quiltfest
  • Quiltfest 2022
    • Irene MacWilliam BEM
    • IM Quilts
    • IM Journals
    • IM Stomachers
    • Uncharted Contemporary Quilt
    • Challenge
    • Mere Kats
    • PTB
  • Previous Exhibitions
    • Quiltfest 2021 >
      • Val
      • Rebecca Collins
      • Maureen Poole
      • Gwenfai Rees Griffiths
      • Traders
      • Invited Guests
      • Reg 13 in Quilters' Guild Collection
      • Letters and Numbers
      • Landscapes
      • Flowers
    • Quiltfest 2020 >
      • 40 Years and Still Stitching
      • Song of the Celts
      • Traditional Stars
      • Cauldron
      • Ten Plus
      • Invited Members' Quilts
      • Traders' Quilts
    • Quiltfest 2019 >
      • Trading Day and Colwyn Quilters
      • Maps Exhibition
      • Just One Day Exhibition
      • In Print Exhibition
      • Modern Quilts Exhibition
      • Colwyn Quilters
      • Trading Day
    • Quiltfest 2018 >
      • Quilts at The Pavilion
      • Quilts at The Museum
      • Trading Day
    • Quiltfest 2017 >
      • 1001 Nights
      • On The Edge
      • Wrexham Tailor's Challenge
      • Miniatures
      • Make and Take
    • Quiltfest 2016 >
      • NinetiesCollection
      • Wrexham Quilting Circle
    • Quiltfest 2015 >
      • Region 13 Challenge
      • Contemporary Quilt Challenge
      • Dislocation by Contemporary Quilt Group
    • Quiltfest 2014 >
      • Barbara Howell: A Retrospective
      • Going Dutch
      • Cestrian Quilters
    • Exhibition 2013 >
      • Susan Briscoe and Friends at the Pavilion
      • Rieko Domon at the Museum
      • Cwiltcymru
      • Threadbare
    • Exhibition 2012 >
      • Ferret 2012
      • Magie Relph 2012
      • Dilys Fronks 2012
    • Exhibition 2011 >
      • Made in Wales - DeAnne Hartwell-Jones
      • Made in Wales - Other Artists
      • Passage Defined - By Design
      • Trees and Carved in Cloth - Turning Point
      • Miniatures by Sandra Goldsbrough
      • Quilts in the Library
      • Trading Day
      • Ario Workshop
    • Exhibition 2010 >
      • Effie Galletly 2010
      • Contemporary Quilt 2010
      • Liesbeth Williams 2010
      • Celtic Connection 2010
      • Borderlands 2010
      • Exhibition 2005 >
        • Travels with Cloth - New Horizons Group
        • Pat Salt 2005
        • Invited Artists 2005
      • Trading day 2010
    • Exhibition 2009 >
      • Nikki Tinkler
      • Hanging Together
      • In Response
      • Bethan Hughes
      • Peaceful Hearts
      • The French Connection
      • Kate Cawley 2009
    • Exhibition 2008 >
      • Elizabeth Brimelow 2008
      • Calendar of Kings 2008
      • Invited Artists 2008
      • Sisters' Choice 2008
    • Exhibition 2007 >
      • Chiaroscuro 2007
      • Boutis 2007
      • Hot and Cold 2007
      • Miniatures 2007
      • Invited Artists 2007
    • Exhibition 2006 >
      • Pat Storey 2006
      • Images of Wales 2006
      • Invited Artists 2006
    • Exhibition 2004 >
      • By Design 2004
      • Invited Artists 2004
    • Exhibition 2003 >
      • Edrica Huws 2003
      • Invited Artists 2003
    • Exhibition 2002
  • Contact us
Quiltfest 2022
Irene MacWilliam BEM
​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 used to make my own clothes so I had a knowledge and understanding of fabrics and working with a sewing machine. I have never come to terms with the accuracy demanded by traditional patterns. I find ways of doing things that suit me.
I became hooked on free machine work as a result of a workshop in the early 1990s, the morning after it I woke in the early hours realising that now I could free machine I could draw and write in my work. I find free machine work so relaxing and I think is my favourite part of the process.
I am not inspired to reproduce landscape or similar subjects. I just love to be given a theme so I can mull over it and tease out ideas. I have no particular style of working: I just use techniques that best express my ideas.
I do a lot of free machining and other decorative techniques; I enjoy creating my own fabrics by dyeing, screen printing, stamping and sun printing etc. Many pieces incorporate text, sometimes almost hidden.
Picture

