Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way was established in 2016 by Sheelagh Boyce and Annabelle Harty. Whilst taking inspiration from traditional American and Japanese quilt making, Boyce and Harty’s work is largely informed by the landscape and the built environment they travel in and through; and their shared knowledge of architecture, art, food and fashion.
The pieces of fabric they assemble to create their quilts are collected from family and friends. Discarded shirts, blouses, trousers and shirts – from cotton kimonos worn by Harty’s father to ancient Plantation shirts designed by Issey Miyake and worn by successive generations – are gathered together and carefully unpicked and deconstructed. Evidence of lived-in wear is clearly visible and cherished: frayed collars, worn elbows and darker patches, unbleached by light, where once there were pockets.
Once they have gathered each slither and swathe of fabric, Boyce and Harty arrange the flattened pieces, configuring and re-configuring to create a new material landscape. Each quilt is entirely hand-stitched, the stitching itself being a key physical act that gives ‘form’ to the ‘landscape’ of the quilt. It may be a landscape inspired by the architecture of say the Barbican by architects Chamberlin Powell and Bon’s Barbican or lichen on a stone wall in the countryside.
Annabelle Harty lives and works in London and Wiltshire. She studied Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow. After graduating Harty worked for 5 years with Benson + Forsyth on the new wing of the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. She is a model maker and crafts person and in 2002 formed Henderson Press, a publishing business making artists’ books. She established Harty and Harty Architects in 1997 with her partner, Stephen Harty, where she still practices.
Sheelagh Boyce lives and works in Glasgow. She studied quilting with the master sewer, Patricia Macindoe in Glasgow from 2013 – 2016 before establishing Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way with Annabelle Harty. She has travelled extensively in Europe and her interests span architecture, art and design.
