Stirling Castle, located northeast of Glasgow, sits atop a crag surrounded on three sides by cliff faces. It is nearly impregnable, and as such, has been the site of many a battle. Seen as the gateway to the Scottish Highlands, whoever held the castle, controlled the Highlands. A tactical advantage.
It was here in 1314, that the Battle of Bannockburn took place. The Scots, led by Robert the Bruce met the English Army of Edward II, and won independence for Scotland. All under the watchful eye of magnificent Stirling Castle.
For me, for my family, it was personal and I needed to acknowledge this. From a quilter’s point of view there is a lovely balance of elements.
Oddly enough, this quilt was dependent on whether the garret windows of the top attics could be ‘translated’ into fabric. Or would the castle details simply be too small to render into a quilt.
Three elements; the sky, the castle, and the grounds. Except for those windows, it should be fairly doable. The first step was to pick a season, a time of year in which to situate the castle. There is a lot of sameness to the surrounding greenery and rock, so autumn seemed a good choice. This would add some diversity of colour, and balance out the grey stone presentation of the castle and brown rock cliffs.
The Battle of Bannockburn took place here, at the foot of the castle. In light of its historical significance, it was important to acknowledge this in some way. And so, I chose to ‘fracture’ the landscape; symbolically reflecting the chaos and confusion of the battle. Stirling Castle overlooking the battlefield as a sentinel, would present as one whole piece.
First step is to sketch out the quilt. The Castle features as the centerpiece, sitting majestically on its hilltop. The surrounding landscape is sketched out in support.
The Castle is one piece; and the rest of the landscape gets ‘fractured’. These ‘fracture’ lines, as seen below, are drawn to focus attention on the castle. Keeping in mind, that the eye is naturally drawn to light, the fabrics for each fracture are chosen accordingly.
The configuration of fracture lines will guide the eye upwards towards the main centerpiece, i.e., Stirling itself. Fracturing the quilt also gives depth to what otherwise would be a flat, one-dimensional landscape. Thus allowing the scene to breath and come ‘alive’. One can more vividly imagine the bewildering chaos of battle amidst all these fractured pieces. This gives added meaning to the piece, because there are multiple layers being incorporated, beyond a simple landscape.
The castle itself is traced onto stabilizer. Sort of like wax paper, only sticky. The fabrics are chosen, and then cut into the various shapes and sizes needed. They are then stitched into place using monofilament thread. This is clear, and can’t be seen. It’s like sewing with really thin fishing line.
Doesn’t look like much yet… but slowly it is coming together and beginning to resemble something. With any luck it will be a castle!
Those garret windows are smaller than the size of the nail on my little finger.
Because there are so many separate pieces, they are sewn onto a base of muslin fabric. The first piece added is the sky. This is an ombre material which starts with a dark blue hue, gradually making its way to light, and then reverting back to the darker colour. It gives a sense of movement, as skies are not static but alive. The castle piece is now put into place, and we have a focal point from which to continue.
Now for piecing the fractures! It’s nice to get into some colour after all those greys.
Bannockburn was fought below the castle. The ‘fracturing’ of this section of the quilt makes for an interesting ‘metaphor’ on the chaos and misdirection which defined the battle.
It’s energizing to be working with colour! The greys and browns were beginning to feel a bit stale. And colour is very welcome at this point in the making. The individual fractures are cut apart, traced onto the appropriate fabrics, and then put back together again for stitching. It resembles nothing so much as a gigantic jigsaw puzzle!
Trees and fields are taking shape, and the quilt is actually beginning to look like something! Stirling is no longer sitting out there in thin air.
The stone wall at the foot of the castle becomes really important. It serves as a focal point – your eye is naturally drawn here, the better to differentiate between cliff-side trees and the fields below.
In piecing all this back together, it was vital to line up that wall straight across the various fractures. It makes the scene less confusing, and provides a ‘constant’ (or compass if you will) which helps the eye make more sense of the landscape as a whole.
Altho, working in small individual pieces – one must also, and always, have a mind to the end game… what will this look like when it is completed, and will it still make sense? So, you are working on multi-levels at the same time throughout the process from start to finish.
Simultaneously – one is also projecting what the top-stitching will need to be, as this is what will give the scenery and quilt presentation, continuity. The top-stitching serves to re-align the different fractures back into sync with each other… forming it into one whole piece again; over and above the individual fractures. Make sense? Yes – no? Wait and see..
Seventeen fractures total…all pinned into place. The trick is to stitch them back together, and fingers crossed… hope it still makes sense. Up til this point, the quilt has merely been an idea/thought inside my head. This is where you find out whether what you ‘see’ in your mind’s eye will make sense in reality, and look the same to others as it does to you, in your mind.
Sometimes it works…and other times… it’s back to the drawing board.
A closer look, and you can see how important it was for that stone wall to align across the individual fractures. You can also see the difference the various landscaped fabrics make – trees are looking more like trees/branches and bushes rather than simply ‘puff-balls’. And the field looks like – well, a field… with grass, tufts of scrub, and reeds and such. It better ‘mirror’s nature, over and above my elementary sketching, lol!!!
The quilt has now been sandwiched with batting and backing. It’s ready for the actual quilting. And… a little thread-painting. The quilting, in the form of a machine based satin stitch, ties the seventeen separate fractures together with stitching that goes right across each individual piece, to make for one whole and complete picture.
And the thread-painting gives a little definition to the various trees, bushes, etc., allowing for the impression of actual leaves and limbs.
Foliage fabrics, along with some free-form quilting, add further shape and detail. No chance of them being taken for puff balls now.
We need to ‘frame’ the quilt. I chose a fabric depicting various rocks and pebbles. This picked up on the stone wall at the foot of the cliff… and by emphasizing it, offered a little continuity. You don’t want too many different elements. It gets confusing to look at, and the eye misses the message you are striving to attain.
Framing the quilt can make a big difference. It also offers a foundation upon which to base the borders.
Back in the beginning I said this quilt was personal and here’s where that comes in. My grandfather served with the Black Watch, later transferring to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as a Sergeant Major, joining with his brother who was my great-uncle. Yet another uncle was with the Royal Scots Fusiliers. And all these regiments were headquartered at Stirling Castle. Therefore, it seemed only natural to border the quilt with their respective, regimental tartans.
Once the quilt is framed with a stone/pebbled fabric, futher borders can be added.
The first is the regimental tartan of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Its predominant colour is green, which fits in well with the scenery surrounding the landscape.
Back-to-back, the tartans would clash, unable to stand on their own. So a thin border of solid green was added, helping to anchor the second tartan. The regimental of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders picks up some green off the first tartan, yet has blue as its predominate colour. The solid fabrics in between allow the various tartans to blend in with each other, even as they shine bright in their own right. And the thin strip of solid blue segues nicely into the darker blues and black which define the final border – that of the famous Black Watch.
The Scottish Salter shines down upon Stirling from the upper left corner,
And a Scottish thistle can be found embedded in the battlefield below.
The fractures have given the quilt a sense of movement and depth. You can more readily imagine the fierce battle being fought, as two armies clashed, each struggling to overcome the other… for the stakes were high.
And so… Stirling Rises!
To the Memory of
My grandfather, James Beck Arbuckle…
Great-uncles
John Beck Arbuckle
and William Wilson Arbuckle
(my father’s namesake)
Who fought with the Black Watch,
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,
And Royal Scots Fusiliers,
Head-quartered at Stirling Castle
May they rest in peace,
having served their country with distinction.
With thanks to my cousin
Allan Arbuckle,
genealogist extraordinaire,
who titled the quilt so appropriately.