This is a thought provoking and moving exhibition set in the spinning room of Salts Mill in Saltaire, just north of Bradford.  I am not going to give a potted history of Salts Mill as there is a lot of information about it available on the internet and in print.  But I will say that it is a stunning building and a great exhibition space.  The stone floors and vaulted brick ceilings are original, as are the bobbin stores set into all the walls.  These photographs might give some idea of the space:

The exhibition itself is site specific with works created by 23 international artists inspired by the venue.  When I first arrived in the spinning room I was struck by the light, space and airiness, the artworks almost invisible.  Each installation has a lot of room around it enabling the visitor to see it from many viewpoints.

The artworks force the viewer to engage with and think about the nature of the building, the processes which took place within it, the workers who created created 18 miles of alpaca cloth each day, and to examine the way in which each artist has depicted his or her response to the venue.  The following are just a few of the participating artists, together with some photographs I took on my visit.

Jeanette Appleton's soft felted works based on the ledgers and sample books are placed in the bobbin stores - tactile, colourful, hinting at the work of the employees in the mill.

Caren Garfen's work is inspired by the census of 1891 and based on the lives of women who lived and worked in the parish of Saltaire.  She uses stitched 'plaques' mounted on antique wooden spools to commemorate some of them.

Rachel Gray takes the viewer back to the basics of patchwork - paper piecing.  For this artist, the back is almost more important than the front of a pieced work as the fragments of paper have a history of their own - her artwork incorporates archive images from Saltaire.

Diana Harrison was inspired by the flagstone floor of the spinning room interpreted in handkerchiefs - discharged, overdyed, printed - then stitched together in a loose pattern emulating flagstones and laid on the floor.

Yoriko Murayama has created work based on the landscape around Salts Mill and I quote from the gallery guide: "The images have been printed on Japanese paper which has been cut up and woven; the installation takes the form of a number of spiral cones each 2 metres high".

Yoriko Yoneyama's installation is breathtaking.  Made from dried rice and silk threads, the work honours the importance and value of rice.

This is an exhibition not to be missed.  And the catalogue is a work of art in itself.

I had great fun making the sari silk pieces then wondered what to do with them.  My original idea was to create a textile book but this was rejected - each piece measured about 7" x 5" and if I had mounted it onto a backing it would have become too big.  I also thought of making a wall hanging but the weights of the backing silks differ and could distort so that idea was also rejected.  The pieces are rather fragile with wispy bits of silk and I wanted to keep them safe.  I painted pages in an A4 spiral sketchbook then hand stitched each silk piece onto its own page. 

The pieces will be a reference for future work as I'm thinking of creating some abstract silk wall hangings.  Watch this space!

Today was my opportunity to look around the many displays within the exhibition and feast my eyes on high quality work.

I loved Mandy Pattulo's show, Thread and Thrift.  She uses very old and perishing quilts by unpicking and reworking them into textile collages, often adding embroidery and applique.  She also incorporates other fabrics in her work, such as old samplers, flour bags and cast off clothing to make new artworks.  Just gorgeous.

Here are two pieces shown with Mandy's permission:

Another beautiful exhibition was Homesewn - Godharis From Rural India.  This is a collection of godharis (quilts) from Maharashtra made out of old and worn saris by women for use in their homes; each godhari is layered with old clothes.  They have been collected by Geeta Khandelwal and four examples are shown below, with her permission:

Mary Pal's workshop at the Festival of Quilts was to teach the joys of using paintsticks and joyful it was.  Mary is a great teacher - enthusiastic, thorough and diligent.  She imparted a sense of play and exploration as well as pointing the way to doing fine work by combining stencils and masks, layering and mixing.  Although I have done a lot of work with paintsticks it is always possible to learn new techniques.  I had a lot of fun making samples using various techniques and will post images when the work has been completed. 

With Mary's permission, some of her work is show below:

This exhibition of work by Eduardo Paolozzi at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester is an impressive survey of his output, including collages, prints, drawings, textiles and sculptures.  His talents were wide and his work is striking.

One aspect of the show which impressed me was the quality of the captions for each work - giving good background detail as well as information about the techniques used.

The show continues until 13 October 2013 and is well worth a visit.  Pallant House Gallery is itself a gem, an elegant Queen Anne townhouse with a modern gallery harmonising well with the old building.