Patch things up

THINK of the traditional art of quilting and you probably conjure up an image of an elderly lady sitting quietly in a rocking chair with needle and fabric in hand.

But quilters in the New Forest are breaking the customary pattern and casting aside the old-fashioned image of their pastime.

With a little help from the contemporary art gallery Artsway, the women are now likely to be working with the most up-to-date technology including digital cameras and computers, as they practise their quilting skills.

Artsway, based in Sway in the New Forest, has been teaching the quilters about contemporary art and how it can have a positive influence on their work.

For one day a week over a six-week period the women, aged between 30 and 80, have learned about drawing, photography and the use of computers and digital cameras.

Joyce Elson,76, from Barton on Sea has been quilting for more than 20 years. She said: "I've got a computer at home but I had never thought of using it for my quilting work.

"Artsway has given me lots of new ideas I can't wait to get started on."

She added: "My son has decided to buy me a digital camera as a result of this course. Artsway has also helped me to draw and to look at shapes in a different way."

Kathy Osland-Moore, grandmother, beekeeper and part-time bookkeeper for the National Farmers' Union office in Sway, is relatively new to quilting, with five years' experience under her belt.

She has loved her experience at Artsway so much that her husband has bought her a brand new laptop computer and trendy digital camera.

"He calls it my quilting computer!" she laughed.

"I was flabbergasted but delighted. This course has really given me a taste for art and I am keen to carry on and learn more about perspective."

Artsway Audience Development Manager Mette Houlberg is pleased with the sessions.

"When I first met the ladies from the quilting group and saw their work I realised how talented they are. They have incredible visual skills that can be used in various artistic ways, and not just for quilting.

"We have challenged the group, stretched them, and given them new ideas for their quilting patterns. Hopefully we have also taught them about contemporary drawing and photography. We have exposed them to a new art form that they would not traditionally have given a second glance."

Artsway gallery photographer and artist Gina Dearden, who lives in Bramshaw, has tutored the sessions.

"The ladies have been most courageous because they have got stuck in, embraced new ideas and learnt about all sorts of things they had never even heard of before.

"This has been a platform on which they have been able to explore new ideas that, hopefully, they will take back to their quilting. They have incredible practical skills - we wanted to push them a little further, so they will quilt different shapes, colours and so on.

"One simple thing we did, for example, was to drop food colouring into a vase of water and watch as it slowly spread."

The women took photographs of the process and learnt how to transfer them on to a computer and enhance and change them using different programmes.

It is this type of image that could then be used for a quilting pattern.

Marie Bunnage, a retired textile and dressmaking teacher from Barton on Sea, loves to "sew and natter". She uses her quilting and embroidery to make delicate handbags and wall-hangings.

"I have been drawing all sorts of different designs since I came to Artsway. I actually hate drawing - I'm certainly no artist, but I've had a go. One week we had to draw a piece of split garlic, another time it was a shell from a beach."

Few of the quilters had visited the Artsway gallery before the teaching sessions were organised - but most will go away from the course with a little more respect for contemporary art.

Joyce Elson said: "I've always thought of contemporary art as not real art before now.

"You think of un-made beds and so on. Once I saw a model of a large rusty nail on display in a gallery - that's just silly to me.

"I wouldn't say I like all contemporary art but I do look at it differently after coming here."

As far back as the 13th century women from all classes have been quilting. Both rich and poor joined in this practical pastime - even Mary Queen of Scots is said to have quilted during her many years in prison.

The hobby is certainly thriving in the New Forest, with prominent quilting groups such as The Rectory Quilters (formed originally by Rosemary Bailey, the wife of the Rector of Mary Magdalene's Church in New Milton) and the New Forest Quilters both full up, with waiting lists to join.

Jill O'Sullivan, an original member of the Rectory Quilters, said Artsway provided the women with a background knowledge of modern art and a starting point for creating new things.

"I have had a digital camera for two years but I have only just really learnt to use it properly, to its full potential."

Joan York - who has an exhibition of textile art at Highcliffe Castle from April 15 to May 23, has also enjoyed her time at Artsway.

"I just want to go away and put all these ideas to use," she said.

Artsway can be found on Station Road, Sway, Hampshire. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11am-5pm. Admission is free. For details call 01590 682260.

E-mail: mail@artsway.org.uk or look on the website at www.artsway.org.uk