Thursday 25 September 2014

The Colour Collaborative: September: Stitched

There is great comfort in stitching I think.  Both in the act of stitching, slowly, one at a time, creating something unique and meaningful for yourself and your family, and also in the appreciation of hand stitched items.

I visited the American Museum near Bath recently, somewhere known for their beautiful old quilts.


There is something very reassuring about these vintage pieces.  Generations ago, women sat and slowly stitched these quilts to keep their families warm and to decorate their homes.  And here I am, decades, in some cases even hundreds of years later, doing exactly the same thing.  In these times of uncertainty and austerity it helps me more than I can say to connect with the past like this.  It makes me think that somehow everything will be alright after all.  The same troubles and dramas of my life today have been played out long ago by these women who went before, they would understand, they would sympathise, and no doubt they would tell me that in the end all will be well.  The same rhythms of the seasons and of our lives, repeated over and over, on and on, despite the bumps in the road.

In the central atrium of the museum there are several quilts hung from the cupola.  They have so many quilts at the museum that not all of them can be displayed at any one time.  There's a room full of them too, but the light is kept so low to protect the ancient fabrics that photography is difficult.




But this is a post about colour, and when I think about stitches and colour, one name comes to mind.  After all of those muted tones, brace yourselves.


Also at the American Museum right now is an exhibition of Kaffe Fassett's work.  Originally from California, Kaffe has lived in Britain since 1964.  He is the king of colour when it comes to knitting, sewing and quilting.

The exhibition is full of pieces from his long career.  Very different to the old quilts in the main house at the museum, but redolent of their period and telling their own story.

Kaffe's message to the world is, don't be afraid of colour.  I must admit I am a little hesitant when it comes to vibrant colour, but after seeing this exhibition it is hard not to fall a little in love with all the reds and purples and greens and blues.  There is nothing hesitant here, this is colour done with complete assuredness.



I loved the way Kaffe uses colour to capture and direct the light.  This quilt looked as though the sun was shining into its centre






It's not a great photo, but the intensity of colour in this knitted shawl was incredible.  Every shade of red and pink pushed close together like little houses on a mediterranean hillside.  And the knitting was perfection.  I wanted to run through the woods wearing it.



As well as knitting and quilting there are plenty of tapestry pieces, each painstakingly hand stitched.  This shell piece is a good size, maybe three feet wide by four foot deep.


The tapestries are mostly pictures rather than abstract patterns, and they often feature flowers and scenery.  Another big piece (five feet maybe), with beautifully rendered leaves, drooping slightly below the flower spikes.  The shades of green are worked perfectly together to paint such realistic hollyhocks.  It's hard to remember that these vast canvases are made up of thousands of tiny stitches.



I really liked this chair, covered in crazy patchwork effect tapestry, with little flowers, birds and vegetables in each of the crazy pieces.  I loved the pot of knitting needles as well.  They made we want to sit and knit awhile.  They always have that effect on me.  It makes me think I should fill a pot with them and put them on my windowsill instead of flowers.  Maybe with a little basket of yarn next to them.  Who knows what inspiration might be sparked.


My favourite bit of the exhibition?  It had to be this bench, with the vegetable cushions and cabbages in pots either side and that beautiful yellow-green wall behind it.  Fantastic.


The overall effect of the exhibition was dazzling.  When do our senses ever have the opportunity to process this much colour all at once?  It was incredible.  What wonderful things the human brain is capable of.  And how unique each of our expressions are.   It was impossible to leave without absorbing something very positive from what I'd seen.  Does colour affect mood?  After spending time with these pieces I'm certain it does.  I felt invigorated, energised, inspired.  They are not colours I routinely live with, but it made me wonder, maybe I should.

To visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts just click on the links below:

           Annie at Annie Cholewa                                    Gillian at Tales from a Happy House

           Sandra at Cherry Heart                                       Jennifer at Thistlebear       

What is The Colour Collaborative?

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their 
own, but what happens when a group of them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.

25 comments:

  1. Wow! I have been meaning to visit the American Museum for ages but have never got around to it. That exhibition has made me even more determined; it looks absolutely amazing. Thank you for the tour. x

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  2. Wow, soooo much colour - I'm off to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition next week ... very excited now having had a taster here.
    Have a good weekend CJ
    Kate xx

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  3. It looks like such a wonderful place to visit, I like the vegetable cushions too, in fact they would look rather lovely on one of my sofas! My knitting needles currently reside in a coronation beaker on a chest of drawers in my bedroom. They make me smile each time I look that way.

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  4. Kaffe Fassett would make a great dinner party guest! I have been a fan of his eclectic yarns for ages and indeed have some fat quarters squirrelled away for a quilt I will never have time to make. I am planning to hand quilt it to get some of that pioneer spirit that I felt I needed ever since I read the Snowchild. Cx

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  5. I keep reading about the American Museum and each article or post I read makes me want to visit more, if only I lived closer.

