The practice of making textiles allow a great freedom to express ideas.This freedom to explore and push the boundaries of materials and techniques gives this practice a broad and deep base, where skills in themselves bear witness to a tradition that is constantly evolving. In this brief discussion I want to concentrate on the quilt format in paticular as an example of an evolving area of endeavour in textiles. The quilt format allows the practitioner, the conceptual space to express ideas beyond the purely functional and take it into areas ranging from the narrative, to highly organised designs, to work of a more conceptual nature where skills are not as obvious but inherent and essential. It is only, though with an understanding of the process of making and access to a vocabulary of skills which includes design and manipulatory skills, that the practitioner can express concepts with fluency and coherence.

But how relevent will this format and these skills be for future practioners? I wouldn't presume to predict any future directions - this would deny much of what creativity is about, but, looking at how artists have used and are still using this medium to define concepts and ideas, we can observe that because of its adaptability it has the capacity to continue as a viable and exciting practice, fulfilling spiritual and expressive needs.

Quilt making has always been admired for its skill content whether it be in fine stitchery in techniques such as trapunto and cord quilting, or the confident use of colour and design as with the Amish tradition in Pensylvania,or the embroidered American coverlets, or the complicated patchwork techniques that we are so familiar with or more recently the use of machine piecing and embroidery. The format has been expansive enough to encompass other skills such as a wide range of printmaking, dyeing and other surface design techniques, as well as other materials not usually associated with quilt making such as paper, found objects, wire, wood etc. Barbara Macey employs the traditional log cabin technique to create highly designed quilts. She exercises the same care in the grading and selection of colour as did the traditional quilt maker but with something different to say. They no longer relate to the bed necessarily, or to keeping warm, but are there for their own sake, most likely on the wall, whilst still refering to traditions of the past. They have simply taken a step away from the functional nature of the object into an arena where other concepts which are generally thought to have applied only to the fine arts have come into play.

Even though Australia has not had a strong quilt tradition of its own, the legacy of European quilting traditions is an obvious influence. More recently the awareness of practices in othe cultures such as seminole and mola techniques from Florida and Panama respectively, as well as batik and dyeing techniques from Indonesia and Sri Lanka, block printing from India etc, have informed many quilters works. Many Australian quiltmakers have developed these techniques in exciting and new directions. In his quilt "El Grito - The Cry" from the Crossing Borders exhibition, John Corbett's use of the mola or reverse applque technique adds emotional and conceptual weight as he expresses his grief for his Mexican artist and friend who died of AIDS. It refers not only to the tradition of commemorating and celebrating events in peoples lives in Mexican and European culture but also to the AIDS quilt project which has become a significant extension of the strong American quilting tradition. In fact, the celebratory nature of quilts plays an interesting role in quilts such as Judy Howarth's "Urban Landscape " series, where she skillfully employs urban construction paraphenalia in banner type forms. Jan Irvines brooding comments on Australian nationalism combining techniques such as airbrushed dyed cloth with traditional fine hand stitchery, as well as imagery unmistakably Australian, adds an ironic intensity to her comment.

The application of more recent 20th century techniques such as screen printing, in conjunction with traditional piecing and applique is also apparent in Greg Sommerville's quilts where he paints, sprays, screen prints, air brushes, cuts away and builds up again. In his work from the Discerning Textiles Exhibition at the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery he explores 'the expression of order within chaos'. His ideas and choice of image making are complementary, but his use of the quilt give testimony to the relevence of it being a valid method of expressing ideas. The quilt medium is an example of an enduring colllection of skills. Skills that have evolved over the centuries, particularly the late 20th century where it seems to have metamorphosed to express relevent concerns of the time, whether they be intensely personal, marking rites of passage in a persons life as with the more functional traditional quilts, or whether it relates to a wider social context.

Sue Blanchfield's work in "Below The Surface" exhibition expresses both in printed images and the actual structural nature of the piece, concerns related to the Australian natural environment. The effective use of skills in batik, piecing, dyeing,screen printing and an understanding of the emotional impact of different fabrics was essential in coherently expressing her ideas. Her use of layers of cloth which open up to reveal further imagery is an intriguing reference to the quilt structure. The late Lorraine Hepburn's "Quilt and Sheet Show" back in the early 80's focuses on the relationship between men and women in Australian society using media images, stories and advertisements. The messages are about attitudes, stereotyping and disempowerment told with a combination of humour and seriousness. The quilt medium for saying this is significant, if not paramount. Even though the work is essentially conceptual in nature, an understanding of surface design and the nature of cloth, was essential to covey a sense of tension between the softness of the fabric and the hard hitting nature of the text.

On a personal note, quiltmaking has inforned my work for the last 20 years and even though my last show was made entirely of cast paper, it still alludedstrongly to the quiltmaking tradition through the grid format and the piecing together of units to create a whole. The concept of covering, the protective layer, was portrayed in the imagery which was created by taking direct impressions from the bush litter, the protective covering on the forest floor.

The quilting tradition grew out of not only a basic functional need, but satisfied other deeper needs. Those of the desire to create something of beauty and meaning in probably unbeautiful or harsh surroundings - to achieve a result, an object, that expresses something of themselves or their surroundings that was enduring.

From the practical and humble origins of protection, warmth and security for the human body, quiltmaking has evolved into a diverse medium which demands not only manipulative skills but relies heavily on skills in design, colour, drawing and image making, as well as an ability to realise and bring to fruition ideas and stories. These ideas and stories that cannot be told in any other form as they are simply of or about quilts or more broadly textiles. For the artist it can be a tantalising balance between referring to the traditions of the past or other cultures and having the courage to leap into new territory both technically and conceptually.

Karen Edin