Today I was invited down to North Kilworth, Leicestershire to work with fourteen ladies from the textile group “Textend”. We spent the day painting fabric, layering with sheers and tulle and stitching to create our tree themed landscapes. Some ladies worked from imagination while others took inspiration from photos or cards. Although there is still work to be done, as you can see, the pieces are looking great. Many thanks to Ruth for inviting me and look forward to seeing some of you again next week.
Textile art
Jeudis at Manchester…..
Yesterday I travelled over to Manchester’s EventCity with fellow Jeudis member Christine Plummer for a day of stewarding at the Creative Craft Show.
We were there as members of the mixed media textile group Jeudis, to promote our group and our most recent body of work on the theme of Abstraction. The work is very varied and include 2D and 3D pieces, wet felting, quilting, collage, hand stitching, machine stitching, etc, etc. My main piece was inspired by rockpools and made with wet felted Bergschaf fibres, found shells and pebbles, hand and machine embellished.
Rockpool on display at EventCity, Manchester
I took this theme further, making several items of felted jewellery for the sales table, and was delighted with the response these brought. The rock pool bracelets were particularly popular and the grey necklet found a new home with a lady who looked absolutely stunning in it!
Rockpool Brooches
Rockpool brooches made from Bergschaf fibres
Rockpool inspired Necklet
The following photos show more of the groups work…..
…..by Gill Green
Close up detail of Gill Greens bowl
…..by Jean Baker
…..by Sue Lewis
…..by Cathy Ball
…..by Linda Settle
…..by Elaine Winterton & Sue Lewis
…..by Christine Plummer
…..by Hazel Brewer
Our next Exhibition will be at Birmingham NEC and I will confirm dates nearer the time.
Abstraction…..
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…..
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
Forest Floor…..
I’m currently working on samples for a heat manipulative mixed media workshop with the theme “Forest Floor”. This is the first sample in the series in which I’ve used painted and heat distressed Tyvek and Lutradur, combined with natural tree bark, a leaf and hand embroidery.
The first of the workshops will be held at Simply Stitch, East Keswick on April 7th & 8th. On day one we will be painting on, and experimenting with, various heat manipulative materials. Using an iron, soldering iron and heat tool we will be working with Tyvek paper and fabric, various weights of Lutradur and polyester. There will be the opportunity to include hand and machine stitching in your work.
On day two we will use the samples we have made, or create new ones, adding stitching and found objects to build up a layered, highly textured piece of work inspired by the “Forest Floor”. For more info or to book a place contact Nicola on 07969 578289 or email nicola@simplystitch.co.uk
Autumn Leaf skeleton made from Lutradur
On April 25th I will be running a one day “Forest Floor” workshop at All Sewn Up by Debs in Horncastle. For this session we will be using the iron, soldering iron and heat tool to manipulate Tyvek paper and lightweight Lutradur. Once they’ve been distressed these materials will be combined with natural tree bark and hand stitching to create our beautiful, layered Forest Floor. This class is suitable for all abilities and is a great introduction to working with Lutradur and Tyvek. For more information or to book a place call Debs on 01507 524566.
Time To Catch Up…..
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.
Tall Trees – The Finished Work…..
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.
Inspired by Sir Isaac Newton…..
One of the textile groups I belong to is LINQS (Lincolnshire Quilters) and each year we respond to a challenge to make an art quilt based on the life or works of a particular person. Our latest challenge was inspired by Sir Isaac Newton and the work will be on display over the coming bank holiday weekend at Waltham Windmill. The exhibition is free and we will be having a sales table and demonstration area. There will be lots of other things going on at the working Mill with shops, cafes, picnic area, miniature train rides and a model engineers marquee, etc so a great venue for a family day out!
The exhibition is open from 10am – 4 pm on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Here are just a few examples of what we have on show…..
Gravitree by Jean Proud
Inspired by the life and work of Sir Isaac Newton by Karen Lane
The Mind of a Genius by Mary Jackson
Woolsthorpe Manor by Pat Cave
A Sea of Stitches…..
I’ve done it again….too engrossed in “doing stuff”to remember to log my recent activities so here we go with a catch up of my creative adventures in the Scottish Highlands, early June.
I had booked a place on Jan Kilpatrick’s textile workshop, A Sea of Stitches, which would take place in her studio in Elphin. I took a leisurely drive up, stopping the first night near Loch Lomond and the second in Drumnadrochit on the banks of Loch Ness.
On the third day I reached my base for the five day workshop, the Eileen Donan guest house in Ullapool. The B&B was lovely and the town itself turned out to be very unspoilt, quiet and peaceful. For the first two days I was there it was also very grey, wet and chilly but that did nothing to dampen our spirits.
The following day at 10am I met Jan and the 6 other participants in a park down by the beach. After introductions and a brief overview of the workshop Jan sent us off to make personal records of the images, colours, textures and patterns from Ullapool’s beach and harbour and from the open and sweeping pebble beach at neighbouring Ardmair.
After about an hour of beach combing in torrential rain we moved up to Ardmair Beach, still pouring with rain, where Jan greeted us dispensing much appreciated flasks of hot drinks and home-made cake from the boot of her car. I had to stick to using my camera as, by this time, my hands were so cold I couldn’t grip to use my pencil!
This image will become a textile piece when I get the time!
I just love the varying shades of grey…..
The rest of the week just flew by. Each day we began a new piece of work, inspired by our research on day one, using a different method of mark making on fabric. This included painting, dyeing, burning, hand and machine stitching.
The outdoor “messy” area
Some of Jan’s work on display
By the end of the five days we had all amassed 100’s of photographs, a stack of small coloured fabrics and a head full of ideas for future projects.
Show & Tell…..Jess
Show & Tell…..Anne
Show & Tell…..Carola
Show & Tell…..Margaret
Show & Tell…..Sarah
Show & Tell…..Jane
Some of my samples
All in all it was a very inspiring week with spectacular scenery and excellent company.
Louth Panorama Update…..
All the Louth Panorama quilts, being made by textile group Meridian, have now been handed over ready to be sewn onto a black background.
The individual quilts laid out prior to being sewn onto the black background.
Sheila had photographs of the two original canvases, painted by William Brown in the 1840’s, reduced in size and printed onto cotton fabric which she then quilted using free machine stitching. These two panels will form the centre of our collaborative quilt with the rest of them being grouped as shown above.
Centre two panels free machined by Sheila
Click on each of the images to see the detail that has been put into the quilts, they really are beautiful pieces of work.
Quilt created by Pat Cave
Quilt created by Sue Jackson
Quilt created by Gill Lewis
Quilt created by Eileen MacKenzie
Quilt created by Gwen Harlow
Quilt created by Sandra Goldsborough
Quilt created by Margaret Fulwood
Quilt created by Karen Lane
Lincs In Stitches 