Newsletter - Prague Patchwork Meeting

Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
Newsletter
November 2014
Content
2 Introduction
3 Kaffe Fassett
Brandon Mably
7 Coats Czecho
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Kaffe Fassett is back in
Prague
With the 9th Prague Patchwork Meeting
quickly approaching, it is time to start
introducing our guests.
Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably will be
returning to Prague after 8 years and you
will once again have the chance to
participate in their inspiring workshops. I
am sure that such workshop would make
a great Christmas present!
Anna Štěrbová
Prague Patchwork Meeting s.r.o.
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
November 2014
Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably are returning to Prague!
After 8 years, Prague Patchwork Meeting is an established event that has hosted a
large number of famous quilters from all over the world. Nevertheless, the next year
will be very special for many of us as well as me personally – K. Fassett and B. Mably
will be returning to Prague.
I have thought many times over the last years that I was unbelievably frank to approach K. Fassett in Lyon
in 2006 and asked him if he wanted to go to Prague, where we are planning to host the first Prague
Patchwork Meeting.
I remember how shocked I was when he looked at me and said “why not, we were planning to visit your
beautiful town with Brandon anyway… Let me see if we will be free at that time.” My fellow quilters in
Prague were even more astonished when I told them the news. K. Fassett was the most famous, most
adored quilter in the Czech Republic back then, even tough we could not get hold of his books or fabrics.
Now I know that it was a small miracle that the extremely busy schedule of both authors allowed for couple
days in Central Europe and Prague.
I am sure that many of you do remember the 1st PPM and the workshops led by Kaffe Fassett and Brandon
Mably and the first opportunity to buy his fabrics in person (the retailer had to come from France). Eight
years have passed, but a friendship continued. Kaffe and Brandon never missed the chance to visit the
Czech exposition in Birmingham and our quilters are still their biggest fans. Luckily, Coats Czecho entered
the Czech market and we could buy his fabrics, books etc. directly.
I am very pleased to announce that the 9th PPM will be hosting the meeting again. I hope that Kaffe and
Brandon will appreciate the progress we made over the years. Their Prague visit will be sponsored by PPM,
Coats Czecho and Šicí centrum Haišman.
The exclusive one-day workshop will take place on Saturday 11 April 2015. The capacity is strictly
restricted to 30 spaces, allowing personal approach. The price is EUR 115 and includes the 3-day entry
pass to Prague Patchwork Meeting.
For the first time ever, we will be offering a knitting workshop – featuring the famous “Poppy seeds”
pattern. It will take place on Sunday 12 April lasting 6 hours. The capacity is 20 participants. The
workshop will be led by B. Mably and K. Fassett will participate. The price is EUR 60 including one-day
entrance to PPM.
If you would like to find a voucher for one of the above under the Christmas tree, let us know via
[email protected].
The companies sponsoring the K. Fassett’s and B. Mably’s visit will be offering a wide selection of their
books.
Kaffe and Brandon, welcome back to Prague!
Jana Štěrbová
Prague Patchwork Meeting s.r.o.
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
November 2014
Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably will be back in Prague!
Kaffe Fasett and Brandon Mably
Prague Patchwork Meeting s.r.o.
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
Kaffe Fasset and Brandon Mably – Life Full of Colour
Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco in 1937. When he was 19, Kaffe won a scholarship to the Museum of Fine
Arts School in Boston, but left after 3 months to paint in London. He settled in England in 1964.
Kaffe ventured into the world of colourful yarn on a visit to a Scottish wool mill with fashion designer Bill Gibb.
Inspired by the colours in the landscape, Kaffe was thrilled to find the same colours in yarns. He bought 20 colours of
Shetland wool and some knitting needles, and on the train back to London a fellow passenger taught him how to knit.
His first design appeared as a full page spread in Vogue Knitting magazine.
