Elegant Decline

My inspiration for this piece is the ruins of an old mansion house near to me, which was once home to the Duke of Sutherland and set in wooded grounds and gardens (that are now a public amenity). Not much of the structure is left standing, and of what remains this was once the impressive entrance hall. I was struck by the fancy ironwork around the doorway, and the tall windows which would have allowed light to flow into the hall. Although the plaster work and fine decoration have now gone, I can still imagine what an elegant place this would have been.

I printed photos that I had taken onto organza, and used these as the main focus of the quilt, with machine stitching to outline the main features. Extra layers of coloured organza were used to highlight the archways in the interior.  I added a brick wall and peeling plaster using cotton fabric, hand stitching and intense pencils. Further hand stitching covers the discoloured interior and was used to add the weeds that sprout from the crevices of the crumbling walls. The rubble on the floor is free machine stitching over a fine scrim fabric.  For all of the added fabrics I left the edges ‘unfinished’ to highlight the general decay.

Detail views:

Original pictures