Lutradur Forest Workshop…..

November 3, 2018 / Karen Lane / 8 Comments

Day two of the Lutradur Forest Workshop saw the ladies layering and stitching their Forest designs to their base fabric.

As often happens in a workshop, although all of the ladies worked constantly over the two day’s and the quilts are looking terrific, everyone has some finishing off to do at home.

Clare is adding clumps of bluebells to her Forest floor, hand embroidering them with Colonial knots

Janet’s design featured trees in leaf as well as these wonderful old gnarly tree stumps

Sue created lots of depth with her shading

Clair based her design on a photo she took while visiting a Canadian lake in the Fall

Janice is making lots of individual leaves which will be added to the foreground on the right of her design

Patricia has created a very strong contrast with her dark foreground tree and the lighter grey trunks in the background

Lyn will add stitched detail the her ferns to create interest in the foreground

Thanks to Nicola at the Simply Stitch Studio for being a wonderful host and to all the ladies for their enthusiasm and hard work. I will look forward to receiving photos of your finished quilts.

Lutradur Forest Workshop….

November 1, 2018November 3, 2018 / Karen Lane / 12 Comments

Walk in the Forest

Today was day one of a two-day Lutradur Forest Workshop at the Simply Stitch Studio, Wetherby. Using my “Walk in the Forest” design as a starting point, eight ladies have begun the day designing their own “Forest” art quilt which will consist of several layers of Lutradur fabric. Today the Lutradur has been cut out and painted and tomorrow we will begin layering and stitching the fabric in place. As you can see from the photos not only is each design unique but also each student is displaying a distinct style of their own.

The ladies start by drawing out their design ideas on paper

The Lutradur is cut out and painted

Cutting out foliage using a soldering iron

This is where we are at the end of day one…..

Tomorrow we will bring all the main elements together and stitch them in place before adding any foreground detail and hand stitching. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these pieces develop!

The Big Textile Show 2018…..

October 18, 2018October 18, 2018 / Karen Lane / 14 Comments

Nuno Necklets made with Superfine Merino and Silk fabrics

I’m looking forward to exhibiting again at The Big Textile Show at the end of this month. It’s being held on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October. Last year was my first time as an exhibitor. I just loved meeting the visitors and discussing my work as well as getting to see and hear about everyone else’s creations…….fingers crossed it’s as much fun this year!

I’ve been busy making a selection of Nuno Necklets for my stall. These are extremely lightweight as they are made from Superfine Merino and silk fabrics. I hope my visitors like them as much as I do!

For more information about the The Big Textile Show visit www.thebigtextileshow.co.uk

Nuno Felted Collar Workshop…..

September 7, 2018 / Karen Lane / 12 Comments

Last week saw eight members of the Belchford Felting Group come together for a Nuno Felted Collar Workshop.

Using the “tile” technique we combined superfine Merino fibre with silk fabrics, most of which were bought from local charity shops. All of our collars were backed with Uzbek silk for a wonderful, soft feel against the skin.

Jacky has her tiles laid out…..

…..and after Felting.

Margaret working with beautiful, bright colours…..

……and working on the other side

Alison chose a warm, Autumnal colour palette…..

…..and Alison’s finished collar

A close up of the beautiful Indian Silks

Robyn’s Collar is ready for fulling…..

…..and the finished collar looks great!

A close up of Carols work

This one is Sheila’s

Close up of Yvonne’s Collar

Val’s finished collar

Everyone did a terrific job and took home something that’s not only unique and beautiful but very practical too!

Abstraction…..

August 18, 2018 / Karen Lane / 10 Comments

Abstraction – 27cm x 14.5cm Mixed Media

This is Abstraction, the finished Mixed Media piece I’ve been working on for the past week. The theme was set by the textile group Jeudis and my interpretation is purely non-representational.

The shapes, formed by laying out and felting the Merino fibres, fabrics and silks, have been traced with free motion stitching which in turn has produced ridges and valleys, adding to the overall textural effect.

For now it’s got pride of place hanging in the lounge in a simple, flat profile black frame…..

Tyvek Seed Pod…..

August 7, 2018August 8, 2018 / Karen Lane / 9 Comments

I developed a ganglion on my right hand as a result of making the bird mask last week. It’s giving me some gip so I’m resting the hand for a while and doing a few pieces that don’t require a strong grip. Yesterday it was a Tyvek Seed Pod incorporating sari silks and acrylic paint…..

Today I made a start on a mixed Media piece with the theme “Abstraction” which was set by the textile group Jeudis which I became a member of a couple of months ago. I’m combining free motion stitch with painted Lutradur and wet Felted Merino, for now it’s work in progress…..

Abstraction

Bird Mask Workshop…..

August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 / Karen Lane / 17 Comments

Bird Mask Workshop with Gladys Paulus

Last week I attended a wonderful four-day Bird Mask Workshop with Internally renowned feltmaker Gladys Paulus at Big Cat Textiles in Newburgh near Perth.

Gladys has been high on my list of tutors I’ve wanted to work ever since I started felting. Her three-dimensional work is exceptional and she is such a warm and generous tutor.

The first layer of fibres are laid down around a resist in the shape of a birds head.

Layer one of my bird mask

I chose to make my mask using Bergschaf fibres and originally he was going to be a red kite……I soon realised I wasn’t going to achieve that aim in the time we had so he morphed into a generic bird of prey! Apologies for the fuzzy images but with a four-day schedule time was always going to be tight so photography wasn’t high on my list of priorities!

Sandra making her Blue Jay

Diana working on her Cockatoo

Caroline shaping her mask

Liz was always one step ahead of the group!

Sharnie working on her Lapwing

We all learnt such a lot in the four days and everyone came away excited and very pleased with their finished piece of work…..

A gaggle of bird masks!

My bird of prey mask

Thanks to Gladys for an inspirational workshop and many thanks to Alison and Netty at Big Cat Textiles for looking after us and being such wonderful hosts!

Mixed Media Necklace…..

July 19, 2018 / Karen Lane / 13 Comments

This week I came across a fabulous Mixed Media Necklace tutorial by Australian feltmaker Wendy Bailye in Felt magazine.

I love “statement” jewellery so couldn’t resist having a go at this project. I’ve used a combination of Merino and Bergschaf fibres with found items, perle thread and black annealed wire.

This one is an Autumn themed choker necklace combining one of my Lutradur leaves with Merino fibres…..

Escape…..

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018 / Karen Lane / 15 Comments

My latest art quilt has been made in response to the Cranwell Contemporary Group challenge titled Escape. When the theme was announced my first thought was of “escaping” to the Scottish Highlands……this area has to be my absolute favourite away from it all destination in the UK.

Escape

I worked from memory, rather than looking back at photographs, as I wanted this piece to suggest a mood and a feeling of being in this area and not a specific, identifiable place. The colours are very neutral and muted, built up using Inktense paint, layered fabrics, Mulberry bark and silk cocoon strippings to create a textural surface. The finished quilt is 28” wide x 40” high.

The Final Show and Tell…..

July 1, 2018July 2, 2018 / Karen Lane / 10 Comments

My first stint at tutoring a residential weekend came to a close this afternoon with the final show and tell at Cober Hill. It’s been a terrific three days spent with the 18 creative ladies from the East Yorkshire Embroidery group. They don’t shy away from putting in the hours and the effort to learn a new skill but at the same time they certainly know how to enjoy themselves! We’ve had lots of chat, lots of laughs and the ladies have produced lots of wonderful work. It’s worth remembering that for many this was their first attempt at feltmaking……..