Two weeks ago I was at the Old Barn Hotel, Grantham as guest tutor for the Lincolnshire Textiles Autumn School. The group had invited me to teach my Tall Trees mixed media workshop for fifteen students.

Our class began on the Friday evening after checking in and enjoying a delicious three course meal. The ladies had been asked to bring a photo, sketch or idea for the piece of work they would be making based on a tree/forest theme. I talked through the various materials I like to work with including Lutradur, Tyvek, wallpaper, organza and interfacing. The group were shown examples of how I’ve used these materials in my work and also how previous students have interpreted this workshop.

During the course of the evening ideas were explored, designs drawn up and our base fabrics painted.

The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the group were back to work— painting, auditioning different fabrics and papers, machine and hand stitching and burning. I had a terrific group of highly motivated ladies to work with and it was wonderful how they embraced using materials and methods they wouldn’t normally have used. Some of the more traditional members of the group admitted to feeling a little out of their comfort zone at the start but a bit of gentle coaxing and encouragement “to play” seemed to do the job and very soon all appeared to be having fun!

The group coordinator, Janet Taylor, did a great job of organising the weekend and was very kind when she said “Karen did a wonderful job of motivating everyone and worked hard all weekend. We learned so much, and the group was supportive and helpful throughout. It was such a treat to focus entirely on stitching and creativity, without the usual distractions. The weekend was intense but immensely rewarding, made even better by the company of friendly, like- minded people.”

The weekend flew by and although there was still work to done when these photos were taken you can see how good the pieces are looking! The group has its next meeting on Saturday and I’m looking forward to seeing many of these finished.

Another recent event was the 2024 Big Textile Show at Leicester Racecourse last weekend. The BTS is always a great show and this year was no exception.

My first customer was the lovely Kate from the Lutterworth Stitchers who purchased my multicoloured Collar. Kates a regular visitor to my stall and looks terrific in whatever she chooses to wear as you can see by these images from previous years!

I took a few other new Collars with me including these two in blue and one in dark grey/neutral tones.

My latest distraction is Tyvek Earrings! A few weeks ago I ran a Tyvek workshop for the Louth Textile group and created a pair of earrings as one of my workshop samples. They proved popular with the group so I made several more pairs for the show. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph them all before the opening but these are what came home with me and are now in my SHOP. I’ve never been a fan of smooth Tyvek beads but I love them with the added textures. It’s quite a challenge making these and absolutely impossible to get an exact match but I quite like that as it adds to their uniqueness!

I also made a new batch of gold and silver Tyvek Brooches. I like to mix textures and so these often feature on my felted scarves and collars. These three came home with me so are also in my SHOP along with some new wet felted Brooches.

A few days before the show I started to rework a piece I’ve had hanging in my hallway for several years. It’s been hanging on display behind glass, I don’t know why I originally did that as I’ve always preferred to see textile pieces unglazed. Anyway I recently removed the glass which instantly improved the look but then decided to give it a revamp with added textures, more FM stitch and stronger colours. I’m thinking peeling paint on rusty metal and I’m liking where it’s going but it’s not finished yet so I had it displayed on my stand as “work in progress”!

I’ve detailed a few more events that have happened over the past few months over on the Felting and Fibre Studio which can be found here.

With only three more workshops before Christmas things are starting to quieten down so time to think about new projects and ideas for 2025.