Student “Field Trip” to Scotland to Visit my Quilt, “Tickled Pink”

More than a year ago I was contacted to see if I would like to participate in a show of quilts inspired by the fabrics of Kaffe Fassett called “The Power of Pattern.” Specifically, they were asking for “Tickled Pink,” my pink rhino quilt, which was created in time for and included in another Kaffe Fassett show at Portsmouth Fabric Company in New Hampshire way back when the quilt was first made. The theme of both shows was quilts that are inspired by or include Kaffe fabrics. Some of the large pink flowers in “Albie” (the rhino’s nickname, after Albrecht Dürer, the Medieval artist that inspired my version) are recognizably Kaffe.

Anyway, off Albie went to a traveling show of colorful quilts. First he went to London’s Fashion and Textile Museum. Later, he will continue on to the Millesgården Museum in Stockholm Sweden. Currently, Albie is in Edinburgh, Scotland at the Dovecot Studio. Coincidentally, Edinburgh is the home of one of my Live Online Fabric Collage Class students, Catriona Stirling. Catriona was in a class with another student from here in the States, Mary McKay, who with her husband, Frank, was to be visiting Ediburgh (and other locales in Ireland and Scotland) during April and May of this year, and during the Dovecot Studio show of “The Power of Pattern”!

Sometimes the planets align and soon Mary (above left) and Catriona were making plans to meet up and visit Albie together. I’ll let them tell the story of their visit in their own words and photos.

Thanks, ladies!

—Susan 

p.s.—In the meantime, Albie Jr.—in the form of a print on fabric—is visiting Germany with me these past couple weeks. I had hoped to have a photo-op in front of Albrecht Dürer’s home in Nürnberg, but plans changed. However, here we are at Johannisburg Castle in Aschaffenburg instead!

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The following is by guest authors Mary McKay and Catriona Stirling

From Mary McKay:

Catriona and I met over Zoom in Susan’s January 2023 Live Online Class. Coincidentally, my husband Frank and I were headed to Ireland and Scotland this spring, while Susan’s quilt, “Tickled Pink” would be on exhibit at Dovecot Studio in Edinburgh. “Tickled Pink,” Catriona, Frank, Scotland, and me equalled a match made in heaven. Catriona graciously offered to meet us at the exhibit.

Dovecot is “a landmark gallery and museum for contemporary art, design and textiles in Edinburgh, built around a world-renowned tapestry studio” (from their website). When Frank and I arrived and were talking to the admissions people, I mentioned that we were meeting Catriona and that our mutual teacher had a piece in the exhibit. She asked which piece and when I answered, “Tickled Pink”, her face lit up like a firecracker on the 4th of July. “Tickled Pink is one of the most popular quilts on display!” she responded.

One of the admissions people with the show swag that Mary and Catriona sent to me!   —S.

Frank and I had arrived early and decided to do a quick run through of the exhibit. It was huge! A large part of the exhibit is dedicated to Kaffe Fassett. There are also quilts made out of his designs and fabrics. Everyone has their own favorites but I thought they were incredibly beautiful and much harder than anything I would attempt to make. Hands down, Susan’s was superior—we have no bias, it’s a fact. It was really fun to watch people gather in front of Pink. There were lots of surprised looks, awe, and wonderment. Everyone paused in front of it to try to determine how it was made, was that tiny piece really a whatever, look at the curve, look at the color, how did she do that? There was always someone or a group in front of it. TP was very well received.

Some “Tickled Pink” fans. —S.

The three of us found each other and we enjoyed bowls of steaming homemade soup in the vegetarian/vegan cafe which was flooded with light from the wall of windows. Beautiful! There were also homemade desserts and pots of tea. It was a lively and convivial place to get acquainted. We set off to tour the exhibit with Catriona and once again there was a small crowd in front of Susan’s piece. We spent a few minutes joining the crowd and just ever so casually mentioning that the artist was our teacher. We just couldn’t help ourselves. Frank, the son, nephew, and brother of quilters, was amazed at the variety of quilts.

Eventually we dragged ourselves out of the studio and started on the magnificent Catriona’s-Guide-to-Walking-in-Edinburgh.

Catriona explained that once the lockdown was lifted a little and people were allowed outside to walk again, she had followed a walking program where you walked every street of the city. She walked 1700 miles during the lockdown. She had discovered nooks and crannies and secret gardens in the heart of the city. We walked with her and I enjoyed the spring growth. Catriona and Frank birded. All the European birds were new to Frank so he had a grand time.

Scenes from Mary’s walking tour with Catriona. —S.

One of the things I enjoyed on our trip was talking to people and the best way to do that is to ask if you can pet their dogs. The Scots have many dogs and while I couldn’t pet each one, I did try.  When you talk to people about their dogs, you learn about the person, too. Nice folk, those Edinburghians.

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From Catriona Stirling: 

Mary and I had already arranged to meet up when she and Frank came to Scotland but we couldn’t believe our luck when we realized “Tickled Pink” would be on show when they were here. “Tickled Pink” was the first of Susan’s quilts that I became aware of and I immediately became a fan of her work. I bought the books, considered all the ways I could try to incorporate a class into a US trip (I even got on a wait list for Asilomar many years ago) but never made it. Then covid hit and we went virtual. I finally managed to attend the May 2021 class, created my yellow-eyed penguin Hinemoa from a photo I took in New Zealand, and I was even more impressed with Susan’s artistic and teaching skills and her patience! Now I’m working on Lenny my ring-tailed lemur and slowly trying to finish draft 1 after the class at the beginning of this year.

It was so wonderful to see Albie, as Susan has nicknamed the quilt, (and Mary and Frank too of course) in person and I’m hoping to go back to see him one more time before the exhibition closes.

The weaving space which happens to be an old converted swimming pool or “baths” as they say. —S.

The gallery space used to be Victorian swimming baths with the pool area now where the weaving studio is. I think I managed to swim there once before it closed (I’m not a native of Edinburgh as I’m from the other side of the country in Glasgow) and, while it’s a shame the pool was closed, it’s a great way to re-use the space. I’ve seen quite a few exhibitions there, from William Morris to some quirky knitting, and they’re always interesting and inspiring.

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Links for More Information about the Show, Dovecot Studios, and the Studio Space

Dovecot Studios

Kaffe Fassett’s “The Power of Pattern”

Remembering Edinburgh’s First Public Baths

Edinburgh’s 10 Infirmary Street Public Baths

Memories of Infirmary Street Baths

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