​I belong to various groups:
The Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild
The Northern Ireland Embroidery Guild
Quilters Guild of the British Isles – QGBI
Contrmporary Quilt a subgroup of the QGBI
Crossing Oceans
ArtQuiltFusion
Over the years my work has included many pieces to do with conflict and the havoc and misery it causes to children and families. ​​  For 27 years I made an annual quilt about world wide Events of the Year with imagery and text. These are now in the permanent collection of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
In 2019 I was awarded the BEM for Services to Textile Art in Northern Ireland.

www.irenemacwilliam.co.uk

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  • Quiltfest 2022
    • Irene MacWilliam BEM
    • IM Quilts
    • IM Journals
    • IM Stomachers
    • Uncharted Contemporary Quilt
    • Challenge
    • Mere Kats
    • PTB
  • Previous Exhibitions
    • Quiltfest 2021 >
      • Val
      • Rebecca Collins
      • Maureen Poole
      • Gwenfai Rees Griffiths
      • Traders
      • Invited Guests
      • Reg 13 in Quilters' Guild Collection
      • Letters and Numbers
      • Landscapes
      • Flowers
    • Quiltfest 2020 >
      • 40 Years and Still Stitching
      • Song of the Celts
      • Traditional Stars
      • Cauldron
      • Ten Plus
      • Invited Members' Quilts
      • Traders' Quilts
    • Quiltfest 2019 >
      • Trading Day and Colwyn Quilters
      • Maps Exhibition
      • Just One Day Exhibition
      • In Print Exhibition
      • Modern Quilts Exhibition
      • Colwyn Quilters
      • Trading Day
    • Quiltfest 2018 >
      • Quilts at The Pavilion
      • Quilts at The Museum
      • Trading Day
    • Quiltfest 2017 >
      • 1001 Nights
      • On The Edge
      • Wrexham Tailor's Challenge
      • Miniatures
      • Make and Take
    • Quiltfest 2016 >
      • NinetiesCollection
      • Wrexham Quilting Circle
    • Quiltfest 2015 >
      • Region 13 Challenge
      • Contemporary Quilt Challenge
      • Dislocation by Contemporary Quilt Group
    • Quiltfest 2014 >
      • Barbara Howell: A Retrospective
      • Going Dutch
      • Cestrian Quilters
    • Exhibition 2013 >
      • Susan Briscoe and Friends at the Pavilion
      • Rieko Domon at the Museum
      • Cwiltcymru
      • Threadbare
    • Exhibition 2012 >
      • Ferret 2012
      • Magie Relph 2012
      • Dilys Fronks 2012
    • Exhibition 2011 >
      • Made in Wales - DeAnne Hartwell-Jones
      • Made in Wales - Other Artists
      • Passage Defined - By Design
      • Trees and Carved in Cloth - Turning Point
      • Miniatures by Sandra Goldsbrough
      • Quilts in the Library
      • Trading Day
      • Ario Workshop
    • Exhibition 2010 >
      • Effie Galletly 2010
      • Contemporary Quilt 2010
      • Liesbeth Williams 2010
      • Celtic Connection 2010
      • Borderlands 2010
      • Exhibition 2005 >
        • Travels with Cloth - New Horizons Group
        • Pat Salt 2005
        • Invited Artists 2005
      • Trading day 2010
    • Exhibition 2009 >
      • Nikki Tinkler
      • Hanging Together
      • In Response
      • Bethan Hughes
      • Peaceful Hearts
      • The French Connection
      • Kate Cawley 2009
    • Exhibition 2008 >
      • Elizabeth Brimelow 2008
      • Calendar of Kings 2008
      • Invited Artists 2008
      • Sisters' Choice 2008
    • Exhibition 2007 >
      • Chiaroscuro 2007
      • Boutis 2007
      • Hot and Cold 2007
      • Miniatures 2007
      • Invited Artists 2007
    • Exhibition 2006 >
      • Pat Storey 2006
      • Images of Wales 2006
      • Invited Artists 2006
    • Exhibition 2004 >
      • By Design 2004
      • Invited Artists 2004
    • Exhibition 2003 >
      • Edrica Huws 2003
      • Invited Artists 2003
    • Exhibition 2002
  • Contact us