Welcome to my web site.

Quiltmaking and teaching are passions of mine. My love of fabric started at an early age and having been co-owner of the shop, 'Purely Patchwork' in Scotland for ten years I have been able to share my love for fabrics and quilting with quiltmakers from all over the world.

On my web site you will find examples of my work together with details of my workshops and lectures that I offer to quilting groups and other organisations. I now teach from my studio in the west end of Edinburgh and on a freelance basis, which gives me the opportunity to travel further afield to meet and work with enthusiastic students and textile artists. You can see the work of some of my students in the gallery.

My travels are a constant source of inspiration to me and probably my best known works to date relate to my Kilimanjaro climb. However, recent work has been about locations closer to home - the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - but adventures in Australia and New Zealand and Hong Kong have proved to be very inspirational!

I also enjoy developing patterns with full instructions for quilters. These patterns are easy to follow and are for quilters of all abilities. They can be found on the Design Kits page and can be ordered post using the order form that you can download from that page.

My studio is in the heart of the city of Edinburgh and is a warm, welcoming, creative space for students to learn traditional patchwork and quilting techniques or to explore and push back their own artistic boundaries in a more innovative way. Classes and workshops are geared to students of all levels. Studio Open Days and Forthcoming Exhibitions are listed on my Studio Events page.

The studio address is Pat Archibald, WASPS, 2/3 West Park Place, Dalry, Edinburgh, EH11 2DP and if you are visitng me then press Buzzer 10 - but phone first to ensure that I am working there that day.

I do hope you enjoy visiting my web site, if so please tell your friends!

Pat Archibald
Textile Artist and Teacher.

 

Spring/Summer News 2009

Having scrubbed, cleaned, painted, decorated and refitted my new studio in the west end of Edinburgh I was ready to welcome students in January. The first few months of the year have flown by in a frenzy of creativity both on my part and also the students. It is wonderful to have a peaceful dedicated teaching and workspace. Classes are due to expand later in the year so do check the Classes and Workshops page for more information.

I continue to teach around the UK and further afield and there have already been many memorable teaching trips this year. A week's residential course at Quiltworks in Cumbria was wonderful not just because I have a group of very enthusiastic students but also because Maureen, who runs the studios, provides the most fabulous food at regular intervals. An even bigger bonus was that the sun shone for most of the week making the Cumbrian hills and the Eden valley look their best. I will be returning there from 15 - 20 November 2009 to hold another 'Creative Journey' course. Maureen and I would then be looking to run a series of monthly classes in 2010 so that students could explore a topic in more detail in terms of colour, design, composition and worksmanship.

In May I was presuaded to enter a quilt into the Open European Quilt Championships and very surprised and also very pleased to find that I had been awarded not only the Award for Design but also the Viewers' Choice for my quilt 'The Journey'. You can see an image of it on the Gallery page along with a selection of new pieces.

Future events over the summer months include teaching a week's course at Edinburgh School of Art in August called 'From Colour and Cloth to Quilts'. I have to confess that it is with a mixture of excitement and nervousness that I am approaching that task. It was always a dream of mine to be a student at ECA and I never thought that I would be invited to be on the teaching side of things!

Also in August I will be at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. I will be teaching a 'Quick and Easy' workshop every morning and giving a masterclass on Friday afternoon in the Quilt Academy. I have decided not to take a booth in the 'Quilting in Action' area this year as my teaching schedule will keep me very busy.

If you go to the Design Kits page you will see that I have added a couple of new kits into the range and also a series of patterns. I hope you like them.

Exhibition news is very exciting in that Turning Point, of which I am a member, have been invited to exhibit at the Accoustic Music Centre throughout the Edinburgh International Festival from 10 - 30 August . Check out the Studio Events page for more details

I have updated my Diary page so do check if I am going to be at a venue near you over the next few months.

Autumn/Winter News 2008

The last few months have been as busy as ever exhibiting and travelling to teach around the UK and abroad and it has been a real privilidge to meet so many interesting and enthusiastic people through their connection with the quilting world. Visits to teach in three new ventures stand out. Firstly 'Studio Patchwork Art Textile near Toulouse, http://studiopatchwork.free.fr/ secondly Quiltworks, near Penrith in Cumbria and thirdly 'The Silver Thimble' in Yorkshire. All provided good studio space, a welcoming atmosphere and enthusiastic students. The owners of all three new enterprises went out of their way to make myself and all the participants feel at home. I will be going back to teach at all these venues in the future - Quiltworks in May when I will be teaching a week's 'Creative Journey ' course looking at colour, mood, atmosphere and symbolism relating to landscapes and The Silver Thimble in June to do a Celtic workshop. Visit the Diary page for dates and do contact me if you want more information about the course content.

