C June Barnes - Living Textiles

I was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1951 and came to Britain in 1975. Although I originally trained as an accountant I did not pursue a career in this field after starting a family in 1978. I live on the South East coast of Britain at Hastings in East Sussex.

I have no formal art training but have been fortunate to learn from numerous teachers and facilitators in the quilting world. I started making patchwork quilts in the traditional way in December 1991. My first quilt was finished in January 1992. Since then I have exhibited widely, mainly in Britain, but also in Europe and the USA.

Awards since 1993 include -

  • Best Theme - Fans at Quilts UK 1993 with Fans for Africa
  • Best Sampler Quilt at Quilts UK 1996 with Tie Fliers
  • Best Machine Appliqué at Quilts UK 1996 with Cloudcuckooland
  • Overall winner and Best of category [Worldly Warriors] - Blazing Banners exhibition, Leeds Royal Armoury 1996 with The Wind of Change
  • Best Machine Appliqué at the Great British Quilt Festival 1996 with The Wind of Change
  • Best Quilt Art at the Great British Quilt Festival 1996 with Liberation
  • Best Machine Quilting at Quilts UK-1997 with The Crude Sea
  • Best Machine Appliqué at The Great British Quilt Festival 1997 with A Cacophony of Cockatoos
  • Best Small wall hanging at the Great British Quilt Festival 1997 with Hanga - Guinea Fowl
  • Best Workmanship at The Scottish Championships 1997 with The Crude Sea
  • Best Piecing at Quilts UK 1998 with S.A.Q. (Seasonally Adjusted Quilt).
  • Best in Show and Best Wallhanging at the Great British Quilt Festival 1998 with Solar Complex
  • National Champion/Best of Show at the National Patchwork Championships 1999 with Golden Wonder
  • Trophy for Design at European Championships 2002 with Verdigris
  • First prize - Innovative Quilts - Small at The Festival of Quilts 2003 - Birmingham with Hanging on the Wall 2

Quilts in juried exhibitions -

  1. The Crude Sea, 1996 Quilters Guild exhibition, Layers of Inspiration 1996,
  2. The Wind of Change1996 for AQS 1997 at Paducah.
  3. If it's Not Baroque - Don't Fix it!
    • 1997 Quilt Art: From Baroque to Avant Garde
    • Quilt Expo VI Innsbruck May 1998
    • 1998 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas Oct/Nov. 1998.
    • 1999 World Quilt Competition - Carolina USA
  4. Ching Bats 1999 The Quilters' Guild exhibition, Under the Covers
  5. Solar Complex AQS 1999 at Paducah - awarded an Honourable Mention
  6. Baroquen Dreams
    • 1999 First Horizons - The Patchwork Association Spring Fairs
    • 1999 International Quilt Festival - Houston, Texas Oct/Nov. 1999 awarded 2nd place for Merit Quilting
  7. Golden Wonder 1999 International Quilt Festival Houston, Texas Oct/Nov. 1999
  8. Joining Forces 5 -Tangoed! 2000 Cutting Edge - UK
  9. Count the Black Dots 2001 EQA Competion - "The Light" Magic, Illusion, Trompe L'Oeil, Belgium.
  10. Making an Impression 2001 5th Horizons - Quilt Festivals.
  11. Medieval Strippy 2 2002 Transforming Traditions - Quilters' Guild exhibition Halifax
  12. Baroquen Spell International Quilt Festival - Houston, Texas Oct/Nov 2002 - achieved third in the Innovative Applique category
  13. Hanging on the Wall Quilt 2002 - Knitting and Stitches Show, London, Dublin and Harrogate - October/November 2002 - awarded a "Commendation"
  14. Hanging on the Wall 4 International Quilt Festival - Houston, Texas Oct/Nov 2003 - received an Honourable Mention
  15. Convolutions 7 - Fire in my Soul Quilt 2004 at the Festival of Quilts - Highly Commended
  16. Convolutions 10 - Raining in my Heart Quilt 2005 for the Festival of Quilts - Highly Commended

