Convalesance

I have been out of sorts for a while, but for the last week I have been feeling really sorry for myself. The upside of being ill is that I have finally got around to reading some books I meant to read ages ago. The first being the wonderful 'Quilts 1700 - 2010 - Hidden Histories, Untold Stories' accompanying the V&A exhibition of the same name. As I missed out on the original exhibition this is proving to be an excellent alterntive, and whilst nothing can substitute for seeing 'the real thing' it is a pleasure to really take your time. Although I am still nibbling my way through this book, it is a really fascinating read from a very fresh perspective with beautiful images too.

The other book I have been enjoying is Rebecca Crompton's 'Modern Design in Embroidery' (pub.1936). Now I have to confess this has been on my shelves for several years and I haven't got around to properly reading it until now. I now fully appreciate why her ideas created a quiet revolution in the world of embroidery. Although the writing could be seen a slightly vague, her examples demonstrate fully the 'new' way of working she extoles. Exploring line qualties, balancing tonal values and working with blocks of colour, her approach could still teach us all a great deal now. This is definitely a book worth searching out.

Rebecca Crompton, The magic Garden