I was delighted to learn that White Cube, one of the world's most prestigious and well known commercial galleries, was exhibiting textile works, including Amish and Gee's Bend quilts, as well as modern conceptual pieces, at it's Mason's Yard venue.  A visit to the show didn't disappoint.

The exhibition is in two parts - the historic pieces in one display and the modern ones in another. 

Seventeen old quilts and two pieces by Alighiero e Boetti are shown together.  Three of the quilts are hanging on the wall in an unconventional way, as if draped on a hook, with a spotlight on each of them.  The other quilts were laid out against a long wall, on blocks creating a step, each overlapping another or being overlapped.

It was frustrating not to be able to see the full quilts, especially those from Gee's Bend.  One in particular, Geraldine Westbrook's Housetop, was tantalisingly worn and dirty, which made me want to see the rest of it.  It was also alarming to see that the quilts had been fixed in place with large staples.  And several trailed across the floor, ready to be trodden on.  I feel that this display should have been laid out in such a way that the full quilts could be seen.  Hanging them against a wall would have enabled a full view without damaging the textiles.

Complaints finished!  The quilts were a moving display of women's creativity, ingenuity and skill.  Scraps of fabrics, worn and grubby, made up a large part of the Gee's Bend quilts, many with asymmetrical piecing that appeared to add to their spontaneity.  One of the oldest pieces, Coxcomb Flower, was beautifully appliqued and quilted; Log Cabin, described as third quarter 19th century, had an unusual half square triangle centre.  And the mariner's compass, also attributed to the same period , was stunning.

The second part of the exhibition had some very interesting pieces.  Danh Vo's cochineal-dyed rug was ablaze with colour, almost hurting one's eyes with it's brilliance.  Mona Hatoum's 4 Rugs (made in Egypt) had images of skeletons, reminiscent of burial  plots.  I loved the idea behind Mike Kelley's Carpet #5 - (probably cheap) acrylic carpet painted with acrylic and mounted and framed to create an artwork.  Likewise, Sergej Jensen's hand knitted pieces were bold minimalist pieces, bringing knit into the world of art.  There were many canvas embroideries by the Italian conceptual artist, Alighiero e Boetti, cleverly using text in his work.

So, one can hope that this exhibition might help bring textile artworks into the mainstream art world.  We wait and see.

The annual show at Alexandra Palace is one not to be  missed for stitching and knitting afficionados.  I went on Wednesday 7 October, the first day of the show opening, queueing up to get in as the doors opened.  The greatest pleasure of the show is being able to speak with the artists exhibiting their work - and I was not disappointed.

Amanda Clayton and Viven Prideaux's installation of beautifully dyed pieces and sheers was made in response to the poem by RS Thomas "The Other".  The translucent hangings and stitched books were particularly attractive.

Stella Harding's exhibition of forms used basketry techniques to transform discarded and recycled materials into geometric forms displayed to show their shapes, which were highlighted by their own shadows.

Michala Gyetvai's "Enchanted Landscapes", large pieces on felted and stitched blankets invoked the atmosphere of mysterious and magical places, the stuff of fairy tales.  Although not permitted, these pieces were crying out to be stroked...

The SAQA exhibition, "Food for Thought", examines the role of food in daily life.  And Kate Jenkin's wonderful "The Stitchmongers", with its display of knitted, crocheted and sequined seafood made every visitor smile with pleasure.

New Zealand Contemporary Textile Art was a large showcase of artwork with a range of techniques, themes and sizes, reflecting the diverse cultures of New Zealand.

"The Fiber Lands" by DAMSS Fibreart greets the visitor on entering the show - the large display stretches for several yards and is composed of individual panels to make up the whole.  Based on the cliffs of Ligura, the visitor has a rather vertiginous bird's eye view of the coastline and sea.  You are left with the feeling that you are there.

After a two year absence, I managed to see this year's Summer Exhibition with a fortnight to spare.    The first thing that struck me was the large number of people taking photographs.  I officiously told someone it wasn't allowed but an attendant corrected me - this was the first time that the Royal Academy had allowed photography.  So my mobile was pressed into use and I was able to capture images of some of the works which caught my attention.  Resolution for next year - take good camera with full battery!

The Small Weston Room was handed over to William Kentridge in recognition of his election as an Honarary Academician and the space was used to show his recent works on trees of Africa - linocuts, Indian ink and digital prints on dictionary pages.  The ink marks were particularly well suited to the subject matter.

An unexpected surprise was a display from Tom Phillips' The Humument, showing the development of individual pages.  And a large display of 40 prints by Norman Ackroyd was stunning. 

Apart from a large Grayson Perry tapestry and a small embroidery of a parrot, I didn't see other textile works.  Perhaps textile artists should make a concerted effort to flood the selection committee with works on textiles so that we would be hard to ignore..........

I have never understood the point of battle re-nactments but the exhibition "Unseen Waterloo - The Conflict Revisited" opened my eyes. 

 The exhibition consists of 70 life size portraits taken by the photographer Sam Faulkner, who has attended the annual Waterloo re-enactment in Belgium since 2009.  Each participant makes their own historically accurate uniform.  The photographs were taken in a pop-up studio on the battlefield against a black background; the dramatic lighting evoked forgotten faces and emotions.

To quote Sam Faulkner - "Unseen Waterloo: The Conflict Revisited" is my attempt to re-interpret and imagine the non-existent portraits from 1815. ...we don't have personal images of the men who actually fought and died that day. ...This work attempts to reclaim the Battle of Waterloo for the valiant 200,000 who have been lost to history".

The exhibition runs until 31 August and is well worth a visit.  To whet your interest are three pictures from the exhibition:

The exhibition at Somerset House, "Beneath the Surface", fittingly displayed in the subterranean Embankment Galleries, is a selection of pieces from the V&A's extensive collection of photographs.  The exhibition shows prints rarely or never before exhibited, by both both nineteenth century pioneers and contemporary artists.

The biennial exhibition of work by members of London Quilters shows the diversity of the group, from traditional pieces worked by hand over paper to art wall hangings.  Here is a selection of some of the quilts.  All the exhibits can be seen with this link - www.londonquilters.org.uk/coming-home-2014