Festival of Quilts 2014 (part one of many...)

Hello all.

So - I went to the FoQ yesterday and had a really good time.  As usual I've taken loads of phtotos and will blog them bit by bit.  So here are the first lot.

Art Textiles: Made in Britain are exhibiting at FoQ with the theme of Identity. As part of this they decided to make mood boards, which I think really sum up each of the artists.

And I love this piece by Hilary Beattie.  More to follow...

FoQ 2013

Well - what a show.

I hope that those of you who managed to get there had as good a time as I did.  It was great to travel to and meet up with lovely people.

Here are a few highlights.

Here is the lovely Jo Lovelock demonstrating how to get fantastic results with tray dying. You can see how it started with soda soaked fabric and developed into this amazing try of beautifully dyed fabric. 

  

 I also bought the most beautiful threads from her too.  Do have a look.

 I have taken quite a few more photos but need a little time to recover and sort out who make which quilt, so I'll post these over the next few weeks.  

Hello - Embroiderers Guild and Festival of Quilts

Hello all.

I hope you're enjoying the changeable weather we're having.  It seems to go from bright sunshine to a torrential downpour in seconds.  Well, it does give us something to talk about.

I was visiting the Handmade Boutique in the Western Arcade in Birmingham and was chatting to Tiger Lilly, we were chatting about the Embroiderers Guild. It reminded me of the preconceptions people have about the Guild - that you have to be an amazing embroiderer and if you aren't you can't join.  I really can't emphasize enough that all you need is an interest in textiles and or sewing.  You can literally just come along to the talks and not go to any workshops. 

It's worth researching the branches websites to see what they do, when they meet etc to see if it fits in for you.  And you can always test any group by popping along as a visitor.  Don't worry about going on your own, many groups now have a buddy system, so the way the groups work can be explained.  But the most important thing is to enjoy yourself.  Look on the Embroiderers Guild website and see where your local group meet.

And now - it's that time of year again, actually it's a bit earlier than normal. 

It's FESTIVAL OF QUILTS.  

And having pre-ordered I've already got my show catalogue.

I'm going for a couple of days and I have a few talks booked, I'm hoping to meet friends,  have a chat and see what they have bought.

Take care all and I'll be back soon with photos of my purchases.

FoQ 2012

Hello all,

A bit late with my photos of FoQ 2012 - but better late than never.

So above is a photo of the coffee morning.  I would recommend booking a place on it for next year.  It's a really nice way to start the day - and you get to park right at the front

And here are a selection of photos from the exhibition.  The variety and quality was great.  

I really had a lovely time and hope you did too.

Hello

Hello all.

Apologies for not having posted for a few weeks - I've been really busy.

So where to start.  I'll leave the festival of Quilts for another time as I took so many photos I need to sort them all out.  But I must say I had a great time, and I was especially pleased to have gone with and met up with great friends.

But I've also went to see Catherine Nicholls and Edwina McKinnon at the Open Studios at The Bramble Patch.  It was so nice to meet up with them and have a nice chat. They were working hard on pieces for an upcoming exhibition at The Forge Mill from 7 September to 21 October 2012.

Here they both are, hard at work.

I'll be posting again very soon.

Burtle Harvest Home

Hello all.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while - those Olympics are rather addictive and I'm watching the most bizarre collection of sports.

Anyway - we had a weekend away to the Burtle Harvest Home - really a good excuse to meet up with lovely family and eat and drink.

 So here's the huge tent that 500 of us sat in for a really amazing meal.

 And inside was very nidely decorated too.

 The next day we all walked up Glastonbury Tor.

 As you can see the weather was a little volatile. I amazed we kept dry - well at least we kept dry on the way up - on the way down we got a little damp.

And in the post today my programme arrived for the 2012 Festival of Quilts. The theory of buying this before the show is that I can plan what I'm going to see.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Tale care and enjoy the sunshine

FoQ part 3 and baking

Hmm...  Pear and Ginger Muffins from a Nigella recipe.  Very nice.

Thought you might like a post staring with cake.

I've lots more photos from the FoQ.  And here they are:

 I made this at the Rise and Shine session on Saturday.  A great opportunity to sit and chat and do a bit of sewing.

 I thought the show was great this year.

My sketchbook course is going well.  I'm drawing at the mo. Not my best skill - but that's the point isn't it.  And it is forcing me to draw, which can only be a good thing.

I've also been making very good progress with my UFOs.  Finished a number of cushion covers, a couple of tea cosys and a couple of Linus quilts.  It's very satisfying finishing off things.  I'm enjoying my new style sewing room.  It's great to be able to see all my stuff rather than thing it's there and not be able to find it.

Have a great weekend.

FoQ part 2

So - here's another post about the FoQ. There was so much that I couldn't fit it in one post.

Many of us struggle to find inspiration and I've often heard tutors say - 'it's all around you - you just need to open your eyes'. Well, here's proof of that. A single yellow line on a road. We must all see them every day. This photo is just of a small section of the finished piece - it really made me smile.  The artist is a graduate from last year, Sue Dawson, and she had the opportunity to exhibit her work in a small unit. The texture was very well constructed and some parts of the yellow line were made from fluorescent yellow fabric from jackets.

Another piece she made is below.

Again, a very interesting texture - but just look at it when photographed with the flash on.

In this piece she used grey fluorescent fabric which didn't look anything at all without the use of flash - but looked very different when flash was used.  

She was a really interesting lady to speak to.

Another student exhibiting with this years City & Guilds graduates was Susan Jones. She integrated embroidery into some very stylish clothes.  She had a great set of sketchbooks - as did all the students and they were all happy to have a chat.

Here is some of her work.

Maggie Grey was her usual entertaining self - always delivers a good lecture and is very generous with her work, experience and techniques.  If you get the opportunity to listen to her do go along.

I'll leave it there for now - I do have more to post...

And I'm very pleased to say I have received my password to enter the website for my Sketchbook course.  I must say the quality of the material is very high - as you would expect from the Kemshalls.  I'm really looking forward to cracking on with it this weekend. I promise to keep you updated with my progress.

Hope you enjoy the Bank holiday weekend and you manage to avoid the thunderstorms.

Class with Pauline Barke

Hi,

Thought you might like to see my work in progress from a class I attended recently.

It's my own dyed fabric torn and reassembled. I'm not sure if this will end up as a picture or a cushion.

It needs some more machining - but my little machine is in for a service with the fab Supreme Sewing Machines.

So hopefully I'll have it finished very soon.

Hope you're all looking forward to the Festival of Quilts. Might see a few of you there.
If you want to see the catalogue early - here it is

FoQ

Thought I'd show you a piece made by Alicia Merrett who I took the class with at FoQ. I really love this one- it's so detailed.

I also fell in love with one of the student's work - Sheena Hughes. Here are some photos of her work

I loved looking at the mini studios. I just love looking at a sketchbook.

For those of you who were lucky enough to go - what did you like best?

See you soon.