African Textiles at the British Museum

On Thursday I had a lovely time at the British Museum. I had gone to visit the Pompeii exhibition but took the opportunity to see the Modern African Textiles too.  Social Fabric - African Textiles Today. 

You are greeted with the words 'Karibu mgeni" which translates as 'Welcome stranger' A lovely way to begin exploring this gallery.

Welcoming Kana

War on HIV

The Kangas in the exhibition show the political affiliations, the health concerns, religious and social feelings of the wearer. A Kanga is a rectangle of cloth with an inscription. They are worn in matching pairs principally be women in Eastern Africa.
They are a remarkable method of communicating many issues.

This has the inscription  "We young people declare war against HIV and AIDS because we have the capacity and the will to do it"

Guinea Fowl Kanga

The Kiswahili word for the guinea fowl is kanga. The spotted plumage may have been similar to patterns on early cloths.

Three Cats Trademark

And there was the Three Cats trademark which I have become familiar with whilst working on my Manchester Blue Throw

 This is just a taster of the exhibition. It is on until the 21st April

Happy Stitching

Bev

Manchester Blue

The right side of the fabric

At Textiles in Focus at Cottenham a few weeks ago I spotted a little sample pack of indigo dyed fabrics at the African Fabric Stand

When getting home and opening the pack, I was delighted to find lots of small samples of fabric and a little note about them.

"Manchester Blue Pack
These Manchester Blue prints come from vintage sample pieces printed in Manchester before production moved to South Africa. Most pieces are around 15-20 years old. "

The reverse of some of the fabrics

The reverse side of some of the pieces were even more exciting, with original production stamps such as "Three Fishes" and " Three Cats"  So I decided to show the reverse of  some of the fabrics in my quilt. I'm not sure that it can really be called a quilt as it will only have two layers of fabrics, more of a embroidered throw then.

Starting to lay out the patchwork of piece

I have also added some Kola Nut and Indigo
fabric in an ammonite design. I liked the contrast of colour and will add stitch in the golden brown colour to the piece.

I hand-dyed the thread to give a spaced dyed effect and I am stitching in spirals using running stitch.

I have also left the edges of the pieces raw as I want this to have a pieced and patched feel. My version of a Boro Quilt

Stitching detail

It is a lovely piece to work, I am working it in the hand without hoop or frame. It may take some time to finish but there's no rush,  I'm just going to enjoy the journey.

Happy stitching

Bev