These two patchwork pieces use stripes in very different ways but both achieve a three dimensional effect that pulls me in wanting to take them apart to see how they work.

I saw the first one at the exhibition of textile art in Margate in January. It is by an artist more usually associated with gigantic metal spiders. It is called Untitled 2005 by Louise Bourgeois. I had not expected to see her name associated with textile pieces but in fact she used a wide range of materials and techniques for a large number of textile pieces.

The second quilt is part of the current exhibition in Mottisfont of works by the American textile artist Kaffee Fassett. Again, he uses many different techniques, from embroidery to knitting to quilting, but his work is cheerful albeit traditional compared with Bourgeois, who is more daring and inventive.