Get to know The Guild by meeting our talented members! We have interesting and inspiring members all over the country doing amazing sewing and we want you to be able to share their work.

Meet Guild and Contemporary Quilt member, Khurshid Bamboat.

What are you working on now? 

I try to sew every evening one fairly large (6 cm) circle in a different colour thread; the circles have been drawn on white linen and I hope to cover the entire square metre.  This was inspired after doing an online workshop with Claire Wellesley Smith – not quilting but very therapeutic and what is popularly named Slow Stitching. I must have been slow stitching for years – I am not a fast worker! I am also planning on making a scroll (something I have wanted to do for some years) but using paper lamination. I have a hanging that is sandwiched and ready to quilt and I want to use up some of my fabric mountain as well!  I have lots of ideas but just need the time and discipline.

What is your favourite contemporary quilt that you’ve ever made? 

I have quite a few favourite quilts but my piece that hangs in my bedroom, ‘Maritime Adventure’ made in 1999, perhaps means the most to me. It is based on a photograph of fishing boats (bunder boats) in Karachi harbour.  It was dedicated to my Dad, who was such a force and influence in my life and my husband who has been my soulmate and supported me all these years. The title is special as in marine terms, an adventure is a new venture or discovery and this piece is just that – I used hand dyed fabric as well as commercial fabric; paper piecing, free motion quilting to name but a few techniques.  I still look at it with the greatest pleasure and all the happy memories it holds for me.  Since then, I have made many other pieces that I love. As another quilter said, I try to make quilts that I want to make and enjoy.

 

Who are your quilting heroes?

I have been very fortunate to have taken so many workshops since I began quilting and I owe huge thanks to so many tutors. However there are some who have really influenced and helped me – Charlotte Yde, Susan Denton, both great artists and tutors, and I still draw on what they taught me years ago. Nancy Crow is another inspiring tutor and during lockdown, I learned so much from Christine Chester and owe her many thanks. The list would be rather long if I listed everyone but I would like to name Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn – not as my heroes but as two people who have taught me so much. I have spent the past twenty plus years learning different techniques and skills with them that I use in my work and for whom I have the utmost respect and gratitude.

Can you recommend a good quilting read? 

I confess I haven’t read a quilting book for ages. I dip into books and read what I need for a project or just to make sure I am doing it correctly. I have all the C2C books which are great reference books. Sara Impey’s ‘Text in Textile Art’ is another book I enjoy looking through, not only because I admire her work but because I love text. I have far too many books – I need to start reading them before it is too late!

What do you love about The Guild and your membership of the Contemporary Quilt special interest group?

I joined the Quilters Guild in 1981, having gone to their first exhibition in Covent Garden and spoken to both Jean and Deirdre Amsden. Since that time, I have written articles and reviews for ‘The Quilter’ and I just like supporting The Guild. I enjoy meeting and chatting to Guild members at regional days and especially at The Festival of Quilts. I have been every year since it began in 2003 (I keep saying I should stop but so far it hasn’t happened). 

I joined Contemporary Quilt at the very first meeting held in London and I think it is a great group. I have met so many inspiring and interesting people in the last 20 years – and am very much looking forward to helping at their gallery this year at The Festival of Quilts. I have done the Journal Quilts every year since it began in 2007 – with a few exceptions – and the same goes for the Suitcase Quilts which I think is an ideal way of showcasing individual work with one theme in mind as the results are so different. I had the pleasure of booking the Suitcase Quilts on two different occasions for my group.  The group’s newsletter is filled with exciting and quite often thought provoking articles and I know I am not alone in saying that it has become even better in the past few years. I like mixed media and I know I can make something using this technique for Contemporary Quilt without it being frowned upon. During lockdown, we were lucky (if we booked quickly) to hear very enjoyable talks by different speakers; long may they continue.  Contemporary Quilt is the main reason I am with The Guild, because that is where my interests lie now.  A lot of CQ members have now become good friends and it gives me great pleasure in chatting to the public (at The Festival of Quilts) and telling them about the joys of being a CQ member.

We are asking Members to tell us a bit about their sewing life using five simple questions. This way we hope to bring you a wide range of makers from all corners of The Guild over the next weeks and months. If you know an inspiring quilter who we should feature, get in touch at marketingcommsgs@quiltersguild.org.uk and we’ll send out a copy of our questionnaire.