Exhibitions / quilt galleries

CQ London is an exhibiting group. Below are galleries of recent exhibitions.

Free Hand 30th April – 11th May 2024

Contemporary Textiles London is delighted to announce their forthcoming exhibition: ‘Free Hand’. 

The exhibition will open on the 30th April and run until the 11th May 2024. It is not open on the Bank holiday. 

Opening hours:

  • Weekdays: 10.30am-8pm
  • Saturday: 10.30am-5pm
  • Sunday: 12pm-5pm

The title ‘Free Hand’ reflects the recent name change of the group from quilt to textiles, broadening the scope and literally allowing each member a freehand to produce a textile piece both enjoyable to produce and also celebrating their artistic skill, with some nod to their quilting roots. 

Separately the group produced the ‘blue’ display, a set of tightly defined pieces, of equal size and colour, providing a panel which is considerably greater than the sum of its parts. The two displays express clearly and graphically the ethos of CTL: the synergy of the blue pieces and the diversity of the Free hand works are the dual aspects of a group where mutual support and close working are rewarded, whilst individual expression is strongly encouraged. 

We very much look forward to welcoming visitors to our Free Hand exhibition.

Below is a link if you wish to download our leaflet about the textile exhibition.

https://ctlondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CTLFlyer-2024A5-for-website.pdf

Close to Home exhibition May/June 2022

This is the second exhibition that Contemporary Quilt London have held and the title was chosen to reflect the fact that the last two years have been an unprecedented time for all of us. As the pandemic eased and life slowly started to resume its usual pace members have been reflecting on their own experiences. The pieces produced for this exhibition were individual responses and reflections on this time when we were all required to stay at home.


A second body of work displayed was Crossing the Line. This challenge asked members to use three specific colours and a prescribed size to produce a piece with a distinct diagonal line through it.

The quilt galleries below display work from the two themes to the Capital Contrasts exhibition – London and Notan were shown at CQL’s first exhibition in 2019.

London gallery

The first theme London, could be interpreted as freely as the maker wished, the only constraint being the size – 40″x 18″ portrait format. 

Notan gallery

The second theme was Notan, the Japanese concept of balance and harmony using light and dark.  Here the quilts were sized 20″ x 20″ using just black and white fabrics with the design decisions left entirely to the maker.

As well as in London the exhibitions was shown in Dublin at Simmonscourt RDS  and at the Harrogate Convention Centre at the end of November 2019. 

Sabi Westoby