Missoni and Bill Gibb commissioned Kaffe's early commercial collections, and his one-of-a-kind designs have been
collected by Barbra Streisand, Lauren Bacall, John Schlesinger, Ali McGraw, Irene Worth, Shirley Maclaine, Helen
Frankenthaler, Alan Bergman and H.R.H. Princess Michael of Kent. In 1985, Kaffe launched a needlepoint project on
the TV programme 'Pebble Mill at One', inviting anyone across the country to needlepoint an image of their favourite
thing, no bigger that 6 inches square. Over 2,600 entries were sent forming the Pebble Mill at One Heritage Tapestry
which was on show at Chatsworth House until it moved to Harewood House. The same year, the British Crafts
Council invited Kaffe to present a BBC daytime television series interviewing leading UK crafts people. Since then
Kaffe has inspired thousands of traditional one-colour knitters to employ rich palettes of colour through his 6 part
television series, 'Glorious Colour' for Channel 4.
In 1988 Kaffe became the first living textile artists to have a one man show at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The
exhibition attracted such crowds that the Museum doubled attendance figures during the run and has since visited
Finland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Canada, USA and Iceland (where 5% of the total population
attended.) Recent exhibitions of textiles include the American Museum in Bath (UK), Sweden, Denmark, America and
Japan. The Hankyu Department Store, Osaka, Japan invited Kaffe to create 3 room sets in their store, for a British fair,
sponsored by the British Council. Over 30,000 people visited the display in 6 days. In June 1998, Kaffe displayed his
quilts from his 8th book, 'Patchwork' at the Japan World Quilt Fair in Tokyo.
Kaffe's first needlepoint design was commissioned by Pamela Lady Harlech for Lord Harlech. Since then,
commissions include; two 5-foot square needlepoint tapestry designs for the 1994 Marks & Spencer department stores
Christmas packaging; tufted rug designs for Christopher Farr Hand Made Rugs; two 5-foot square needlepoint
tapestries for the Sea Princess cruise liner; a needlepoint tapestry for an Elizabethan house in Yorkshire; a series of
five tapestries and a tufted rug for The Edinburgh Tapestry Weaving Company; a 13' by 15' mosaic mural at the
entrance to a theatre in Ojai, California; needlepoint arm chairs for clients around the world and an endless list of oneof-a-kind design garments.
Since 1981, Kaffe has worked closely with Rowan Yarns in Yorkshire. Rowan Yarns insight into fashion and colour
complement Kaffe's skill and together they have produced ambitious designer patterns to inspire hand knitters all over
the world. He contributes to the bi-annual Rowan magazine, which is marketed world-wide. Since 1976 Kaffe has
been the leading designer of needlepoint kits for Ehrman Tapestries of London, one of the most successful mail order
needlepoint companies world-wide.
The international charity Oxfam asked Kaffe to work with poverty-stricken weaving villages in India and Guatemala,
to advise on designs that would be more marketable in the West. As a result, a range of colourful hand woven fabrics
is being produced for use as shirt fabric, bed throws and patchwork fabric, available on an international basis
through Rowan UK and Westminster Fibers, USA. Other charity work has also taken him to South Africa.
Hilliers Garden Centres invited Kaffe to design their garden for the 1998 Chelsea Flower Show. The garden
featured his mosaic columns, planters and a shell grotto and won a Gold Medal and was written up as 'The
trend-setting garden of the year's show'.
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
November 2014
1999 saw the release of two new books, Kaffe Fassett & Candace Bahouth 'Mosaics' and 'Welcome Home,
Kaffe Fassett', part of Martingale USA publishers At Home series.Since the Millennium major exhibitions
have included 'The Textile Tradition, Then and Now' (2001) and Quilt Bonanza (2003) both at The American
Museum in Bath, plus shows at Stening Slott, in Sweden (2004) and Rohsska Museet, in Gothenburg (2004).
2005 saw a variety of exciting commissions, projects and publications. Exhibiting quilts at the Textile
Museum of Canada, involvement at the Yokohama Patchwork Festival in Japan and Kaffe's contribution to
two group shows, 'The Artist and Radio 4' at the Bankside Gallery and a painting exhibition at the Catto
Gallery, London saw the year end with a prestigious invitation to design and decorate the Victoria and Albert
Museum Christmas tree in collaboration with Kaffe's latest book publication 'Kaffe Fassett's V&A Quilt's'.
