not the same.

As I mentioned in my last post, way back in the mists of time, my focus this year has been to make work for two exhibitions whilst I'm away in Australia. I've also needed to schedule blog posts for the church website through September and October.  I've also been making pieces for the exhibition Becca and I have at Forge Mill in 2027.

And of course, finishing my entry into the 3D category at Festival of Quilts.  

I ended up making 11 little fabric books to fit the shelf.  Five of the books have mini collages in them, using fabrics of a similar colour to the cover of the book.  And four have variations of a particular stitch - chain, feather and fly, herringbone, and buttonhole stitch.  One has random other stitches and the last one has 7 synonyms for captivity and 7 synonyms for freedom.

 I tried to make the covers relevant to the contents.

 And here it is on display at the Festival of Quilts:

The judging was on Wednesday and I wasn't awarded one of the prizes.  However yesterday someone congratulated me on being shortlisted.  So I had to go back and take a look.  And found the sticker I had overlooked before.

 As you might imagine, I'm rather chuffed.

Thanks for being here today,
Bernice  

A Creative 2026

It's happening! THIS YEAR!

Yes, after 19 months since I made my application, instead of saying 'the year after next', and then 'next year', I can finally say it's THIS YEAR.  Only 9 months until I'm the Artist in Residence at Hurstville Museum & Art Gallery in New South Wales.

Hurstville Museum & Art Gallery

In my last post I reviewed 2025.  In this post I'm looking forward to this year and what's already in store.

I belong to Midlands Textile Forum and to a contemporary quilt group called Stitch In the Middle.  Both groups have exhibitions this year.  Fortunately the first MTF exhibition is the same work as that exhibited at Nottingham last September.  However I do need to make new work for the MTF 'Fragments' exhibition in Worcester in September this year.  I also need to make new work for SITM's October exhibition in Ledbury called 'Bricks and Water'.  All this new work will need to be finished by the middle of August, before I leave for Australia.

In addition I am still inspired to make pieces in my series 'Captivity, Freedom and Identity' which will be exhibited in 2027.  At least the deadline for the work isn't this year!

I recently found Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts and that had given me ideas for a hanging.  

I'm hoping to enter a 3D piece into the competition at Festival of Quilts this year.  It's a Chained Library.  So far I've almost finished the box.  I'm planning to make several fabric books to go in it.

I probably need to write down all my ideas - just to get them out of my head!  There are so many ideas buzzing and rather too many pieces that I've started and really need to finish.

Keep coming back to my blog to find out how I'm getting on.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice  

2025: A Creative Year

It's been a while.  So how about a look back at this year.

There are times when I wonder if I've achieved anything.  Which is a bit daft because I know I have but then the whispers come (or even the shouts) that say it's not been enough.  Do you get that feeling?

So here goes.  In no particular order:

I'm Fine - NOT!

Tears of Oppression  Tears of Transition  Tears of Joy

Made a few years ago but finished this year

Promised Land

Negative Labels

Positive Words

1771

Distant Echoes: Fragments of Memory

 

I've exhibited with Becca at Forge Mill.  I've exhibited with Midlands Textile Forum in Loughborough and Nottingham.  I demonstrated my fabric books in the Creative Textiles Studio  at Festival of Quilts.

I've taught workshops in Solihull, Birmingham and Shropshire.  I've given three talks including one on zoom.

I've continued to take part in a poetry zoom workshop.  And continued to host a ladies photography group, a textile group  and a writers' group - all monthly on zoom.

So all in all it's been a full-on creative year and there's more to come in 2026.

Thanks for joing me here during this year.
Bernice