The Textile Detective

An ever-attentive reader and corresponder-in-chief has suggested a new topic for the blog - The Textile Detective!

Ms You-Know-Who-You-Are's suggestion is timely. As I am going through the collection pieces which look like they have fascinating histories and stories to tell are showing themselves. Some I know about - Liberty of London prints, or South African woolwork - but some are not familiar and, of course, we all want to know more. 

This is where you, gentle readers, come in. Are you able (and willing) to help us in our search for knowledge? What I plan to do is post a picture every so often and ask if anyone knows anything about the piece. Stories related to similar pieces, or background, or a recollection about seeing something somewhere in an exhibition... all of these will help us to piece together the stories behind the fabrics, costume and textiles that we love. We will be able to share those stories when the pieces are exhibited in the studio. 

The first piece I want to know more about may already be familiar to you because it has been on the blog recently. A few weeks ago I bought, at auction, a quilt made by Lara Carter (pictured as a whole piece and with detail). I have done a little research and seen that the Constance Howard collection in London's Goldsmith's College has another piece by Lara, who graduated with a BA in Textiles in 1988, but I cannot find any more about the artist. Can anyone help?