Alicia Merrett's wow factor quilts at the Newark Quilt Show

In my first post from the Newark Quilt Show, where I admired Carolyn Forster’s quilts, I promised to show you more of the quilts on display, however I realised there were so many more that I wanted to share that I’d need to break them into smaller sections and do that over at least a couple more posts.

So in this post I’ll share something completely different to Carolyn’s quilts, but no less amazing. Here Alicia Merrett’s quilts were grouped under the title ‘Ways of Seeing’ and it’s obvious that she loves colour and texture. Alicia says that ‘beauty and feelings are important’ to her and she tries 'to convey them in her work, searching for the ‘wow’ factor’.

Alicia says her current work is ‘mostly abstract and is the result of experiments with photography, iPad apps and computer design’. The digital paintings are played with, altered, changed and distorted often with several layers being superimposed. The final designs are printed on fabric, then layered and machine stitched.

It’s a completely different approach to the quilts I shared in the previous post, but I think it’s fair to say that Alicia has definitely succeeded as her quilts definitely have the wow factor and are also beautiful works of art.

ALICIA MERRETT: DECODING THE RAINBOW

As you’ll see the rainbow is Alicia’s main source of colours, for the quilt above she says that ‘it seems as if the rainbow has an almost undecipherable code hidden within it, defiantly asking us to discover its meaning’ and so the computer code like letters accentuate that. Maybe that’s why we’re fascinated with rainbows, we’re trying to understand them as well as admire their beauty.

Alicia describes this next quilt as a ‘magical kind of Urban Jungle’ to me it has a hint of moroccan spice to it, but as for other pieces of art, we each interpret them differently and they can be many things to many people.

ALICIA MERRETT: URBAN JUNGLE

I really like this next quilt, though it’s hard to chose an absolute favourite from any of these. I think this one appeals as it is so dramatic, and so different - and once you know it’s called Eye of the Storm, that almost pulls you in too. Look closely and you’ll see the quilting is exquisite, but it also has a serious meaning the card alongside it reminding us we all need to take action, governments and individuals, as there is no Planet B.

ALICIA MERRETT: EYE OF THE STORM

Though her work Alicia also explores colour further as waves of colour transmitting through the air which become particles when on the fabric. I don’t know about that but this interpretation does make for a fascinating quilt.

ALICIA MERRETT: WAVES OF COLOUR

I also enjoyed the smaller quilts on display purely for the colour, the contrast and their designs, as well as the amount of work that’s gone into creating these. Of the four below, the Colour Burst quilt (top right) is my favourite, I think that matches most closely to how colour explodes for me.

ALICIA MERRETT: HILLSIDE VILLAGE AND COLOUR BURST QUILTS

ALICIA MERRETT: LITTLE BOXES AND DANCING SQUARES QUILTS

This last quilt which I’m sharing is one that I think you could look at for a while, and it’s the sort of image that could take your imagination in different ways depending on your mood. Knowing this is titled ‘The Colour of Nature’ initially leads me to see a garden pond with flowers, lily pads and frogs - though I suspect this isn’t quite its intention, and you may see something else entirely.

ALICIA MERRETT: THE COLOUR OF NATURE

But isn’t that the beauty of these magnificent quilts, they allow your mind and imagination to roam?

Starting to look back at Gardeners' World Live

* I was invited to the press preview for and provided with a pair of tickets to Gardeners’ World Live so I’m marking posts from the show as 'Ad’ - as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

This morning I’ve been looking through and editing more of my photos from Gardeners’ World Live last June, with everything else that’s gone on in the past year I seem to have been even worse than normal at keeping up with this. It’s been an ideal task for today as we’re waiting in for multiple deliveries - some of which are more exciting than others, but as we’ve grouped them to arrive on the same day where we can, it doesn’t feel like time wasted. It’s also a good time of year for me to do this (though it’d be better to do it throughout the year!) as I’m not a big fan of January, which I agree seems to go on forever, plus the weather so far hasn’t been great for getting out into the garden either.

So what better way to get my garden fix. I had to smile to myself though when I saw the name of this beautiful garden - SubAqua - it almost sums up the dire weather we’ve had this winter, where there’s been a lot of water about. Either the day of rain we had with Storm Babet back in October, or the more recent Storm Henk, thankfully there wasn’t quite so much rain with Storms Isha and Jocelyn, but the wind was something else.

I’m sure many of us can relate to the wet conditions around the country and beyond this winter, the weather has felt never ending and times, and seeing the disruption and damage it’s brought to villages across our local area is sobering. I’m hoping that we won’t continue on this record breaking storm season for much longer, and I’m very much looking forward to more spring-like weather.

Despite this introduction though this isn’t about the storms, but a beautiful and tranquil garden which incorporates a pond into its space in an unexpected way. And as you can see the pictures are from a much warmer summer’s day, you can just feel the warmth.

The garden is designed by Joshua Fenton who acknowledges that ‘most people can’t afford to give up too much space in their garden to house a large pond despite knowing that it brings a tranquil quality to a garden and brings many benefits to the local wildlife.’

And so in this garden the seating area outside the garden room is suspended above a pond, which not only allows for the space to be fully utilised but also enables planting and provides that oh so calming sounds of water.

Clever, hey?

But it’s more than just the pond, just look at the planting.

It also incorporates my favourite corten steel planters, and with the plants tumbling over the edge towards the coolness of the path - well, it just makes you want to pull up a lounger and relax.

