The African Connection Magie’s Magic Touch with African Fabrics

by Magie Relph
published: 19/02/2001
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After her travels in Africa, MAGIE RELPH has settled in Yorkshire but the African influence remains strong. These days, she’s a very busy person as well as working at Huddersfield University, running her on-line shop (see below), trading her fabrics at quilt shows, giving talks and editing the Newsletter of Region 14 of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles (the snappily-named Fat Quarter!), she’s recently taken over as Curator of The Guild’s 90s Collection of contemporary quilts. Oh, yes, and she also makes the most amazingly vibrant quilt art which both capture the intensity of her African experience and are an inspiring showcase for her fabrics. She explains:

Ever since I started dressmaking I've been inclined towards patchwork. As a little girl I used my mother's dressmaking scraps to make clothes for my dolls. Soon I was making my own clothes and, like other dressmakers, I hoarded my scraps. Over the years I made a few cushions - roughly patching squares or crazy piecing shapes together.
Celia Eddy

When I started travelling abroad my interest in patchwork really started to evolve. It took off completely when I got to Africa. The markets, the fabrics, the colours, the patterns. I was falling in love every day! (I also met and fell in love with my husband during this period).

I started to buy and use these fabrics, working by hand to make up blocks as I travelled. But there was a problem. The fabrics were nearly always sold in 6-yard lengths. This is the amount needed to make a ladies outfit - 2 yards for the wraparound skirt, 2 yards for the shawl or baby carrier, and 2 yards for the topknot.

After I returned from my travels in Africa I discovered that I had over 50 metres of African fabric waiting to be used! Plus the blocks I'd made whilst traveling. I turned the blocks into my first big quilt - African Calliope. Slowly I used the fabric in various ways - shirts, tablecloths, and more patchwork projects. And of course, I kept all of the scraps. Some of my original stash remains untouched to this day. I just don't have the heart to cut them up!

By this time I was fascinated by these fabrics - better known as African wax prints. I began to learn as much as I could about them - their history and the way they are printed. I was also getting to the point where I needed more fabrics. How was I going to get the range of fabrics I needed without spending a fortune?

The answer came when my quilting group asked me to talk about my experiences in Africa and bring along my fabric collection for everyone to see and admire. I had a few pieces I was prepared to sell and thought I'd see what reaction I got. My husband came along to help and he came away reeling after experiencing quilters on a shopping spree. We had sold out!

With the money from that I took a train to Brixton and bought more fabrics. What I didn't keep for myself, I cut into Fat Quarters and The African Fabric Shop was born.

The shop isn't a big business. It all fits into a suitcase! It's just something I do to keep me in a constant supply of African fabrics. And it lets me share the pleasure I get from using them with others. To visit my shop on the web go to www.africanfabric.co.uk. You can browse around to see the fabrics that I currently have in stock, as well as see more of the pieces I have made using this unique fabric.

African Calliope, (87"x 81") 1988-1990

The blocks were hand pieced whilst traveling through Africa, all the fabrics were collected along the way. The patterns were made up as I went along. The blocks represent different countries by the fabrics used, except the Africa block. The quilt was put together in Toronto (in my sister-in-law’ basement where we were living at the time!) The border & sashing fabrics are from Zaire. There is little quilting, just enough to keep it together! I only had a general knowledge of patchwork and knew absolutely nothing about quilting at the time.

African Scrapbook, (86"x86") 1998 Size 87"x 81" 1988-1990

Made using the final leftovers of scraps from my travels. A simple four patch to show off the fabrics. I spent a bit more time on the quilting on this one, though it is still pretty straightforward stuff. I think if I was starting this quilt again I would probably have dyed my own fabrics for the sashing & borders, at least the green. Looking at it now I feel it is a little dull against the African prints.

© Magie Relph