The Fabric of our Lives

Well, I finally managed to get out of the house and undertake a cultural experience. Until now all excursions out of the house were to the studio and social events with close friends aka "coffee".
I have always been a fan of quilts and have designed many for our collections but we have only ever included , Nina Patchwork quilt. The reason being that they are labour intensive and therefore very expensive. If your main selling opportunity is a website then customers can never see the work and quality put into them.
Today, I went with to see the Quilts 1700-2010 at the V&A and really enjoyed it. I cannot believe the time that has been put into the quilts in this exhibition. I love the combinations of patterns and colours. I really loved the modern takes on the quilts like the one by Natasha Kerr "At the end of the day" which features a picture of her grandparents that was found under the stairs. This linked her to an unknown part of her family. Quilts have told many stories and the tradition of quilting has been popular around the world. By the number of people at this exhibition I suspect this is another craft about to be revived.

As part of the V&A site they have included a page were you can upload your quilts, and create virtual quilts http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/gallery/patterns. The fifth one down was done by a woman who was so inspired after her visit to the exhibition she bought some of the quilting fabric from the V&A shop and had a go. I have also included a few other lovely quilts from that gallery. This along with the show at the V&A this should provide you with the necessary inspiration to start your own work of art.
To create your own heirloom the V&A shop at the museum and online sells gorgeous fabrics for quilting http://www.vandashop.com/section.php?xSec=357&xPage=1&selectProductsNumber=24 and you can also try Liberty's for beautiful quilting squares.

Would you rather a company like étoile made your quilts? If so, what kind would you like to see us make, what would you be prepared to pay for a beautifully crafted quilt?

In the meantime, perhaps I will start thinking about making a quilt for baby no 2 just in case they ever come along.
S