Kaffe's one man multimedia show in 2006 at the Prince Eugen's Waldemarsudde, Sweden was followed by an
exhibition of Kaffe's quilts, knitting and needlepoint at the Modemuseum Hasselt, Belgium and 2007
continues with Kaffe embarking on a workshop tour of Australia and New Zealand and the launch of his knit
book 'Kaffe Knits Again' published by Rowan.
In 2013, Kaffe was awarded the Turner Medal. This is awarded by the Colour Group (Great Britain) to a
distinguished artist or art historian, honoring Britain's greatest colourist. Kaffe has just finished his 5th
hardcover book on patchwork and is working on his 15th annual book for Rowan and has been designing
quilting fabric for Rowan for 15 years.
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
November 2014
Brandon Mably
Raised in a small seaside town on the coast of South Wales, Brandon Mably has been interested in colour and design since
he was young. According to author/ designer and Mably mentor Kaffe Fassett, Mably has "one of the sharpest eyes for
style" that he has ever come across.
With no formal education in design, Mably made a radical career change from cooking to knitting in the late 1980's after a
chance meeting with the world-famous Fassett. From the moment he entered Fassett's studio, Mably realised the creative
potential of knitwear designs and soon became Fassett's apprentice.
For many years Mably organised the running of the Fassett studio, where Fassett trained him to knit, needlepoint, hook rag
rugs, and grout mosaics. An inspiring teacher, Mably began travelling the world with Fassett doing workshops. Exotic
locales such as Africa, Iceland, Guatemala, and India filled his designer's eye with inspiration and an explosion of colour
and pattern.
An avid and enthusiastic teacher, Mably has learned one thing over the years - that most people have buried in them a
sense of colour and design. And it is helping his students discover that design sensibility that continues to inspire and
motivate Mably's work.
Mably's current workshop is entitled "Concentrating on Colour in Design" and focuses on knitting, needlepoint, and
patchwork. Since taking over the teaching of knit workshops from Fassett altogether, he has taught throughout the United
States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, France,
Germany, and the UK.
More information: www.brandonmably.com and www.kaffefasset.com
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Prague Patchwork Meeting Newsletter
November 2014
Coats Czecho supporting K. Fassett and B. Mably during the
9th Prague Patchwork Meeting
Coats Czecho as the exclusive partner of ROWAN and FREE SPIRIT fabrics is getting ready for the 9th
Prague Patchwork Meeting that will be taking place in April 2015 in Prague.
ROWAN is the brand connected with famous of the world famous quilters and stars of the upcoming event Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably.
As one of the main partners of PPM, we will be sponsoring their visit in Prague to provide you with the
unique opportunity to meet the icons of textile design and participate in their VIP workshops. Their newest
books and fabrics will be available for purchase at our stand on the ground floor of Hall 2. Both quilters will
be signing books at our stand, enabling you to obtain a long lasting memory on the event.
ROWAN is representing sophistication and colours, it is a lifestyle choice. It combines modern design with
classic elements. Rowan stands for European colours, setting trends in textile art. ROWAN offers its
customers exceptional quality and an amazing designs – highly suitable for patchwork, quilting and other
textile hobbies. The brand is cooperating with renown artists – including Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably.
Free Spirit is brand sought after by quilters and tailors looking for inspiration and unusual designs. The
brand is playful, bringing joy to home textiles, quilting and other hobbies. Free Spirit is cooperating with a
large number of leading artists.
The fabrics are unique, colourful and ideal for all those looking for inspiration.
Why don’t you try it for yourself, we are looking to welcome you at our stand during the 9th PPM!
Text: Hana Rybárová
PRAGUE PATCHWORK MEETING NEWSLETTER EN
Prague
Meeting
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2014 www.praguepatchworkmeeting.com [email protected]
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