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Meet the Artist: Pam Holland Our mission is to promote, teach, and encourage the love of ALL types of appliqué in quilting. July/August — Volume 24 - Number 4 Meet the Artist: Pam Holland By Anita Smith I recently learned about Pam Holland’s project to replicate the Bayeux Tapestry, a medieval embroidery approximately 230 feet (70 m) long and 20 inches (50 cm) tall, in appliqué. I reached out to Pam to learn more about what inspired her to embark on this remarkable journey. Pam, please tell us what inspired you to do this epic tale of the Bayeux in applique. I'm asked over and over again, "Why did you decide to re-create the Bayeux Tapestry?" It's a valid question and one I don't have an answer for other than the fact that I felt compelled to do it. On the 4th of July 2005, I happened to find myself in Denver, Colorado; I was attending a weaving conference with friends. I'm not a weaver at all, I know very little about weaving, but I was staying with a friend who was an avid weaver, and I happened along to the event with her simply because I was staying at her house. After two days of lectures on weaving, I found I needed a little space and begged to go a buy coffee at a Barnes and Noble situated down the street from the event. Pleased to be free, I began looking at the books, and I came upon a book that almost jumped into my hand - it was big and bold and begged me to pick it up and take it to my table along with my coffee. I have an embarrassing habit that my family are aware of, that of being able to distance myself in a busy room. I can switch off the surrounding environment and become immersed in my personal moment. I had heard of the Bayeux Tapestry. After completing my “1776, Heartache, Heritage and Happiness” quilt, a few people said it reminded them of the Bayeux Tapestry. So here it was in front of me, and I was happy to divert my attention away from weaving and learn something I was interested in. Four hours later, I realized my friends would be looking for me; I had read the entire book. Indeed, not word for word, but the pictures transferred me to another place that captured my spirit in 1776 Heartache, Heritage and Happiness a strange sort of way. …continued on page 3 July/Aug 2020 www.theappliquesociety.org Page | 1 President’s Message Anita M. Smith TAS Founder/President “Someday I will have time to do…” “I have been so busy and would love to have time to do…” In This Issue: We have all said these words at least once. And for Meet the Artist: 1 the last 4 months many of you have had ‘time’ to Pam Holland do things you have put off or wanted to get to. I have seen many of my friends share pictures on President’s Message 2 Facebook of the quilts they are finishing. We would love to see the quilts you have finished. Send a photo to [email protected], including the Calendar of Events 6 pattern name and designer. If you designed your quilt, then give us that info too. Annual Meeting 7 Many of us have projects we have put on the back burner. Remember our Row Chapter Happenings 9 by Row Appliqué challenge? I was so excited to see the designs. Since our ‘in person’ meeting will be next year in 2021, we have a great opportunity to keep Book Reviews 10 this idea alive. Many who know me know I don’t give up easily, so let’s keep this going! I know there are some very talented appliqué artists out there. Please Let’s Go Shopping! 11 send your designs to P.O. Box 1593, Freeland, WA 98249 and I will be glad to adjust them to the appropriate size and put into the proper format. See, it is Contacting TAS 12 really easy! Share your area, your town, or special interest in your region in appliqué. Contact me at [email protected] if you need more info. Also, we now have some videos for you on the website under ‘Members Only Videos”. We have some talented appliqué teachers and designers in our membership. If this is you, we would love to talk to you about videos you might want to share with our members. We use Vimeo to secure video content so that it is only available to our members. We would love to offer more to our members! Please contact me if you would like more information. We have had to make some changes to our plans this year concerning the 2020 Annual Meeting. Check out the information on the TAS website in the ‘Members Only’ section and in this newsletter. We have been thinking ‘outside the box’ to find a way to have an annual meeting as required for our 501(c)3. I am sure you will like this option. I was thrilled to be able to interview Pam Holland for this issue. What an amazing Entire contents of this newsletter person she is, and so talented! Her work and her insights have impacted me Copyright © 2020 by the Appliqué TM greatly. I hope it inspires you too. Maybe you have an idea that but are hesitant Society . All Rights Reserved. No to purse it? Pam shares how she has been in those shoes and what she did to part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any way without change her direction. the written permission of The Appliqué Society TM. Many kind regards and friendship, Anita Jul/Aug 2020 www.theappliquesociety.org Page | 2 Pam Holland, continued from page 1 I was most embarrassed, and I knew I had a lot of explaining to do. The best way was to purchase the book and introduce the Bayeux Tapestry to my friends. One of the ladies was a little dismissive of my passion and was quite adept at eye-rolling. It was that evening that I decided to create a quilt the same as the tapestry. Tell us why you wanted to change your focus from the first design to this new look of the historic Bayeux design in appliqué. The first 9 foot sample I did was stitched with a very small zig-zag (buttonhole) stitch. 1.5 stitch width and .35 stitch length. It looked wonderful. Then I stitched outside of the appliqué piece in threads of the same color to finish it off. Pam’s first attempt of Bayeux Now that the quilt was the full length, I felt I needed the appliqué to flow and become almost an illustration. The stitch is a tiny blanket stitch, and I match the thread to the fabric as close as I can. Then the appliqué is illustrated to give a dimensional effect. New Bayeux Applique I have noticed your style of appliqué is different than the traditional style. Tell us about your drive to do unique designs in appliqué. I was a fashion designer for some 20 years, and many of our garments were appliquéd, well before the word became fashionable. …continued on page 4 Jul/Aug 2020 www.theappliquesociety.org Page | 3 Pam Holland, continued from page 3 All of my work is machine done. I use my sewing machine as an extension of my hands. Very early in my career as a quilter, I wanted to create something different with appliqué. I called my genre “Drapplique” - drawing and appliqué. The appliqué took on a new dimension; once I added ink to the appliqué, it became an illustration in thread and fabric. I use 100% cotton for all my work. I appliqué and quilt at the same time so that the appliqué stitch goes through the three layers of fabric and is the base for the quilting as well. New Bayeux Applique How do you keep focused and devote your time and energy to something so historically encompassing? I do have lapses. Life gets in the way, and I’m normally travelling ten months of the year. But when you have a passion, it always sits there in the background waiting to be worked on again. I get such satisfaction and delight working on the Bayeux that I rarely get bored with it; each section is different, so there are challenges in every scene. The Bayeux is not your first attempt at a historical quilt. Tell us your story of your quilt 1776, Heartache, Heritage and Happiness. How did you find this this quilt? Why did you make it and where is it now? This is a very long story, one of passion and intrigue and I wrote a book on the story, “1776, Heartache, Heritage and Happiness”. My 1776 quilt (see photo, page 1) is very personal. In the midst of personal tragedy, I stumbled upon a picture of "1776," an amazing story-quilt made by Sorbian Bayeux Needlework close-up soldiers on the battlefield as Prussian troops marched into Bohemia. The quilt, constructed using an antiquated European technique known as Silesian quilting, incorporated an incredibly rich range of patterns and imagery. Captivated, I set out to replicate the quilt using faster methods of machine appliqué. This unique book recounts the story of the original quilt and describes my personal odyssey from despair to celebration, as my remake of 1776 sweeps "Best in Show" at quilt shows across the United States. You can read more about the quilt on my blog: https://iampamholland.com/2016/01/23/my-gift-the-1776-heartache-heritage-and-happiness/ .
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