Quilt Making – contemporary abstract patchwork with Abigail Booth

This course introduces you to the art of contemporary and abstract quilt making. With an emphasis on teaching you how to experiment with colour and composition, the tutor will guide you through the process of constructing a quilt from start to finish. Taking inspiration from historical and contemporary quilting movements, you will be introduced to different patchwork and quilting techniques allowing you to pursue a self-guided, independent project.

An improvisational and experimental approach to designing a quilt top will introduce beginners as well as challenge those with experience, to think about colour and composition in a free and playful way. You will be taught that there is no right and wrong way of designing and playing with fabric. Instead, you will be guided and instilled with the confidence to be bold and to teach you steps to producing a quilt from start to finish.

The course will begin with learning about the teacher’s approach to designing her work, and her approach to working with colour and composition. You will be guided through how to start designing a quilt from scratch with the fabrics you have brought. Both traditional and contemporary approaches to patchwork will be explored in several ways to enrich the design of everyone’s unique and individual piece. A combination of machine and hand sewing will be taught and used in the making of everyone’s quilt tops.

The latter half of the course will be dedicated to learning how to layer a quilt and mark it up ready for hand quilting. The process of hand stitching a quilt is meditative and hugely rewarding, as it allows the group to slow down and come together in a common act of making. Finally, you will end the course by binding and finishing the edges of each quilt ready to be taken home.