Patched and pieced textiles

The curves and edges of the carefully patched pieces of calico replicate the memories I have of walks in the Sussex countryside. The fabric is carefully dyed using gathered materials such as hawthorn, nettles oak galls and sloes, modified with iron and soda ash. The words that appear on some pieces, which are either typed or written, are the thoughts - almost a stream of consciousness - that occurred whilst I was on that walk: the ping-ponging of ideas and worries batting around inside my head as I walked.  I choose to use a traditional patch-working technique known as English paper piecing, which is slow, and meticulous, using paper templates to create the pieces of fabric that are then sewn together with tiny stitches.  By drawing the memory of that occasion, by writing the thoughts, and then slowly piecing and patching and stitching meticulously I capture the essence of the place, that occasion and the walk itself.