LIBRARY TEASER

   I'm afraid that my quilt is not finished yet. I have been inspired by a library in Manchester where I worked in in the 1980's. I am pleased with the  print that I have done but the way in which I was going to use it simply hasn't worked. The sheer fabric that I was originally going to use turned out to not be sheer enough and it looked as though my library was in the fog (well, it is Manchester after all!). I found other sheers that worked well, except that the transfer print that I did on them was too faint. So it is back to the drawing board. I decided not to do anything this weekend as I was blocked, hoping that leaving my brain to mull it over on its own, whilst I did something else, would work. It didn't, and I feel somewhat paralyzed. Perhaps tomorrow will be better - I hope!

And another one for Birmingham!!!

 Hi everyone

Sorry for the late arrival. I have been frantically stitching all afternoon to get the last bits finished. It took w-a-y longer than I had anticipated.

Like Linda, Linda and Phil  I chose the library in Birmingham (does that make a 'bingo'?), not because it is my favourite, but because I couldn't resist the shapes on the exterior - they just shout 'QUILT' don't they?

I have been wanting to try this idea out for ages, so I decided to go for it. It has been reasonably successful - although I don't think my contribution warrants being called a  finished piece, but I have loved trying out the idea and I think it could be turned into a cool quilt in the future. I hope you like it!

 

It is made from folded and stitched dyed cotton organdie (the red/orange parts), and the pages of an old book that I laminated to polyester organza (the black and white parts). Here is a side view so you can perhaps get a better idea of what is going on.

 

The pieces are stitched together to form a pieces quilt top then the whole thing has been stitched onto  tulle, which is virtually invisible. My idea would be to make more of these panels and stitch them together, with the colours gradually changing and blending from yellow to green to blue. But it is a mighty fiddly job!

I have absolutely loved making it, but I need a rest from it for a while - but I do want to try and finish it - maybe next year!

Thanks for a brilliant challenge Dianne.

Masset Library

 When I first thought of the idea of libraries I thought of the high arches and looks of old venerable institutions.  And then I was going to do something about our Bibliothèque National here in Montreal - but with Covid, didn't want to go and take pictures.  And then I remembered a library we passed by when we were in Masset on Haida Gwaii and that was it!  It wasn't open at the time so I didn't get to see inside.  

Haida Gwaii is such a special place - you immediately become absorbed involved with the environment there.  It is simply a part of life and you can see how the stories have evolved using the animals and flora and fauna.   So I have taken Haida art figures and floated them around the library, trying to symbolize the importance of stories be they written or oral.   

I have used my picture of the library itself printed on fabric.  And once again, my piece needs to be finished with a border of some kind.  I just can't make up my mind - 1/4" binding, 2" black frame, facing, wrapping around a wood base......  I'm open to suggestions.

Birmingham Library

" I had a few moments of panic" when I saw the list of published posts and saw 'my' name against my chosen library but it seems that coincidence is at play as I have chosen the same subject as Linda F.  
I've only read Linda's introduction so it will be interesting to see how our interpretations compare. 

I loved the new Birmingham library the moment I entered. The space invites you to explore and on the day I visited there were plenty of people doing that but it was the way the space wrapped around you that I wanted to capture.

I decided to use a skeleton drawing of the galleries then filled the shapes with various fabrics and quilting patterns. The top layer, repeated further down, was made when working through exercises from "Intentional Printing" and drove the colour scheme. The bottom layer reflects the external cladding on the building was fun to do. The blue circles were printed before I stitched the larger orange ones.

Before books and libraries...

My inspiration came through an unrelated link and it clicked immediately.  What are libraries? - repositories of facts, stories, history, events.  When you didn't have a written language and you had no paper or books you used what was around you - surfaces in caves and you used pictures.  Rock art is found all over the world but my inspiration are the rock paintings in Twyfelfontein in Namibia.  Painted by the San (Bushmen) peoples they tell of hunts, give us an idea of the animals they knew and about their lives.  It is rich source of material.

Twyfelfontein and me

I have used my embroidery machine, acrylic paint, free machine quilting.  My hand was a bit of tongue in cheek last minute addition (the paint isn't dry yet) because I was struggling to work out how to add hands - the carved into rock ones, the type which are silhouettes made by blowing dye around your hand (would have been nice but should have been added earlier) or the stencilled kind.  I am still trying to work out how to 'knock back' the whole thing.  Not sure if a wash of thin paint or splatter or dabbing a sponge will do it, but it is all too fresh!

Thanks, Dianne, I have really enjoyed this.

