Monday 19 August 2013

Gathered and Pleated Cushion







Caroline is my PA and she started with me in January and 
has got hooked on creating textiles!
She brought in this gathered , pleated cushion she had made
and everyone wanted to know how it was made.
So I said,"How about teaching it to the class?"
"Ok" she said and on Textile Thursday she did.
She did fantastic and you can see it was a very busy morning.
 She said she preferred doing her job though not mine!
I have asked her if she would teach it again in December
when I am away in India as everyone enjoyed it so much.
The main task is marking everything out before you
gather stitch it all up.
The gathering stitch is called Canadian Smocking.
See a great You Tube video how to do the smocked cushion
HERE

Thank You


Thank you to so much to my City and Guilds Students for presenting me with 
cards, a beautiful basket 
of flowers and an Amazon Gift Card.
It means alot.
Both groups went out to lunch and we had a lovely meal and caught up.
We all worked so hard on Creating Textiles,
Well done and Thank You!


Small Purses and Rotary Cutter Holders



Along with the small purses I showed how you
could make a quick rotary cutter or scissor holder.
Keeping scissors and rotary cutters safe in your bag is so 
important so having a nice holder is great. 
It often becomes a talking point too as they are all different.

Small Stitched Purses





Each week at Textile Tuesday and Thursday
I teach a new item or technique and these are some of the
completed purses by some of the students.
What I love is that everyone starts with the same pattern
and then because of the fabric and trimmings choice
they all turn out individual.
The pattern can be enlarged to any size.
Those that have just started, I show how easy it is to put a zip in.
Sylvia's purse (the top one) has a necklace brought from
a charity shop.
See how the purse was put together 


City and Guilds Creative Textiles





The above embroidered pictures are made by Bev as part of her
Level Two City and Guilds for Machine Embroidery in
Creative Textiles.
Nineteen Level Two students have passed with me this year.
So, Congratulations to them for a year of fun, hard work and
experimenting.
See more of the students work by visiting 
I teach City and Guilds Creative Textiles in 
Machine Embroidery and Patchwork and Quilting from Level One 
through to Degree.
Courses are available throughout the year, so if you are interested
please contact me.
I now teach the courses at The Old Art Room Swaffham
in my fully equipt Art Studio at The Art, Craft, Antiques and Cultural Centre
in Swaffham.
The centre was once the old Sixth Form College.

Kings Lynn Embroiderers Guild Exhibition 2013














The Kings Lynn Embroiderers Guild Exhibition this year 
was lucky enough to exhibit the Guild Members collection 
of Olympic Postcards. 
The postcards were on display at The Olympics and
they are now part of the Guilds permanent collection.
Each Guild Group was given a country and then members had to depict
it, in stitch within the postcard format.
There were so many it was hard to choose a favourite.
The Members work was diverse and individual as always.
I had submitted pieces for the table. 
A Lace Book, a Sketchbook exploring Metal Work Textiles
and a Contemporary Suffolk Puff and Embroidered Panel.
The cakes were delicious and sparkly, 
I just had to have one with my tea!
What an inspirational exhibition! 

Sunday 11 August 2013

Samphire Quilters Exhibition 2013









Samphire Quilters Exhibition is held in St Nicholas's Church in
Kings Lynn, every year and is always spectacular.
The amount of quilts and the standard is breathtaking and 
the special areas of interest. This year, 'Children's Corner'.
I think we all fell in love with Humpty Dumpty.
There is the Chairman's Challenge, Daphne and her daughter
with their amazing art work and embroidery. 
Sian's Fabric and The Members Sales Table.
There are several raffles and Jo was buying a ticket 
for The Osteoporosis Quilt, a worthy cause.
To see more about Samphire Quilters and their exhibitions
click HERE

Pink Stripped and Stitched Background Fabric


As you may know I like to encourage recycling and trying new techniques.
Sue wanted to try one of the stripped pieced background techniques.
She had brought some of her own scraps and then
 delved into the big scrap jar I have in the studio.
Sue also wanted to try one of the studio 607 Janome sewing machines
to see whether she would like to buy one.
She was going to put it through its paces by trying as many of
the embroidery stitches as she could.
As you can see above it looks fantastic and it is
going to be made into a book cover.
Well done Sue.
I think I see a new machine on the horizon!
See more backgrounds by clicking the written labels below.

Bags and an Owl




Bags are always popular and so are Owls at the moment.
This Owl was made by Sylvia 
and came as a kit on the front of a Magazine.
See more bags and Owls by clicking the written labels below.

Saturday 10 August 2013

Little Plum Purse





Each week at Textile Classes I show an inspirational project 
so that there is always something to make and techniques
to try.
This is a small purse, based on a Pride and Prejudice Bag, I saw
in a printed fashion plate illustration.
I break the design down into simple patterns and instructions.
Everyone was excited and there were lots of purses made
 in various materials.
I will show you the results shortly.

Hexagon Pincushion



Eileen made the purple hexagon pincushion and
brought it to class. It was plain with no embroidery on it.
She asked our opinion and we all agreed it need some stitch detail.
It became a real discussion point what embellishment to put on it.
It was decided it needed embroidery and so above you can see the results.
It looked great and won 1st Prize in a local show in the pincushion section.
Well done Eileen.

Monday 5 August 2013

In Stitches Blickling Hall Exhibition









Stewart and I had a Saturday off and went off to 
The In Stitches Exhibition at Blickling Hall.
We love going there and enjoy the journey, the exhibition 
the gardens and the pub lunch!
An all round day.
We did the 5 mile walk this time.
The work was outstanding as usual, hundreds of pieces of work 
made by just seven Norwich Textile Artists.
Pat Burkes was as inviting as ever and I got them to have a photo.
See Julie Smith's website of
exquisite embroidery.
Visit Blickling Hall website