On one of the quilters lists to which I subscribe there has been quite a bit of discussion recently about how quilters go about naming their works – someone commented that ‘Untitled’ is a bit of a cop out – and yet, at least with such a title the viewer’s mind is then free to roam around the impressions created by the work without being influenced or inded puzzled by the title.

One quilter even asked other readers to check her website and help her name a recently finished piece pictured there ….. does this mean the work is a collaboration between artist and the one who supplied the final name? To me, choosing a title even a blah one like ‘Untitled’ is part of the creative process, as important as signing the completed work. I enjoy all the processes of making a piece, and I jot down words and ideas in my mind while I am making it, so that generally by the time I get to the end, the title has worked itself to the top of the list. To me, a satisfactory title is like a mini-statement, and IMHO all that is needed to assist the viewer regarding a particular work. People who know me know that I don’t care for wordy artist statements about every work, since so many of them are literary fabrications, so often a whole of of artspeak that may or may not offer the viewer any connection to what they are seeing. And a major pet peeve is the confusion many quilt artists display with them, often filling the allocated space with technical construction and process details, for want of anything else meaningful to say in terms of inspiration or personal feeling contained in the work. Climb down off soapbox…. er hem.

Very big this winter in the leather shops here in Montevideo are suede outfits, blouse amd shirt type tops and skirts with decorative punched hole edges ….. these and my growing collection of lacy samples are clearly influencing me … plus many fibre artists are making ‘lace’ out of all kinds of stuff, so why not leather … I am thinking seafoam, coastal landforms and topographic maps … landlace perhaps? Anyway the pile of little circular cutouts and slivers trimmed from what I am working on grows by the hour. the hands are aching a little, or perhaps this is the onset of cooler weather… but the leather punch is such fun. 

Hmmm – these need more work – all the edges of the large number of these need to be hand sewn down, from the back, and even then, although I have done with the composition I am not sure of what the final impact will be –
but since it has ‘potential’ I am not showing the whole thing just now – and again, I have put it aside in favour of the next thing…

These little samples continue to appear. From rust marks I feel it was stapled for years in a sample book – some of the others I have collected probably hav been, too. What does not show in the photo is the pencilled number 29.

This little needlelace insert worked on very fine handkerchief linen is exquisite. The diameter is aprox 6cm. Every petal has a different filling stitch, and I adore the delicate little loop/picot thingies on the zigzag cross bars.
I might have to get myself a sample book in to which to staple them all … 

Samples are important to me – to try out new materials to see how they handle is one purpose, but to begin the transition from paper/pencil doodling of ideas and word lists is another….samplising is a stepping stone.
Whether anything like one of these samples actually goes into a work is not the point; each of them tells me something, reminds me of a whole lot more, linking what is in my mind to something I either want to pursue or perhaps don’t, or won’t.
Anyway, this is a little of what faces me every time I turn round in my work room just now. 

This is a very small portion of gold leather on black, somewhat akin to the one I have in Across Australia, currently touring.Wth the leather hand appliqued from behind, I am much happier with the appearance of those segments.

I am tossing up whether or not to quilt more in addition to the grid currently stitched down in perle #8 in a thead which looks remarkably like the same colour as the gold – it isn’t – it’s a khaki, but very shiny.

I have put the whole piece aside, and perhaps putting a fine binding on it might be all there remains to be done.