Textile Protest

I’m pleased to share some very exciting news about Textile Protest by Julia Triston – it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time – and you can get your own copy here.

Textile Protest
Textile Protest

Batsford Books reached out to me in late 2024. They’d seen a blogpost I’d written on ‘The Grenfell Memorial Quilt‘ and wondered if I could assist them on a piece they were creating about the Quilt.

Grenfell Memorial Quilt in the Textile Protest book
Grenfell Memorial Quilt in the Textile Protest book

The blogpost centred on my video interview with the project’s founder and ‘artivist’ Tuesday Greenidge (whose daughter escaped from the tower fire) and by kind permission of Tuesday, included several close up photos of the Quilt .

Two photos included in the Textile Protest book
Two photos included in the Textile Protest book

Tuesday kindly gave Batsford and myself permission to share these images in the book.

“This book is ‘a landmark exploration of how textiles have been used for political protest in the 20th and 21st centuries’. It was an intense project to research and write, and I’m very proud of the final edition, which will be published in August this year by Batsford Books. This book is timely, and it wouldn’t have been possible to illustrate without all the creative and talented artists, activists, protesters, campaigners and curators who are part of it. … Keep on doing what you all do so brilliantly – our world needs your protest and artworks.”~ Juliia Triston.

Photo credit - line 4 & 5
Photo credit – line 4 & 5

Grenfell Tower Fire

The Grenfell Memorial Quilt honours the 72 lives lost in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

The following is courtesy of the London Museum.

On 14 June 2017, a fire spread through Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, killing 72 people. It was one of modern London’s worst disasters, and highlighted the city’s severe housing inequalities.

The Grenfell fire was started by an electrical fault in a fridge-freezer in one of the fourth-floor flats. Cladding attached to the outside of the building set alight, spreading the fire between floors.

The fire was first reported by a 999 call just before 1am. The fire reached the roof half an hour later, and by 4am, covered the entire building.

The first firefighters reached the tower five minutes after the 999 call. They rescued 65 people, while over a hundred escaped themselves. The firefighters showed extreme bravery. The call handlers battled against severe pressure.

Until 2.47am, they advised residents to “stay put” in their flats. The Grenfell Tower inquiry found that this advice should have changed an hour earlier, when it was clear that the fire had spread.

The inquiry found that firefighters were not properly prepared by their bosses for the situation they faced. There was no specific plan for evacuating Grenfell Tower. Vulnerable and disabled residents weren’t given personalised guidance beforehand.

In the 2010s, aluminium and plastic panels had been attached to the 1970s tower block. This cladding helped the fire spread.

Lynne Edwards  – Meet the Artist

Quilter, author and tutor, Lynne Edwards is a world-renowned expert in patchwork and quilting techniques, both hand and machine. Her previous books include The Sampler Quilt Book, The New Sampler Quilt Book, Making Scrap Quilts to Use It Up, Stashbuster Quilts and Cathedral Window Quilts.

Lynne Edwards:  https://www.instagram.com/lynneedwards_mbe03

Lynne Edwards

For over fifty years,  Lynne has been making quilts and consistently passing on ideas and techniques to others through classes, books and magazines.  Lynne was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to arts and crafts. 

Cathedral window quilt by Lynne Edwards
Cathedral window quilt by Lynne Edwards

In 2000, Lynne was given honorary lifetime membership of the Quilter’s Guild of the British Isles, and in 2002 was awarded the Amy Emms Memorial Trophy for services to quilting.

Quilt by Lynne Edwards
Quilt by Lynne Edwards
Quilt by Lynne
Quilt by Lynne


Filmed at the Festival of Quilts 2024.

For a more inspiration, please browse the ‘Meet the Artist’ collection on my YouTube Channel.

Books by Lynne

Lynne is a prolific writer and has published numerous books over the years. Here are just a small sample of the books that are available to read at your local library or purchase online.

A selection of the many books published by Lynne
A selection of the many books published by Lynne

New Sampler Quilt Book: https://amzn.to/4dsPI4H 

The Essential Sampler Quilt Book: A Celebration of 40 Traditional Blocks from the Sampler Quilt Expert: https://amzn.to/4fAtiAb

Making Scrap Quilts To Use It Up: 20 Complete Designs for Leftover Fabric:https://amzn.to/46x30uI 

Cathedral Window Quilts: The Classic Folded Technique and a Wealth of Variations: https://amzn.to/46Aflyf 

Stash-Buster Quilts: Time-Saving Designs for Fabric Leftovers: https://amzn.to/3WPqmIH 

Further reading

If you’ve enjoyed watching this video, you might like the work of Denise Labadie featured in a video from the Festival of Quilts 2023.

Open for Business

After a great deal of work behind the scenes, I’m pleased to announce that my on-line shop is now Open for Business!

Shop: https://www.catherinehill.art/

A selection of Greeting cards and Giclée Fine Art Prints are now available. Each based on one of my original hand embroidery designs.

Catherine Hill Art on-line shop
Catherine Hill Art on-line shop

Greeting Cards

Greeting cards designs – Worker Bees, Sound of the Kenwood Chef, Covid – 19 Part 1, Giant Cauliflower Harvest, Moors of Home, Matchbox Challenge, Sylko Addict, Time for Tea, Take Time to Smell the Roses and Summer ’76.

Open for business - Worker Bee greeting card.
Worker Bee greeting card.

Each card is printed onto unbleached 100% recycled 300gsm paper and comes with a 100% Recycled envelope. Packaged in a 100% compostable wrapper.

Open for business - Sound of the Kenwood Chef  greeting card.
Sound of the Kenwood Chef greeting card.
Take Time to Smell the Roses greeting card.
Take Time to Smell the Roses greeting card.

Giclée Fine Art Prints

Giclée Fine Art Print designs – Sound of the Kenwood Chef, Covid – 19 Part 1, Giant Cauliflower Harvest, Moors of Home, Sylko Addict, Time for Tea, Take Time to Smell the Roses and Summer ’76.

Each giclée is printed with Epson ultrachrome pigmented light-fast inks on Fotospeed platinum etching 285gsm, 100% acid free, cotton & wood pulp mix. This combination produces a print with a lifespan in excess of 100 years.

Each print is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by myself.

Supplies

I’ve carefully curated two sets of DMC embroidery threads for you. The first contains my ‘Go-To Threads’. A collection based on the colour palette I’ve used in the homemade recipe series of work. The second is my colour of choice – the iconic red thread.

Drop me a line and let me know if there’s any other items you’d like included in the shop. Thank you – Catherine.

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