And what a space to relax in.

For me this is one of those gardens you could escape to, and while I admire it and the work behind it, it’s not something for our new garden, though I would be very tempted to have an area/bed planted with similar plants - but I just need to work out how, and where - and how it would fit into the overall design - something we’re not even close to properly considering, yet!

Now that I’ve made a good start on editing my photos from last year’s show, I’ll start to share them here more regularly - with the hope that I’ll get through them in time for the show this June - well, that’s the plan anyway…

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was as fabulous as ever!

Admiring Carolyn Forster's quilts at the Newark Quilt Show

Last Friday I went along to the Newark Quilt Show held at the Newark Showground which is just a short drive away - I think it’s probably the closest-to-me quilt show I’ve ever been to, closer even to those at London’s Excel and that alone was a treat. I’d also not been in to the Newark Showground, though have driven past it several times - it’s on our list to go as they look to have some great shows on there, and the Newark Air Museum, which is also on our list, is also close by.

But they’re for another today, this visit was all about the quilts. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect size-wise, but I knew there’d be some quilts on display and some suppliers also present. Thankfully the show was clearly signposted and I followed a slow trickle of cars into the ground and to the parking area.

I was pleasantly surprised, while the hall wasn’t huge it was plenty big enough and the central section was dedicated to the quilts on display - and there were many. Suppliers, around 60 or so, were positioned around the edge of the quilts on display, and like every other show I’ve been to (and not just craft shows) the aisles were full of people making their way through the plentiful stalls.

You’ll know that I’m a long time admirer of scrappy quilts, and have many plans to make my own - even if many of those plans don’t quite come to fruition every time! And so I was keen to see the ‘Stash Busting Scrappy Quilts’ by Carolyn Forster that were on display.

I took many pictures because they were so lovely, and as future inspiration for myself and while I took pictures of the whole quilts, it’s the details that really appeal to me and so I’m only sharing partial shots of Carolyn’s quilts here.

CAROLYN FORSTER: VINTAGE LINEN QUILTS

The Vintage Linens Quilt is a great way to reuse embroidered linens, especially those with a stain or two - though it needs some bravery to cut those up. I’ve acquired a few old tablecloths myself and I can see this being a good way to get them out of the cupboard and in use. Carolyn has used fabrics that compliment the embroidery to form a repeating block which I think works really well.

The Triplet Block Quilt is one that really caught my eye, I’m not sure I’ve really seen this block much before but spotted it in a couple of Carolyn’s quilts and it’s one that looks really effective repeated over a whole quilt too. I agree with Carolyn that the fabrics here give the quilt a summery feel, but hadn’t spotted that the block is set in alternating directions, until I read the card pinned alongside.

CAROLYN FORSTER: TRIPLET BLOCK QUILT

After that I did spend perhaps more time than actually necessary looking at how the blocks I liked were constructed, and without being mean or taking anything away from Carolyn’s work, they often are what appear to be quite simple shapes. I say what appear to be quite simple shapes, as we know that not everything is always what it appears to be, and there is real skill in not only the sewing but the fabric choices and layout.

Carolyn acknowledges that in the Beach Houses Quilt saying that ‘the simple shape belies the fact that the sewing can be quite challenging. All the rows need to be set0in with the often-dreaded Y-seam!’

CAROLYN FORSTER: BEACH HOUSES QUILT

Beautiful though isn’t it?

The Scrappy Crosses Quilt was another favourite of mine, this was inspired by a vintage quilt. Carolyn says that in this quilt she ran out of the original fabric for some of the centres of each block, but the good thing about scrappy quilts is that most of the time no one notices the substitutions. That’s so true, and a good lesson as I think often we’re so focussed on getting it right, when really a small deviation doesn’t really matter at all.

CAROLYN FORSTER: SCRAPPY CROSSES QUILT

The Hexagon Lozenges Quilt using big hexagons, which is great for stash busting! The quilting design suggests smaller pieces have been used, but look again and it looks like this would be one that would grow quickly, and be relatively simple to do.

CAROLYN FORSTER: HEXAGON LOZENGES QUILT

In the Diamonds and Stars Quilt for me it’s the plain fabric that becomes the star (quite literally) with the patterned fabric playing a supporting role - though the yellow floral fabric in the centre of the picture below looks pretty special. This quilt is based on a 60 degree diamond and an old fashioned block which is simple and effective.

CAROLYN FORSTER: DIAMONDS AND STARS QUILT

There was a good reminder alongside the Curtains Quilt that anything goes, and quilts don’t have to use dress-weight cotton. This one uses old curtains and curtain fabric off-cuts and I’ve no doubt that it would keep you just as cosy as any other quilt.

CAROLYN FORSTER: CURTAINS QUILT

Carolyn started, and finished, the Maple Leaves Quilt during the first Covid lockdown and was inspired by one in the book ‘Unconventional and Unexpected’ by Roderick Kiracofe which gave licence for unusual choices. I love its boldness and larger prints, and I know I’ve plenty of larger prints stashed away which I could use in a similar way (one day!)

CAROLYN FORSTER: MAPLE LEAVES QUILT

So much inspiration here for me, and hopefully for you too - my planned project list is perpetually growing! But if I get close to anywhere near through that list I know I’ll have some beautiful quilts - both fabric and yarn-based - and will have plenty to choose from!

There were plenty more quilts on display at the show and I’ll share my favourites in a separate post soon.