My biggest news is that at long last I have a wonderful studio space in the west end of Edinburgh at WASPS, 2/3 West Park Place, Dalry, Edinburgh, EH11 2DP. Seventy artists work at WASPS so I am hoping that it will be a creative environment to be in. Keep your eyes on the Workshop and Classes page for the new teaching programme.

Turning Point, www.turningpointquilts.com, the exhibiting group that I belong to will be opening at the Smith Gallery and Museum in Stirling with a new exhibition of work from 17 January to 1 March 2009. Our new body of work is inspired by the Cowane Chest, one of the exhibits in the museum. Each member of the group will be interpreting the chest, the carving on it and the story behind it in her own way. Having had a preview of each piece I can promise that it will be a very exciting and invovative body of work.

 

Spring/Summer News 2008

The last few months have been spent getting ready for a new exhibition to take place during the Edinburgh International Festival as one of the Fringe events at the Accoustic Music Centre. The exhibition , East Meets West End of Edinburgh, is an extension of the Colours of Hong Kong exhibtion with some new pieces being added and an intriguing celtic twist given to some of the pieces. For information on the address of the venue and opening times visit the Studio Events page and to view some of the new pieces made for the exhibition visit the Gallery Page.

Running at the same time as the Edinburgh exhibition is Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham. I'll be there at my usual stand (Quilting In Action Stand 15) where I will be giving on-going demonstrations on some of the techniques I use in my quiltmaking. I will also be teaching a short workshop, 'Eastern Nights' every day at the Quick and Easy Workshops and giving a lecture on Saturday in the Quilt Academy. The lecture is about how my travels influence my quiltmaking and how I draw my inspiration form the colours and cultures of the places that I visit

Registrations are being taken for the new term of classes at St Brides centre in September and again for dates, times and costs visit the Classes and Workshops page. This class is for anyone keen to start patchwork and quilting as a hobby or for those with some experience.

Looking to Autumn 2008 I will be teaching at a new venue called Studio Patchwork near Toulouse in France. The course is called 'Traveller's Tales' and you will be encouraged to turn your photos and memories of a favourite place into an 'art quilt'. So join me from 5 - 11 October 2008 in a wonderful part of France for a relaxing week of creativity and fun. There are still some places so don't hesitate to book or contact me for more information about the course.

 

Autumn/Winter News 2007

The 'Colours of Hong Kong' Exhibition held at the Dundas Street Gallery in October was a great success. An exotic but whirlwind trip to Hong Kong to dip into the colours and culture of the Far East led to new bodies of work for myself and Lesley Anne Derks, a painter. Although we only had a few days in Hong Kong we felt that we had achieved what we had set out to do and that was to see and feel colour in a completely new way set against stunning, modern architecture in a city very far removed from our own Edinburgh with its mediaeval skyline. The exhibition was a culmination of a year's work exploring new directions in our creativity. You can see images of the exhibition and individual pieces on the Gallery page. You can also see more of Lesley Anne's work by visiting www.laderks.co.uk.

Classes at St Brides Centre in Edinburgh started in September and will continue throughout 2008. This is a weekly class on a Thursday morning and in the weeks running up to Christmas it had a festive focus. The 16 students taking part were a hive of industry taking on board all the ideas and producing multiples for christmas presents. The students are now working on small quilts using a Sew-a-Row technique to explore new, quick and easy patchwork technques. The class continues after Easter and students can enrol directly with St Brides (0131 346 1405). Check Classes and Workshops page for dates.

Early in 2007 a group of my students embarked on designs for a body of textile work about 'snowdrops'. I added a couple of extra challenges into the designwork in that digital imagery had to be used as part of their creative journey and text had to appear in the smaller pieces of finished work. You can see the work of this group by visiting the Snowdrop Spectacular at Cambo House, Kingsbarns. visit the Studio Events page for more information.

I have updated the Diary page so do check if I am in your area.

Looking to Autumn 2008 I will be teaching at a new venue called Studio Patchwork near Toulouse in France. The course is called Traveller's Tales and you will be encouraged to turn your photos and memories of a favourite place into an 'art quilt'. So join me from 5 - 11 October 2008 in a wonderful part of France for a relaxing week of creativity and fun.