Does anyone else subscribe to UK Vogue? Well I do, and I love it. As I mentioned in my ‘25 things about me’ article Vogue, Elle Decoration and Living Etc are my favourite mags.
Well in the March edition there is an article on Tracey Emin’s ‘Blankets’ (which we would call quilts) called ‘Pieces of me’.
Tracey is so inspiring, and as someone who also falls in love with a lot of her fabrics and clothes I can totally understand where her design ideas are coming from. Each quilt is made from the heart and made using fabrics that hold a lot of special memories for her. She tells us how she ‘grew up within a tradition that everything could be useful and nothing should be wasted’ – how necessary in today’s society with the economic climate.
The article is her story how she used to raid her closet for items of clothing she didn’t wear anymore but was holding onto for sentimental reasons to cut up and use as material for her meaningful ‘blankets’.
I am going to quote directly from the article the paragraph where Tracey describes what it was like to sell her first quilt.
‘When it sold, on the third day of the art fair, I curled up in bed with it tucked around me and cried at the idea of it going away. A lot of love had gone into it, and on the final days of getting it completed in time for the White Cube show, different friends had helped me complete the patches and sew them on.’
Sometimes when I part with some of my fabrics, its quite a heart wrench. I haven’t yet been brave enough to part with any that hold memories for me. I have only parted with pieces that I have fell in love with design-wise, not the pieces holding memories of my life in every thread.
The article is a fantastic read and I recommend you all go and buy March 2010 Vogue!!
I’ll also be going to “Quilts 1700-2010″ at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in March. I cannot WAIT for this, which was another reason I was so pleased when I turned the page into this article.
All of Tracey’s work show very ‘large’ messages. I’ll leave you with a couple…
(Images: V&A)
For more info on Tracey, visit her site here.
- Lucy x