Should I ....?

A few weeks ago the instagram grapevine gave me the news that quilts of Gee’s Bend will be shown at the Turner Contemporary in Margate. A huge temptation! I love the books, 

and have found especially the first one very inspirational. And I did not get to see the quilts when they were being shown at Ste. Marie-aux-Mines a few years ago, it was one of the very few times recently that I did not get to go.

And I remembered my little thing with the Anni Albers exhibition – to which I had wanted to go, even considering a ecologically sinfull one-day-trip by plane. Until I found out that that same exhibition had been shown in Düsseldorf. And I had never even heard about it. So I punished myself for not being aware of it by not allowing myselft to go. (I do have the catalogue – but I still regret not having seen it.) So this time – look at the calendar. Try to figure out… It would have been possible, take the train (not even the plane thing to prohibit a trip) through Paris, change onto the EuroStar, get off in Kent and then head over to the Thames. Chrisse would have joined me, even. It would have been possible to do. And it was a very strong temptation.

But it would have been expensive, as the train is not one that offers really cheap fares for this special trip. It would have been a hassle, because during the time when the exhibition is on I don’t have any official vacation. I don’t know the hospital I will be working at during those weeks yet, and while I have meanwhile figured out how to manage a day or two off according to my personal plans with the hospital I have been working at up to now, I can’t say how it will be there. I would have needed three days at least for the trip, and then it would have been a strenuous entertainment, no extra time to explore the area. Perhaps it would have been possible to arrange it, on the last weekend of the duration of the show, however, some uncertainties remain, and it would mean I would have been gone for my son’s birthday and for mine.

In the end I decided I won’t go. I will stick with the books. And perhaps go to Margate at some other time, with a bit more leisure to explore. It just most probably won’t be a quilt exhibition I will go to see.

Happy New Year to all my readers, thanks for following and for coming back to read. I hope I will be able to post more regularly this year than I have been doing during the last year.

Little escap(ad)e: Rugs from Marocco in Pinakothek der Moderne

After I wrote about the wonderful book on ghelims that I discovered in the Basel museum during my visit in early November, I did go to see the current exhibit on Maroccan Rugs in the Pinakothek der Moderne.

 I had read about it in the paper when it was opened, had heard good things about it from friends, and was determined to go and see it even before I discovered the other book. 

Very impressive, very much worth seeing! Photographs were allowed without flash, so I can show you a few although I haven’t bought a catalogue yet. (I will, though.)

Some of the rugs were purely woven, yet most of them were hooked. Some on both sides.

With some you get the impression that the weaver started off with a pattern in mind and then did not  quite remember later on how s/he wanted to continue. Or maybe just changed mind halfway through. These I found particularly interesting, as the break in pattern appeared so slightly and created a particular kind of suspense.

 With this one it seems the warp ran out before the weaver had finished the intended pattern. But I love the way it leaves things 'open':

Overall, I was very much reminded of the quilts of Gee’s Bend in the liberty and ease with which patterns are handled. And even if you bear in mind that these pieces were made to lie on the floor, not to be presented on walls, they have a strong presence that draw you in. 

Similarly to the exhibition of Amish Quilts that was shown in the exactly same room several years ago, however, it must be said that too much was forced into this rather small space. Too many pieces in too little room, so that it wasn’t always easy to catch a good view of the individual rugs. But the arranger had made the most of it, and walking around the panels that were spaced diagonally all over the room, at least quite a few interesting views occured suddenly and unexpectedly. Luckily there was a second part of the exhibition on the upper floor, and here nothing was left of 'too little space'.

On display until January 5th, 2014.

Supporting Quilter

When my husband said „Yes“ a little more than twelve years ago, he did not really know what he was getting himself into. To be honest - neither did I. At that time I was still thinking I would have a career in academia as a linguist. Quilting was a side issue, much loved, but not in the focus of attention. Only slowly did it dawn on my that my profound unhappiness of the time before I met my husband was not only due to the fact of being single, but that it also had to do with my job situation. So I resigned from my position at university. That’s when the real challenge started for my husband. He had not understood that this meant he was enrolling in an intensive course as supporting quilter. He has discovered signs announcing unexpected quilt exhibitions while driving by in the car, long before I ever saw them. He came along to a two-week class with Nancy Crow to baby-sit our then six-month-old son while I was at the sewing machine. He frequently is my first critic, and although his usual first jesting suggestion is to “turn it by 90 degrees!”, he is not always wrong about this... He was the one who came up with ‘justquilts’ as my domain name for the quilting business, and together we chose ‘justcolours’ for the dyeing. He found a book on old parquet patterns and gave it to me as a present with the suggestion to use that for quilting and patchwork patterns. He has helped me to install my new sewing machine table, which I would not have managed without him. And he always finds interesting bits and pieces. The most recent one was this:

In one of the music magazines he subscribes to, he found this 3-page-article on Gee’s Bend quilts as musical inspiration. Of course he knows about my admiration for Gee’s Bend Quilts, although I still haven’t seen any in real life, only in books. He would have gone ahead and probably ordered all of the seven CDs mentioned in the article, but I narrowed the selection down to three. 

Bobby McFerrin - SpiritYouAll
Geri Allen - A Child is Born
Guitar Concerts of the 21st Century, inspired by Gee's Bend Quilts

And I got them even though it is just before Christmas. All of which are great to listen to. Thank you, Michael.

Of course, Gee’s Bend Quilts are by now well-known, and many people are probably much better informed about them than I am. But this little re-encounter has led me to check back on the net.

You can find pictures of Gee’s Bend quilts here and here. 

An interesting article on the second exhibition can be read here.

This article is rather more recent, as is this one. 

Let’s see what other discoveries my husband will come up with during the next twelve years...