Hilary

Next Challenge

I had an immediate idea when this challenge was first agreed, and despite looking at all sorts of other inspirations and architects, I failed to find a topic that apppeals so much as this one. So our next challenge is simply - DOORS

Birmingham Library

I had a few momens of panic when I saw this challenge, but then remembered a visit I made to Birmingham Library in 2019 as part of a city tour we had organised for our European friends in the car club. I particularly loved the outside of the library, and then, when you go inside, the wonderful feeling of space and the blue colour repeated everywhere.

The outside also incorporates a roof garden with a view over the city (though that was mainly a building site when we visited).

I know I have a tendancy to be over literal when I use photos, and I really tried hard not to do a straight translation this time - but I still erred in that direction. I did the inside of the library first, choosing fabrics from diferent countries for the racks of books, imagining books ranged in geographical sections. I had planned to do much more quilting - the upper railings and the actual bookcases, but was having so many problems with my machine missing stitches that I kept the stitching to a minimum on the upper levels. Finally I free stitched the outside pattern using organza and dissolvable fabric. This took much longer than I had expected, and then, when it was finished, I decided it obscured the inside of the library too much, so cut out almost all of the organza before overlaying it. I've not had time to do the binding yet - tonight's job! Despite all the problems I loved this topic - there are so many lovely libaries out there!

Street library - Brisbane

 

I loved this topic and had a flood of ideas. I decided it had to be a library I could visit. I decided on street libraries and heard there was one a few streets from me. So off I went only to be disappointed to find it was no longer there. I knew there were street libraries in Brisbane where I go reasonably often so googled those. I chose an image and planned to go and see it for myself and work from my own photos but, well, the Queensland border closed and then I finally got the all clear to travel to NZ to be with my mother (where I am now) so I couldn’t get to Brisbane. However, I went ahead with the project using this image from https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/street-libraries-spread-around-brisbane-20180219-p4z0uk.html as I know one day I will get to see it!

I used fabric from my mother’s stash (thanks mum 😊), drew the books and lettering with textile pens, machine appliqued and machine quilted.

By way of showing that there were books inside the fridge (also from the above link), I used print fabric for the backing.

Helsinki University Library

At first I thought this was going to be really difficult until I found so many absolutely beautiful libraries around the world.  It was a difficult choice, but for those who know me well I do like curves so when I saw some of the images of the Helsinki University Library I was hooked.  This is therefore my inspiration for my piece.

You will see that in the one image there is a touch of dark red which I placed in my piece to give it a focal point and to bring in a touch of colour.

I really enjoyed working on this piece.

BIRMINGHAM INSPIRATION

 After trolling the world libraries the moment the Birmingham Library came up and with my love of free motion quilting, this was the one. 

I started with dyeing the cloth in the two shades of yellow and blue and the intention was to fade the fabric out to bare cloth on the left.  This proved harder than I thought so after a couple of attempts I chose the better of the bunch and painted the left hand side using white paint. The intention with the fading out was to also fade out the circles towards the left.  I felt it was becoming too flat and uninteresting as I worked my way across so stopped at an angle and then added rows of curvy lines resembling book shelves giving me an outside/inside perspective.

Again it needed a focal point, something to lift it, hence the tree silhouette.  The final bit was grounding the roots which need a bit more tweeking.  I ran out of time as I am sitting in the bush on the banks of the Crocodile River overlooking the Kruger National Park while I load this post.

I need to also knock back the binding with more colour as it is too 'white'. 

After my initial panic attack when I read the challenge, I actually enjoyed completing this piece as it certainly made me think. 

And the winner is.......

 With the help of my random number selector (Robbie - choose a number from 1 to 8!)  the next architectural designer is Linda Forey.  

I noticed that there are a number of drafts sitting on our site.  If you want them to come up on Nov 30th they need to be post dated and published.  

Dianne

Library in Alexandria ,Egypt

The Library in Alexandria is the most ancient library that we know of . It contained valuable scrolls of the ancient world which were lost when Julius Caesar burnt it down during his campaign in Egypt. It was only rebuilt in the 20th century and has a back wall which ,on the exterior has images of ancient heiroglyphics .The woman depicted comes from a frieze on the wall of Tutankhamen's tomb.

Virtual reality tour

 One of the things that inspired me to suggest this was a virtual reality tour of 10 libraries in a video created by Robert Lepage, a local brilliant director.  I have no idea where or how you would be able to see it, but there is a 4 minute trailer that you can watch.  The beginning is how our tour started, in what seems to be a small, personal library.  Then you go into a room with lamps with green shades and you put on the VR glasses.  And then you can see all the libraries -some very old, and look around at all there is to see in them.  It's very moving.  You get just a hint of it in the last minute.  If you ever have a chance to see "the Library at Night" it is well worth it.

https://www.mcq.org/en/exposition?id=425961

If the link doesn't work, google The library at night and then click on the trailer.