Kaffe Fassett

I went to the American Museum in Bath today, to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition. It was very good, but I must say I was a little underwhelmed. Not by the quilts themselves, of course, but it wasn't nearly as big as I thought it would be. For someone who has been so heavily involved in textile design for the past 30 odd years, it was quite modest!

The quilts were actually very refreshing. They are obviously beautiful, and the fabrics are just so fabulous that you just want to reach out and stroke them. However, they do look as though they have been made by a pretty good quilter. They have obvious mistakes, and it made me feel so, hopeful and optimistic I suppose. You know sometimes you look at a wonderful quilt, and you know that if you were to sew eight hours a day for the next ten years you would still not be able to produce something like that. Well, with these quilts you look and you think "I could make that". I liked that. A lot. It has also made me rather more determined to enter a quilt show this year. My quilts are not fabulous. Some are better than others, but I want people to see them, and know that they can do this too.

With this in mind I have decided that Sandown will be the one. The main competition is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Organisation, with the entry fees being donated to the charity. The theme is memories. The last year has been quite taken over by Alzheimer's disease for me, and right now I feel that I need to make something to recognise this. I have so many ideas flying around my head which I need to harness very quickly to get my entry in on time. This is why I am writing this journal today, because now I can't back out of it.

Thanks Kaffe, you have inspired me in ways I wouldn't have thought.