Researcher Marybeth Stalp at The Quilt Shop Tuam 24th to 27th July 2013.

We received the following message from Roisin McManus of The Quilt Shop Tuam. Anyone interested should contact Roisin direct at  087 6292886.

Hi Quilters,

I have invited Marybeth Stalp to the Quilt Shop this week. She is arriving today. Marybeth is an American Sociologist (and a quilter). She is in Ireland for the last eight months talking with women who craft. She has written a book on American Quilters and is researching to see what is similar and different here. She has interviewed quilters in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Donegal and lots of other places in between. I thought it might be nice if we could be included as part of her research. We have a great community of quilters in the West. If you haven't crossed paths with Marybeth already during her stay in Ireland I would be very grateful if you would agree to meet her so that her time here will be as valuable to her as possible. I have a timetable for the next four days, Wed to Sat, starting at 10am in half hour intervals until 12:30 and again from 2pm to 5. Please let me know if I can schedule you in.

Thanks a million, Roisin

for more info see:
www.marybethstalp.com
 

International Quilt Festival of Ireland

I enjoyed the festival in 2012 and was looking forward to it again in 2013. On Friday I was alone visiting the festival so I had lots of time to stroll through all the exhibitions at my own pace and spend time revisiting the areas I was most interested in. I also met lots of familiar faces from the IPS throughout the day and enjoyed catching up with you all!

My favourite exhibitions were the Hoffmann Challenge, Cornucopia, The Prison quilts and the Graffiti quilts. But to be honest I found something to appreciate in other exhibitions such as Playground, Water, Mantality and more.

 I was personally pleased to see 'Spring has Sprung' in the Playground exhibition, which I made in collaboration with the 2nd and 3rd class pupils of Dunmore National School, as part of the CRAFTed project. Loretta O'Brien may bring it to the Quilt Festival in Birmingham in August, which would be a further thrill for these young pupils!

 I also felt there was more choice amongst the stalls in the Traders Hall this year. Even though my spending budget wasn't big I enjoyed looking, admiring and buying just a small selection of fat quarters for my stash.

 On Saturday my Dublin friends came with me and were happy with the exhibitions and their purchases. I volunteered on the IPS stand and enjoyed talking about our guild to Irish and International visitors. My sister and my niece joined me on Sunday and they were very glad they saw it all.

The weather on all 3 days was glorious, but perhaps that didn't work to the traders advantage as people spent a lot of time outside around the grounds. The warm weather may also have proved difficult for those with mobility issues as there is a lot of walking between exhibition venues on campus.

 My overall experience at the festival was very positive and I spent 3 very happy days in quilt heaven!

I believe next year the festival will move elsewhere in Ireland and will also include fibre arts and other crafts. I'm sure this makes sense to continue to attract visitors from abroad, but I for one will miss having this festival on my doorstep. Never mind, I've been spoiled for 2 years and I don't mind a bit of travel to see this standard of international work in Ireland. Roll on 2014!

 

Brink of Sunset

Hanna Grete Brink

Cork Churns

Paula O' Rafferty

Maynard David Taylor

Portrait of Troy

Valerie Giles

Poulnabrone Dolmen

Denise Labadie

 

Seasonal Sisters

Gail Thomas, Helen Godden, Annette

South William St Angel

Marina Brennan

Spring Has Sprung

Dunmore National School

These are just a sample of some of my favourite quilts at the Exhibition,

Ester Kiely

 

1913 Project

The Western Branch recently handed over our panel for the 1913 'Tapestry' to Padraig Yeates and Brendan Butler.  At the Knitting and stitching Show Mari got details of the project and at our meeting we decided we would like to take part. Angela Keane came to visit us in the spring and gave us a most interesting talk about the Lockout itself and how it was being interpreted through the Tapestry Project. The panel we got to work on was a representation of the Manchester meeting. We were given a paper printout with suggested fabrics, a bag of fabrics and the hessian/linen background onto which the picture was drawn. 

Over the following months the picture emerged as figures were appliqued and hair was embroidered. Colette and Johanna attended a workshop in Liberty Hall and out of that came the suggestion of making small group onto a vilene foundation and then applying them to the larger picture. This meant that more than one person could work on it at a time. When all the figures and flags were done the lettering at the top was embroidered. The title panel will be embroidered separately and applied later.

 

Mogs McDonnell was our rep who went to Arás and Uachtaráin on July 10th where Michael D welcomed representatives of the various groups working on the commemoration of the Lockout. I'm not sure when the full 'tapestry' will be unveiled. Ours was one of the last panels to be given out so it must all be nearing completion at this stage. Well done to all involved. With the short time frame not all who wanted to get involved could, but the piece goes forward as a work done by the Western Branch of the IPS.

 

 

 

 

We will let you all know when the Tapestry is completed. Can't wait to see the finished work, it will be a very interesting view of history through the medium of textiles.