Twisted Square Bag

Beryl has made this bag using the Twisted Square Technique.

I taught this technique at the beginning of the month.

Beryl used batik fabric to make the squares.
There are 21 squares in the main bag and 2 either side.

See my blog post HERE

Purple Shellac Fingernails

Went purple sparkly, with the nail polish!

Kim from "Inovations"in Swaffham. 

Is doing a great job of keeping my hands in shape.

It was one of my New Years Resolutions,

to look after my hands as they are constantly on

display with making and demonstrating techniques.

The shellac polish lasts about two weeks and

I have better conditioned nails because of it.

I am hard going on my hands with all the paints, inks and techniques I use. 

The polish is withstanding this really well.

I even did some welding!

I hate false nails so,

 I am so pleased that my own are getting stronger.

I would highly recommend having them polished with

Shellac.

See my other sparkly nails 

HERE 

Burn back Embellished Book Cover

Carole has made this wonderful, layered, embellished and soldered book cover

for a friend that needs cheering up with a life journal.

With decorated cover, turned, decorated pages and verses too,

this is a truly special gift.

Click the photo to enlarge and really enjoy the details.

Square Bags and a Purse To Match

Hilary made her Square Bag with 5.5" squares and then made a purse to match
with smaller ones.

What a lovely set!

I love the way the squares in the purse are placed on point.

Hilary feather stitched around the squares,
which gives it a lovely detail.
See more bags by clicking the written labels below.

Small Bags

Most techniques can lend themselves to making small bags,
these are made by Beryl.
The one on the right is made with embellished sheer fabric and scraps.
Lots of recycled materials make wonderful

surfaces and pattern.

See more by clicking on the written labels below and visit

my tech site to see videos on how to make different ones.

HERE 

and

HERE

Pieced Squares

Squares and rectangles!

The runner above was made by Muriel and the quilt by Andrea.

Squares are so versatile and so many combinations.
If you haven't watched You Tube for a while
this video is one of many the Missouri Quilt Company has.

Stitchers at Work

I love catching stitchers at work. 

These show total different textile techniques.

Top, Caroline piecing her Jelly roll strip blocks.

Middle, Sylvia getting to grips with a flower stitch foot

and bottom, Judith starting her piecing of a stained glass patchwork.

I love the diversity of Creative Textiles and I feel so lucky to be able

to teach and share.

Stitched, Cut Back and Soldered

At the Art Room we have been using lots of sheer and stitch and of course

the soldering iron is often used to cut back.

These are then made into book covers and cases.

See more by clicking the written labels below.

Linda Monk

I have followed Lynda's work for sometime.

I love using 3D medium on Lutradur and then heating it

to get the lacy effect. This is then painted in many different ways.

Lynda was demonstrating her technique at

'Textiles in Focus'.

It was great to see her in action.

I brought her book.

"Exploring Creative Surfaces"

and highly recommend it. 

Visit Lynda's blog and see more of the exhibition 

HERE

If you would like to buy her books see below.

Textile in Focus Exhibition

The Exhibitions and Demos at Textile in Focus,

were fantastic. Sadly as I said before there were no 

photographs allowed but postcards and goodies.

These cord sculptures were made by Jenny Furlong,

Visit their website HERE

Goodies Brought at Textile in Focus

I had a fun time at Textile in Focus and I alway stock up

on inspiration, reading material in the shape of leaflets and books.

From the top, Sandra Beech is a local Textile Dyer,

and we all love her threads and fibre papers.

At the Colourious stand I brought some papers, stamps

and the authentic shisha glass mirrors and some

bling embellishments for a book cover I am working on.

Visit their website HERE 

After a cup of tea with friends.

Art Van go is always a stop off for me and  as you can

see by the bottom photograph lots of acrylic inks

this time, a stencil, some Angelina fibres, foils and

some stamps.

Visit Art Van Go HERE

Textile in Focus

Textile in Focus at Cottenham near Cambridge 

was on 15th, 16th and 17th of February this year.

I went on the Friday as usual and was bright and early as it opened.

Did my usual go round taking everything in,

I met up with lots of friends  and caught up on the latest projects.

Brought lots of goodies which I will post later.

The Exhibition in the sixth form was outstanding and the demonstrations

by artists such as Linda Monk and Jenny Furlong were

very informative and inspirational.

Above, is Sharon Osbourne in action.

She is so inspiration and her made books are out of this world.

There is a no photograph rule now at Textile in Focus

but Sharon always lets us as she thinks its important to share.

What do you think about this, photographs or not?

More Quilts

These two quilts have been slowly coming together over
the last couple of weeks.
Eileen has chosen just vibrant colours to wrk with,
it's fantastic.
Janet is making the fan quilt for her Grand Daughter.
See more quilts and textiles by visiting my portfolio site
Art2Inspire
http://www.art2inspire.co.uk

Ros's Quilt

Ros is making this quilt to take out to her

 home in Cyprus.

It is so fresh and crisp it will look great on a king size bed.

More Dorset Buttons

More Dorset Buttons are being made each week and

they are getting bigger and more ornate. 

These ones were made by Bev.

Lots of beading and sequins are being added,

I wonder who is influencing the BLING!

( me, never!).

HERE is a good article for making a Dorset Button,

if you haven't tried yet.

I stitch using the stitches of the blanket stitch inside the

hoop ( blanket stitch then twist the stitches on the 

hoop into the middle).

 Rather than wrapping the spokes it still

gives you great effect all the same but you need to wrap tightly.

Enjoy having a go.