Beading Evening Dresses

I have made evening dresses in the past but this one I brought.

I've done some alterations to it and this week

I have added some simple beading to the bodice and straps.

The beads are small glass seed ones that really glisten

and of course they are in one of my

favourite colours.

It's always nice to go somewhere you can where a proper dress!

I hope to show you show photos shortly with me in it!

Design to Art Quilt

As you can see Pat has finished making her mixed media textile

trees and they are now ready for the background.

The background is calico dyed and painted in several layers

to build up colour

in certain areas, and to signify borders.

The centre of the wallhanging is all threads and strands of fabric,

machine stitched and embellished onto felt.

Pat is going to take these out in a circle to the border.

This is a piece which needed the design process to

bring ideas together and to choose the different

ways the piece could go.

The design element of any artwork can happen at the

beginning and often at many different stages of development.

Standing back and often walking away leaving the piece

on show allows you to discover more about the artwork or

develop a different technique approach.

Sampling on a mock up really helps.

Not all art making is clear cut and can teach all

of us many different things along the way

by trying different techniques before settling on the next step,

Experimenting is one of the beauties of ART.

Pat's Projects

Pat always has lots of projects in the process.

Here is a bag made from a Scottish Mohair Scarf.

It is being modelled by the Gallery Statue.

(She has had the opportunity to model Pat's wearable

creations before).

The cushion below is a modern linen and lace

cushion cover with Pat's added modern art, mixed media and lace.

Pat is adding some embroidery embellishments later.

See more creative work throughout this site

by clicking gallery or mixed media in the labels below.

Cherry Quilt

Barbara wanted to learn how to make applique by the machine.

She started last week learning how to use

Bonda web (fusible webbing) and

how to use a sewing machine, where to stop and start etc.

This week it was borders.

This is another quilt which is being made out of fabric scraps.

See more block quilts on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Gallery Day 22nd March 2011

Sylvia is such an inspirational lady and every week

she wants to learn more and I think

everyone learns from Sylvia.

Here she is showing us the applique cards she has made

on her machine.

Sylvia is learning the different ways of Machine Embroidery.

See more Machine Embroidery on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Art Tidy

Almost every week I make Art Tidy's for commissions.

This one was the latest one.

I teach students how to make their own when they

want a quick project to make.

Star Quilt

With the weather being so lovely at the weekend

I was able to take my large king size Star Quilt

outside to photograph it.

I hand dyed all the Star fabric and over dyed the batik corners.

It was all cut out by rotary cutter to aid the precise piecing.

I machine pieced and quilted it.

This is one of my favourite quilts.

See more of my quilts on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Autumn Inspired Banner Quilt

This is the banner quilt is one my Mum and I have been working

on together.

The squares are 2" and made from a variety of textiles.

Mum found the Embroidered centre pieces in a Thrift Shop.

There are two of them and it feels lovely to

give the embroidered chair backs a new lease of life.

They were made in the late 40's by the design and thread used.

See more use of vintage textiles on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Brown Banner

This is the first Banner Quilt from a new collection

I am working on.

It contains, sari, silks, satins, upholstery

and cotton fabrics.

It is now ready for machine quilting and extra

embroidery embellishing.

See more of my banner quilts on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Southern Chinese Textiles

Judith Symmonds came and gave us a talk about

her collection of Southern Chinese Textiles.

I had seen her last year at our Embroidery Guild and knew that

Alveva Quilters would love to see and hear all about the textiles.

Judith is a wonderful speaker telling and showing us

the individual pieces,how they were made and some of the stories

behind them. The members were able

to handle every piece and see close up the

fantastic workmanship.

The Chairmans Challenge this year is

'Folded Patchwork Item', so seeing

some of this intricate folded and embroidered

textiles were really inspiring

but also makes you want to take a breath!

Thank you so much Judith for sharing

your collection and time with us it was really

appreciated.

See more posts by clicking 'chinese textiles'

in the labels below.

Chris Show and Tell

I invited Chris along from Weeting Quilters and some of their

other members to talk about the quilts they are making for

Chernobyl. She brought some of the quilts that have been made

in only one month.

See previous post.

The quilts were wonderful and have inspired some of

Alveva members to collect fabrics and make quilts.

This was a great way of sharing.

We all had n our mind the people of

Japan too!

Sometimes are time needs and wants to be divided into

so many ways.

Best wishes to anyone who is struggling at this

time and for the people who give their time and care to help.

Alveva Quilters Show and Tell

There is always a variety of show and tell as you can see.

This is even before the main speaker or workshop.

Alveva Quilters Meeting

Once a month on the third Wednesday Alveva Quilters

meets at The Methodist Chapel Hall in Feltwell at 7pm.

We have a really packed couple of hours.

This week we had amazing show and tell from all round the world.

Above Yvonne Brown told us how she grew as a teenager

in Nigeria and showed us some of the items of clothing

her father had been given.

It had been a real honour by the village. The embroidery was

amazing.

The trouser suit above was made by Yvonne, her sister and

Mother with material they used to buy from the

market there. They must have been really trendy!

More show and tell in other posts.

Scapbooking

On Wednesday morning I went to The Gallery and

did Scrapbooking .

I have done scrapbooking a few times before but

thought I had better put it on project status.

If you don't set a time and a place to do somethings

then it never gets done!

I had been meaning to archive Jennifer's summer

trips and stays with Grandma and Grand Dad

and had never got round to it, so this is my chance.

Kim a tutor at The Gallery has been doing

card making classes and was starting

once a month scrapbooking.

We we started last month.

Kim is a Memory Craft representative too,

so she has all the papers,cutters, trimmings and wonderful

gadgets to use and play with and you can buy.

This is so good because you can see whether you really like

a piece of equipment and will enjoy using it.

Above are a few of the pages I have done.

The "2000" photos (see what I mean, need to get things done!)

I learnt to use a frame cutters and circle punches in different ways.

Thank you Kim and the other ladies for a great morning.

See more of what goes on @The Gallery

www.thegallerydereham.co.uk

Indian Textile History

We were told at our Alveva Quilters meeting by

Linda Turner of a wonderful programme about

Indian Textiles and their history.

I have just watched it and it is amazing.

This link is only available until the end of the 18th of March 2011

So everyone enjoy it while you can.

It as it is amazing.

You can watch a master fabric block printer on this video.

See my quilts and wallhangings inspired by India

by clicking HERE