Irene MacWilliam
Most recent postings are on Journal Quilts 2016 - the Galleries page - under Miscellaneous, Social and Environmental and Fish and Water series: and Sky is the Limit page


2012 - 26 Events of the Year Quilts were shown in -
Tower Museum, Londonderry/Derry Northern Ireland
and
Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny

I live in Northern Ireland. In 1985 I went to a talk about appliqué in the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild. I decided that I would have a go. I was not interested in reproducing traditional patterns so my early work was machine appliqué. I also joined the Northern Ireland Embroidery Guild around the same time..

Over the years my work has included many pieces to do with conflict and the havoc and misery it causes to children and families. I use a lot of free machining and other decorative techniques and recently I have been creating my own fabrics by dyeing, screen printing, stamping and sun printing etc. Many pieces incorporate text, often almost hidden.

In 1986 I began making Events of the Year quilts see Year Quilts. From this page you can access images of individual year quilts covering 1986-2012 (2012 is last one of these but it is yet to be photographed). These quilt have 20 picture panels that cover world events.

In 2012 - 26 Events of the Year Quilts were shown in - Tower Museum, Londonderry/Derry, Northern Ireland
and Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny - see image above. In 2004 the Year and the Peace Quilts were Exhibited at the Festival of Quilts at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. They were shown in Armagh Museum, Northern Ireland in 2005. In 1986 I had my year quilts and a retrospective show of my work in the Irish Linen Centre, Lisburn Museum. In 2012 the 26 year quilts were shown in Tower Museum, Londonderry/Derry Northern Ireland and Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Ireland.

I have produced many 3 dimensional pieces that satisfy the criteria of a quilt as they consist of 3 layers but equally well would be accepted as embroidery or sculpture. A miscellaneous selection of my work can be seen by clicking the thumbnails on the Galleriesapage.

I am a freelance lecturer and teacher. Details of my talks and workshops can be seen on the Lectures + Workshops page. My career details may be seen on CV

There are also pages showing my Journal Quilts for 2016  2015 2014  2013    2012    2011    2010    2009   2008     2007 

A list of all the pieces on this site with links to the individual images can be seen on the List of work page. I have many more pieces not included on website.

Sky is the Limit is an online group I belong to. We make 12 inch or 30cm pieces to given themes.

See weekly postings of my work on facebook. Irene MacWilliam artist

A CD of all 27 Fish and Water works (53 high quality images) is available for £6.00 which includes P&P (UK). If interested please. email.