Special Exhibits

  • 17 quilts travelled with the Patchwork Association's Spring Quilt Fairs which were held at venues in England, Scotland and Belgium between February and May 1998.
  • Shipley Art Gallery's 1998 exhibition, Stitches in Time. Solar Complex
  • 1998 commissioned by Region 2 of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles to make a piece for the 90's collection . Face of Africa
  • 1998 playing card, the Queen of Spades, selected as part of the touring display - The Grand Slam - staged by the Patchwork Association.
  • 1999"Paned Expressions" Quilt 99 at the Knitting and Stitches show.
  • 4 pieces as a member of Hanging Together January 2000. 11 quiltmakers participated in the exhibition at the Chequer Mead Centre, East Grinstead called "Hanging by a Thread".
  • 7th European Patchwork Meeting - 13th - 16th Sept. 2001. 12 pieces of work - a mixture of old and new.
  • February 2002 Hanging Together at the Chequer Mead Art Centre and Gallery, East Grinstead. "Stretching a Point by Hanging Together" 5 pieces exhibited.
  • Baroquen Dream exhibited in Wickrath Castle, Monchengladbach, Germany - Aug. 17th - Sept. 8th 2002
  • Class Act - 2 pieces at Chequer Mead Art Centre and Gallery, East Grinstead October 2002. - work by students attending classes run by June and Leslie Morgan in 2001/2002
  • Layers 2003 exhibition at Worthing Museum - 9th AUG TO 5th OCT 2 pieces
  • Committed to Cloth 2003 at Chequer Mead Art Centre and Gallery, East Grinstead in October 2003.
  • February 2004 the fourth exhibition by Hanging Together at Chequer Mead Art Centre and Gallery, East Grinstead.
  • 2004 – Stitched Textiles – The Stables Theatre Art Gallery, Hastings – 26 exhibits
  • 2004 – Solo Exhibition “Lift Off” at The Festival of Quilts in August
  • 2004 – December Spread Your Wings at “Japanese Imagery in Contemporary Quilts”by Kokusai Art and Nihon Vogue of Tokyo - an invitational exhibition that included one quilt by each of 75 Japanese and 25 western quilt artists.
  • July/August 2005 - Class Act - an exhibition of work by June and participants in her courses in 2004-2005 at Chequer Mead Community and Art Centre, East Grinstead
  • 2005 - Nov 12th - December 24th - "Bedazzled" exhibition at the grace barrend design centre, Nutfield, Surrey.
  • In February 2006 Hanging Together - 5th exhibition at Chequer Mead Community Art Centre in East Grinstead
  • 2006 - 28th July - 2nd August - Class Act 2006 - an exhibition of work by June and participants in her courses in 2005-2006 at Chequer Mead Community and Art Centre, East Grinstead and Little Common, near Bexhill, East Sussex
  • 2008 - 1st to 13th February - Hanging Together 6th exhibition at Chequer Mead Community Art Centre in East Grinstead
  • 2008 May 23rd for 1 week - Textile Adventures - an exhibition at the Arts Forum, St. Leonards on Sea with Tricia Neve and Pamela Sharpe.

Publications

Articles and photographs of work published in -

  • Fabrications,
  • Patchwork and Quilting Magazine,
  • Popular Patchwork,
  • The Independent Patchworker,
  • The Quilting Times (The Patchwork Association's publications) and
  • The Quilters' Guild of Great Britain's periodical - The Quilter,
  • Quiltmania (a French publication) and the Austrian Guild Publication.
  • "Meet the Quilter" series of Popular Patchwork - Feb 1999.
  • 2001/2002 article on Machine Quilting and co-wrote with Leslie Morgan on Stitching to Dye in the Embroidery magazine of the Embroiderers' Guild

Quilts, some with working instructions, featured in

  • Annette Claxton-  "Quick Quilts"
  • Janet B Elwin - "Ties, Ties, Ties"
  • Jenni Dobson - "The Reader's Digest Patchwork, Quilting and Appliqué".
  • Gul Laporte -  "Quilts from Europe"
  • Maggi McCormick Gordon - "The Quilter's Guide to Pictorial Quilts"
  • Anne Hulbert - "The Complete CRAZY PATCHWORK"
  • Sandra Meech – “Contemporary Quilts, Design, Surface and Stitch”
  •  Dorothy Osler - North Country Quilts: Legend and Living Tradition
  • Celia Eddy - The Quilted Planet

Self Published

  • March 1998 - Machine Quilting - Notes and answers to frequently asked questions - a 16-page booklet.
  • 1999 a series of Tip cards and another 16 page booklet - Hidden Depths - the low down on Battings performances with specialist consultant Sandie Lush.

New Publication 2008

Due August 2008 - Stitching to Dye in Quilt Art: Texture, Dimension and Distortion - published by Batsford

I will be launching my book at the Festival of Quilts, NEC Birmingham from August 14 to 17th. I will also be at The Knitting and Stitching Show, NEC Birmingham, from 11th - 14th September.

Main Index

F.A.Q.

Quilt Gallery

Quilting Publications

Quilting Links

Contact me

C. June Barnes
50 St. Helens Park Road
Hastings, East Sussex TN34 2DN
United Kingdom
email june#at#cjunebarnesdotcodotuk