Friday 16 April 2010

Piecework / peacework



The frieze in the Gamble Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum reads:

 'There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, 
and make his soul enjoy the good of his labour - XYZ.'
Ecclesiastes II, 24


When we had finished eating and drinking
we went to marvel at the exquisite and painstaking labour
of all those quilt makers.
The light was necessarily dim to preserve the fabrics,
but it served as a useful reminder that
for the most part, the needlework had to be accomplished
in similar or worse lighting conditions.


I am fairly sure I do not have the patience or 
perseverance to take up quilting
but I might give it a go.
Mavis FitzRandolph said it had 'saved her mind'.
Certainly one of the most thought provoking pieces
was that commissioned by the V&A from
inmates of Wandsworth prison.





3 comments:

  1. Oh, you've just made me want to have a trip to London and the V & A!

    Old textiles, embroideries and tapestries are amazing, aren't they, when one thinks of girls and women sewing in available light with laboriously hand-made threads and needles, producing exquisite results.

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  2. Oh , I would so love to see it ! We had a quilt exhibition here in Leeuwarden a while ago and the variety and quality of work shown was amazing .
    But , given the current travel chaos , I might have to wait !
    Sonata.

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  3. beautiful windows ... what a lot of handwork was done in poor lighting

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