Spellbinding Textiles Exhibition

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HotHive Textiles is delighted to announce that Janice Myers, of Cornwall, is the overall winner of our Spellbinding Textile Competition. Janice’s piece, “Hat Trick”, features a giant top hat and a flight of doves – though the piece has a special spellbinding twist. Why are the doves masked? Why is one so different? And how did they all come out of that hat? It must be magic!

Coming a very close second place was Vikki Lafford with her beautiful “Enchanted Woodland” dress. Vikki’s piece features many hand-painted, embroidered and beaded silk butterflies and flowers, as well as some embroidered spiders and the occasional centipede hidden among the folds of the skirt.

In third place was a fabulous little card box, designed and made by Rachel Doyle. The embroidered design is based on the jack card that has been transformed into a magician.  The figure has a top hat, wand and rabbit and is decorated with the suit motifs – hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. The piece includes appliqué, goldwork and fine embroidery. 

In fourth place was a beautiful wallhanging entitled “Merlin’s Magic” by Tracy Curtis. Tracy’s piece shows the wizard Merlin and a unicorn amidst some standing stones, one of which has runic symbols engraved in the stone. Merlin’s crystal ball rests on top of the smallest stone and through the crystal’s mist the top of his staff can be seen, which he holds in his left hand. From his right hand issues a stream of stardust as he creates his spell which results in the appearance of an owl. The whole scene is watched by a fairy as she sits on another of the stones. A combination of silk and acrylic paints were used on cotton to create the scene, then free machine embroidery was used to embellish the images. Couched silk fibres were then added to the unicorn’s mane and tail. To depict the stardust in the spell, Tracy hand embroidered tiny stars, French knots and running stitches, using silver and gold holographic threads.

The prizes were handed out at an exhibition launch on Friday 16 January were we were joined by almost all of the artists and their friends and family, along with some of the prize givers and the press. We all had a fabulous day, as you can see from our photographs!

Selecting the winning pieces was incredibly difficult as the standard of entries was so high. But we all felt that the overall winner, Janice Myers, showed superb interpretation of the theme, while her piece was also very well executed and an original idea. Vikki’s dress in second place is also an exquisite piece of design. She has used beautiful colours and fabrics, which capture the essence of her work perfectly.

Janice was understandably thrilled to be crowned winner of the competition. She says: “I am thrilled to have won this prize-firstly for my own satisfaction in view of the work I put into making the piece, the standing of this venue in the textile world and that it was organised by HotHive Textiles. The fact that it is supported by a worldwide organisation such as Pfaff made it doubly challenging, especially as I do genuinely use a Pfaff computerised sewing machine and their software in all my work. A lot of the things I make are inspired by birds, as they have a complex form in both shape and texture, which enables me to use several aspects of them. Having the Pfaff software enables me to create my own designs, amend and repeat them, or parts of them, as often as I choose, then finally put all the chosen elements together to hopefully create an interesting and thought provoking final piece of work.”

The competition received almost 100 entries and the best 29 were selected for the exhibition at Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch. The range of interpretations and items entered into the competition was staggering and makes for a fabulous exhibition. Entries based on witches, wizards, goblins and fairies were mixed with magicians, spells and fairytales, along with pieces based on nature and the world we live in.

The Spellbinding Textiles Exhibition takes place from 1 February-1 March 2009 and represents a fantastic array of artwork across the whole textile spectrum – from patchwork, quilting, feltmaking and stitching to fashion and beadwork. Forge Mill Needle Museum is open Tuesday-Thursday 11-4 and Saturday-Sunday 1-4. The entry charge is £3.80 for adults, £2.95 for senior citizens and £1 for children. This cost includes entry to both the Needle Museum and the exhibition.

List of winners:

First Place: Janice Myers, for “Hat Trick”
Second Place: Vikki Lafford for “Enchanted Woodland”
Third Place: Rachel Doyle for “Magic Box”
Fourth Place: Tracy Curtis for “Merlin’s Magic”

Pfaff Special Mention Awards:
Doreen Caldwell
Judith Lovatt
Freya Perry

If you can make it to the exhibition then we would love to know what you think – did you agree with our choices? Were there any pieces that really stood out to you? You can share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of this article and we will be sure to pass them on to the artists concerned!

To see an online gallery of all the pieces being exhibited at Forge Mill please click here.

To read our interview with winner Janice Myers please click here.
To read our interview with second-placed Vikki Lafford please click here
To read our interview with third-placed Rachel Doyle please click here
To read our interview with fourth-placed Tracy Curtis please click here.