I’ve just been informed that we still have spaces left on my Needle Felted Mushroom Workshop which will be held in Alford on the 9th February. This workshop is suitable for absolute beginners as well as those who have experience of felting. If you would like to book please contact the Alford Craft Market via their website http://www.alfordcraftmarket.co.uk or call Lynne on 01507 463341.
December went by in a bit of blur, as I’m sure it did for lots of folk, but with the festivities now over and life back to normal I’ve time to catch up and record whats been happening creatively over the past month.
December got off to a festive start with seven ladies taking part in my Felted Fairy Workshop at the Alford Craft Studio. We began by wet felting the head, arms and body.
Once these were dry Boucle yarn was added for hair and this was dressed with a seed bead tiara.
Finally the fairies were given a needle felted bouquet to hold. They all worked out beautifully and one of the ladies has since been in touch to say she went on to make another six for friends to put on their Christmas Trees!
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The second week in December saw me holding a textile workshop in Langton by Spilsby for members of The Spirit of Sutterby group. The group consists of approx 70 Members (if I remember right!) and has formed with the goal to explore the village of Sutterby, research its past, record its present and help with its future.
This was a great opportunity for me to get involved in a local collaborative project and hopefully my workshop provided some inspiration and guidance to help move the textile side of their project forward.
The group was keen to try out techniques they hadn’t used before and had fun with the heat tool and soldering iron, distressing polyester fabrics, Lutradur and Tyvek as well as painting and layering their fabrics.
It was a busy day and although no one got their piece finished I was assured they had a great time and were taking away lots of new ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing how these translate to the Textile Landscape they will produce for the Sutterby project.
It’s been a terrific two days at Simply Stitch and I’ve been blown away by the standard of work that the ladies have produced!
We were joined on day two by a new lady, Jen – the pressure was on for her to catch up with what she missed on Wednesday and she did a great job of it!
Here are a few more “work in progress” photos featuring Ruth, Janet, Jen and Carole…..
and the fabulous finished (or almost!) pieces…..
Once again, thank you to Nicola for inviting me back to Simply Stitch and being such a great host! Also a huge thank you to all the ladies who took part in the workshop for their enthusiasm and hard work over the two days. It will be great to see you all again at our next class in the New Year.
It’s a hive of activity at Simply Stitch in Wetherby this morning…..the snow is falling fast outside so the ladies are stitching like fury in order to finish their quilts before we get snowed in!
We had a very intense day today at the Alford Craft Studio with seven ladies learning new techniques and using them to create a mini art quilt. I based the workshop on my Three Tall Trees design but participants were encouraged to use their own creativity to make their quilt their own.
Two of the ladies created beautiful pieces with their own designs while the other five chose to stick more to the original but, as you will see from the photos, each one has its own distinct style and beauty.
Katie is basing her design on a photo taken in Italy
Alison working on her trees
Kate has the background trees stitched
Rose’s quilt
Kate’s quilt
Sheila’s quilt
Annie’s quilt
Alison’s quilt
Katie’s quilt
Jean’s quilt
Everyone worked really hard throughout the day and produced some terrific work but, with so much to fit into the workshop, none of the pieces are quite finished……I will post updates as and when I receive images of the completed quilts.
On 3rd November, at the Alford Craft Market Studio, I will be running a workshop using the techniques and materials which went into making my Three Tall Trees art quilt. This will be a one day workshop so in order to get the piece finished (or as near as possible) we will be making a mini version.
To create a beautiful forest scene we will be painting, layering and hand/machine embroidering. For the foreground trees students can choose to work entirely on their own design or I can provide templates. This workshop is suitable for all abilities including those who have not yet tried free machine embroidery.
I will provide all fabrics but students will need to bring: Colouring medium i.e. fabric paint, Inktense blocks or acrylic paint plus brushes. Sewing machine with a normal foot and free machine foot. Basic sewing kit. Selection of different coloured machine threads including black, grey, cream and greens.
The studio in Alford is small so workshop numbers are limited. This makes for a lovely friendly atmosphere and means I get to spend more time with each participant.
For more information on classes at Alford, or to book a place, please see their website http://www.alfordcraftmarket.co.uk/alford-craft-market-centre.html or call Lynne on 01507 463341
I had a great time yesterday with the Waltham Textile Group ladies who meet once a month at Waltham, on the outskirts of Grimsby. It’s a lovely friendly group and workshops here are always a pleasure to do. I was invited over this time to run a wet felting workshop with the aim of producing a flower meadow type picture. One or two of the ladies had previously done a little wet or needle felting but for the majority this would be their first experience of felting. I had intended that we work small and simple to get the pieces almost, if not completely, finished before we went home………no chance!! These ladies know what they want to do and they are all very experienced when it comes to sewing so they decided to concentrate on the felting and the majority of the sewing will get finished at home.
By the end of the session there was some wonderful felt created, I am hoping to get back over to their November meeting when I can photograph the finished work and post an update. In the meantime here are photos from the workshop…..
Waltham Textile Group
Aileen & Anita chose to do a Flower Meadow
Carole based her design on a section of her garden
Kate’s design was inspired by her garden
Margaret went completely “off piste” and created a sea scape
Anita adding hand stitching to her meadow
Jacky adding free machine stitching to her design inspired by the work of Moy Mackay
Aileen adds detail with machine stitching
Brenda chose to make several pieces of flat felt to cut and stitch at a later date
Final show and tell…..lots more stitching to be done so I will post an update next month
Thanks go to Jacky for inviting me over and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
When I’m teaching workshops I get a lot of satisfaction from motivating students and from seeing their finished work, but not everyone gets to finish their project in class. So I get particularly excited when someone takes the time to photograph their finished piece and email it to me. This week I’ve recieved images of Jane and Pams Tyvek Leaves, beautifully executed and framed, which they created at the workshop in Billinghay last week.
Also Deborah sent me this photo of her wonderful Bergschaf wall hanging which was made at the workshop in East Keswick earlier this month.
Yellow Poppies wet felted wall hanging
Earlier this week I travelled up to East Keswick, a small village just a few miles from Wetherby, to deliver the first of a two-day Yellow Poppies Workshop for Nicola Hulme at Simply Stitch.
Nicola with a selection of her work on the wall and my work on the table
14 ladies attended the workshop, some had previous experience of felting while for others it was to be their first time. 
Once the basic techniques had been explained students were given the option to recreate my design or to develop their own and it was good to see some of the ladies working on their own designs and alternative colour schemes.
The time flew by, it was a lovely day with good company and Simply Stitch proved to be a hidden gem! The beautiful studio is large, bright and very well equipped. There is a fantastic choice of classes and courses run by Nicola Hulme, including patchwork, machine sewing, purses & bag making, hand embroidery and much more! The studio also hosts regular visits from well known specialist tutors in a variety of subjects. On sale are up to the minute patchwork fabrics and all the other essentials such as threads, wadding, notions, etc.
Simply Stitch studio
Nicola was a terrific host and ensured that the tea, coffee, biscuits and cake kept flowing! Watch this space for photos from next weeks workshop including images of the finished wall hangings.
Find out more about Simply Stitch visit www.simplystitch.co.uk
Lincs In Stitches 