The Dream Quilt

Some of you may remember last year I illustrated a small format, hard cover book called "Can it be True?" for Long Barn Books. Earlier this year I was thrilled to be invited to work on another title for the same publisher. This time for a book entitled The Dream Quilt by Adele Geras.

Perhaps just once in a lifetime a dream job comes along. For a textile designer who also illustrates books this was my dream commission. Each illustration represents one square of a patchwork quilt. Adele Geras's enchanting writing begins:

"I threaded silk through a silver needle to make a cover for your bed.
Rest your head, close your eyes. I’ll stitch you dreams and lullabies."

We start with a house, where everyone sleeps except for a child.....

This is the house, from The Dream Quilt. Illustration by Valerie Greeley

Although the book would sit happily in a Christmas stocking it is not specifically a Christmas title; some of the imagery is summertime, we have shells and beaches, fish and flowers. There are tigers and trains, bears and dolls. Each illustration makes up a part of the final quilt as the characters dream their own dreams.

The illustrations begin as black ink pen drawings; these are then scanned and made into a digital file. I used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create the final images, layering textures and embroidered effects to complete the job.

This is the doll, from The Dream Quilt. Illustration by Valerie Greeley.

The publication date is December 12th, in the meantime I hope you enjoy a glimpse into the creative process. I hope to put some copies in my shop as soon as they arrive. I am also waiting to see some fabric samples, more about that later!

This is the ship from The Dream Quilt. Illustration by Valerie Greeley

Adele has written her own account of how she came to write the book, you can read all about it here-

For more information about Adele Geras visit her website, there you will find details of Adele's other works. I can recommend "Cover Your Eyes"- a story about a fashion designer haunted by her past. You may also be interested to know that Adele's daughter is an accomplished writer too, her name is Sophie Hannah. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this commission was that I got to know Adele a little as we discussed the book as it progressed. I have a feeling you will like her too.

To visit Long Barn Books please follow the link.

Barn Owl painting and Intaglio printing.

August over half way through already! I am sure by now all my readers will have deserted me in my absence but for anyone still out there be assured that I have been visiting your blogs, not always commenting but appreciating your worlds.

Since my last post I have been struggling to finish a second book commission for Long Barn Books. If you are not familiar with this company it is owned by the writer Susan Hill famous for her “Woman in Black”. Susan has recently started a new venture and has added Little Barn Books to her fold. She has a brand new website with lots of news about her latest creation for children named Billy Bigheart.

I found the time to work on another miniature, this time a barn owl for the gallery “Art of the Imagination”. I was delighted to find a lovely old-fashioned frame to put it in and was rather reluctant to parcel it up for the postman.

It hasn’t been all work; we had a family birthday celebration for a youngest son James who celebrated his thirtieth birthday. Getting the house and garden ready for thirty guests was challenging to say the least. Fortune shone on us by sending a day of sunshine for the event. It was a lovely day and I think my lawn may recover at some point?

We enjoyed watching the film "Woman in Gold", have you seen it? I love the paintings of Gustav Klimt, they are so decorative and full of pattern and colour. 

Finally, I have got around to listing a new print in my Etsy shop. I have been trying out intaglio printing, a very old method of printmaking, which involves drawing directly onto a metal plate with a stylus. You can read more about the method used here-

I hope you have all had a good summer and I promise not to stay away for quite so long next time. x

The Message Was Heard

In an earlier post I mentioned that "Can it be true?" by Susan Hill has been featured in a Christmas Carol Competition. Out of a huge number of entries six carols have been chosen and performed by the BBC singers. Listeners are being asked to pick their favourite which will be performed on Christmas day.

As from today you can listen to the six finalists in the BBC Radio 3 Christmas carol competition and register your vote by following this link. I am not sure if you need to live in the UK to hear these BBC podcasts?

My illustration above is one of the pages from the book "Can it be true?" It features some of the animals mentioned in the prose poem. Having spent so long visualising the images in the text it is something of a marvel to me to hear the words set to music. I am in awe of anyone who can create music and also those gifted with beautiful voices. Singing was never my strong point, even my little grandson implores me to stop!

This year we will be having a very busy family Christmas and I am already feeling great waves of panic at the thought of the food shopping and preparation ahead. In order to lessen the stress I have reduced the stock in my on-line shops, you can still buy books but they may not arrive in time for Christmas if you live overseas.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Very Happy And Blessed Christmas. Thank you so much for your support, words of encouragement and friendship over the past months. I really do appreciate it. xxx

UPDATE- Congratulations to Jacqueline Burley whose Christmas Carol setting won the "Can it be True?" Christmas carol competition organised by BBC Radio 3. Jacqueline's version is a worthy winner and has done a brilliant job in her musical interpretation of Susan Hill's words.

Tudor Houses

Illustration for "Can it be true?"
written by Susan Hill for Long Barn Books.

I thought you might be interested to see some of the thought processes and inspiration behind my recent illustration project for "Can it be true?” for Long Barn Books.

It was decided from the beginning that this book would have either black and white illustrations or restricted colour, we wanted to give a more simplified “printmaker” feel to this new edition in contrast to the very detailed water colours used previously.

When I had to think of an image to use to illustrate the towns page I immediately thought of Tudor style houses. This very decorative style of building lends itself to black pen and ink drawing and so was a natural choice. There are very many wonderful examples around our home and county town of Chester. Some date from as far back as Henry VII.

The illustration started as a black and white pen drawing, which I scanned into the computer. I then added colour and a lino print texture on Photoshop. The original idea was to have gold on some of the pages but to do this would have added considerably to the costs. We decided to add a gold effect instead, this was also done on Photoshop by scanning a piece of gold leaf and then “pasting” the effect in the windows and onto the stars. (see top)

The illustration suggested a repeat pattern so when the book was finished I turned the page into a textile design. To see how this would look on fabric I decided to try out the Spoonflower site. This is a place where you can upload your own designs and have them printed for your own use or for sale in an online shop.

The problem for me was choosing the right fabric, in the end I opted for Kona cotton, thinking it might be nice to quilt. The obligatory sample arrived in due course and when I saw it my mind turned back to books again. I thought it might be good to try out the fabric as a book cloth;- here is my very old and tatty address book sporting its new cover. It seemed an appropriate choice.

If you feel so inclined you can try out the fabric yourself, you will find it here-

You can find "Can it be True?" here-