Festival Of Quilts Workshop

I have put together a new class for the Festival of Quilts.

I knew that my usual fabric painting classes would be a bit of a no no without easy access to water and sinks
but I still wanted to do a class that reflected my love of painting on fabric.

So I have put together "Picture it With Paint" which will explore how to put together a number of textile landscape scenes and how to utilise fabric paint, along with a few other bits and pieces, in order to make that process easier.

We will also be looking at how we can take the same designs and produce them in a different way.

This is a non stitching class. All the work done on the day is about preparing the pieces prior to stitching but never fear there will be plenty of discussion and samples of how pieces can be stitched during the class.
I have taken this approach because I want people who are attending the festival to be able to just roll up without too much worry about lugging along lots of supplies.
Or follow this link to the Festival of Quilts new website.
I am totally thrilled to have been invited to teach at the year's festival.
My class is on Saturday 10th August and for the rest of the show I will be on my booth in the Quilting in Action section.
Hope to see you there!

Workshops

With apologies to those that are not here in the U.K./interested/available etc, this week my posts are are all going to be about self promotion.
I have three big events coming up and I have to do my bit to advertise them.
This doesn't come easy to me to be honest but I hope you will bear with me as I try and entice you to come and join me at one of these events this year.



First up is my Stitching Showcase class that will be taking place at The Quilt Association which is based in the Minerva Arts Centre in Mid Wales. This is a recent booking and the class is taking place next month on Monday May 20th.
Basically I will be demonstrating the various ways that I add motifs, design elements and stitching details to fabric, all of which can be put together into one lovely wall hanging.
All details can be found here.

Next time I will be telling about the workshop that I am doing at this year's Festival of Quilts!!!!

Embellished Book Wrap

The call out from the Quilter's Guild for this years Festival of Quilts tombola is for book wraps.

This is a little tutorial to show you how I put this one together.

Since doing a workshop with Angie Hughes a number of years ago I have been collecting sweet wrappers and the such like. Actually I have stopped now because it was getting a bit ridiculous but I have plenty to keep me going!

Let's look at the gold coin wrappers first. 

After flattening them out I put them under an old unthreaded sewing machine needle and add some texture to them.

All these bits are then ironed onto fusible webbing. MAKE SURE YOU PROTECT YOUR IRON FOR THIS!!! and don't have it on too high a temperature either.

These bits can then be arranged and cut up into any shapes you like and fused onto a background fabric.
I have used upholstery fabric. Something with a bit of body and a bit of a nap works best.

Here is a close up

Here is a finished row.

At this point I thought I was finished but then it occurred to me that the more I put on, the less space there would be to have to fill with stitching.

So I put together a few more elements.

Now what is needed is a layer of voile that keeps everything enclosed.

Begin Stitching!!

I feel as if I have been away from my machine for such a long time and so this is a great project for loosening my free machining muscle!

A machine wrapped cord, or in this case strip of fabric finishes it off.

This is a peek of the silky lining added BEFORE a zig zag edging.

It's a Wrap!!!

Rhondda Heritage Park

I have driven past the motorway sign directing me to the Rhondda Heritage Park time and time again without giving it a second thought.

That is until I was invited to teach a couple of workshops there last week.

I am so glad that I was because the place is a little gem. This was once a working coal mine!

The classroom was through that door on the right.

This walkway led across to the gallery space that at the moment is exhibiting the work of Bethan Ash.

Next time I will show you what we were working on at one of the worlshops

...and breathe...

After a hectic few weeks I am relaxing and looking forward to Spring.
Wishing you all a lovely holiday weekend.

London Baby!!

There were some interesting characters wandering around the halls at Olympia last week

After some investigation I discovered that they were part of The Garden of England showcase, highlighting new work from Alice Kettle.

I would loved to have sat down and crocheted  flowers made from recycled plastic bags with these ladies!

Now I am taking a bit of time to rest and recuperate. I had forgotten how wonderful and exhausting London is. After the first morning of experiencing the rush hour tube crush again, I took to the car and impressed my 18 year old with my London driving skills. Some things you never lose!

Done!

All packed and ready for Knitting and Stitching show with two days to spare!

Marjorie won the tickets and has gifted them to her sister in law who lives in London.