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  6. What a fantastic display of stitchery and a great place to visit by the look of it. I love the way stitching looks in quilts and of course, all that lovely colour - yes please!!

    S x

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  7. The skill, talent, time and patience that go into creating these pieces are simply mindblowing! Love posting!

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  8. A most enjoyable post and a wonderful, colourful selection of pictures. I've always admired the craftsmanship that goes into these. xx

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  9. That is some AMAZING needlework.

    I think what impresses me about the old pieces is that those women had a hard day of WORK before they sat down with their needles to quilt. Just to do the basic house work was MORE than a full time job. AND ......they didn't have the lighting that we had today. Wow! Just WOW!

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  10. Wow! Thank you for this, I enjoyed touring the exhibition through your photos. So much colour, it makes me feel giddy! And, like you said, exhilarated, and makes me wonder if I play it safe much too often and should be bolder. Excellent stuff CJ. xx

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  11. Thank you for sharing these photos. The colors, patterns and all of these pieces are just magnificent. You have written so eloquently and beautifully here.
    What would life be like without color? I just cannot imagine it. I don't think there is a color that I don't like, but know which colors make me feel comforted/energized/calm or happy-excited. What a gift to experience this world in color. It's a downright miracle!

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  12. How very true that during these times of uncertainty that we can look to the past for comfort. Loved your writing here today friend. And these pieces are so inspiring in their color and in their overall composition! Those hollyhocks were breath taking! What a treat to have visited here!!!! And thank you for passing on the beauty!! It's all good!! Nicole xoxo

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  13. Well you know that I love this, and the quilts!! It was fabulous to see them all again. I hope that your visit was wonderful and that you really enjoyed it all. xx

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  14. I do enjoy Kaffe's colour explosions, but need to limit my exposure. I wonder if one can be sensitive to colours just as others are sensitive to sounds or smells, perhaps particularly if like me you are a little synaesthetic. To me the Kaffe Fassett exhibition is a series of noisy rooms, although no less marvellous for that.

    Beautiful post CJ, and I know exactly what you mean about the comfort to be found in stitching.

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  15. Wow! I love this. Looking at those bright colors just makes me feel happy. I never knew much about Kaffe. You learn something new everyday :) Thanks!

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  16. Was that a special treat day to yourself with your boys at school? It's certainly a good choice and the museum building itself looks a bit special. Like most people with a creative streak that knit, draw, sew, etc, I've long been an admirer of Kaffe Fassett's although less so now that bold patterns and colours are seen everywhere. Can you imagine what the effect was back in 1964 when his work first appeared! A few of the museum's quilts were on loan to a quilt display in the church at my parents' village quite a while back now; they were stunning to look at and sent me off on a fabric buying spree! (Needless to say, I've yet to finish anything other than hand stitched baby quilts!) Have a good weekend, CJ. Caro x

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  17. I really enjoy Kaffe Fassett's work. He has a book if you're interested in reading about him. I understand what Annie is saying about his work above too, it can be a little overwhelming though I like it. I know what you mean about the comfort in stitching. I have loved to do hand-stitching since I was very young, I've always found it very pleasing and relaxing.

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  18. These quilts are breathtaking! It's hard for me to imagine how much time and energy went into each of these pieces. I can see why you'd leave there inspired. Those quilts by Kaffe are just brilliant. All the color! I love how we can take things that have been done for years and years and make them new again. I just went to a embroidery event where we hand embroidered quirky sayings and images. It was described as, "not your grandmother's cross stitch":) I hope you're having a great week, CJ!

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  19. I couldn't get to Bath to visit , so this post is wonderful. I think if I visited I wouldn't know where to start as all the colours are so vivid. It is a bit of a sensory overload. I love it. I love the museum it looks like a wonderful building.

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  20. What a great way to showcase stitches and color - and lots of color at that!

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  21. Loved this post CJ - thank you for sharing your visit to the American Museum. Some of Kaffe Fassett's needlepoint articles are stunning!
    You visit some interesting places and I appreciate you sharing them with us - it gives us a view of somewhere we might otherwise not visit.
    Caz xx

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  22. That Kaffe Fassett exhibition looks amazing! I love the tapestries.

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  23. Wonderful photographs CJ...you've really captured the richness of Fassat's work. What a wonderful exhibition.

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  24. Fabulous pics CJ, thank you for sharing your visit. I would love to get to the Kaffe Fassett exhibition, he is an amazing artist and I adore his needlepoint flowers and vegetables.
    Jane xx

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  25. A really great read. I haven't been to the American Museum even though we're in Bath quite often. I don't really sew. It's one of my ambitions, when time allows, to learn. For now I crochet. I'm about to embark on a granny square blanket. Like you I tend to shy away from vibrant colours but I'm determined that the blanket will be bright and cheerful. I wonder how long the exhibition is on for, I'd love to see it.

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