A Falling of Leaves

A Falling of Leaves

For the last of my four quilts for 2015 based on the seasons, it is the turn of Autumn. The background strips reflect the changing colours of the leaves on the trees around us , which have been amazing this year. I picked up leaves from our garden and used their shapes for the appliquéd leaves. The contrast horizontal strips of bright blue are to represent the occasional glimpses of sunny sky that we have seen, if only rarely.

Background free motion quilting in three different designs and three different threads flow across the piece.

The four quilts from this year are now complete and make an interesting and colourful series, which I have enjoyed making.

Ghanaian Adventure 4 Pat Archibald

I spent time with villagers that specialised in hand-printing Adinkra cloth. This was a technique developed by the Ashanti people to make cloths for royalty. The printing blocks are carved from calabash and each design is highly symbolic. The black ink used for printing is called Adinkra Aduru and is made from the bark and roots of the badie tree which are pulverised in large mortar and pestles and then boiled and strained several times until it is the right consistency for printing.

In this piece a woman is pounding the bark and some of the Adinkra symbols are showcased on the right.

Ghanaian Adventure 3 Pat Archibald

Continuing my theme in this series of work I am looking at the elements that the craftspeople of Ghana take from nature and use in their processes to produce wonderful items.

From Bolgatanga we drove further north to a small village called Sirigu, famous for its pottery and decorated adobe houses. The local clay is moulded into plates and vases and painted in black, white and terracotta in geometric designs. It is very important to the local community that these craft traditions are carried on to provide employment and education for the villagers.

In this piece an adobe house provides the backdrop to a painted vase that I purchased on my visit there.