What do textiles mean to you?

It strikes me every so often why I am so drawn to textiles. Whenever I get a bit lost and don't know what I'm doing or where my next project lies I ponder over what textiles means to me. When I ask myself this question it reminds me just how powerful fabric is. From the moment we are born to the day we die we are surrounded by textiles. It is this that makes me wonder why it is that in recent years many people hold so little value in the textiles they buy. I like to think of something having a past life, I love the idea of a hand-me-down quilt or a vintage dress, all the people that have used it, worn it, worked on it. For me fabric naturally has a narrative. I remember as a child carrying around a blanket til it slowly deteriorated and eventually fell apart. I was heartbroken, it shared everything with me. It just seems to me that there is something so beautifully nostalgic about textiles, from the love and care that goes into their making to the stories that they encounter along their lives.