New Classes - Malmesbury

Last week I had an exciting meeting at Dolly Bobbins, Malmesbury!

Dolly Bobbins is a gorgeous yarn and craft shop, with a great space for teaching! The lovely owner Tracey contacted me after a student had recommended me as a sewing teaching.

Luckily Tracey liked my ideas for classes and my totally obvious fabric addiction and we agreed some classes for May, which I thought I would share with you!

Monday 12th and Monday 19th May - Hand Turn Applique Class
10am until 12pm
£30.00 including all materials.

During this two week we will be learning how to create an applique design and make a mug rug - perfect for your cup of tea and a slice of cake!

Sunday 25th May - Beginners Patchwork Cushion
10am until 4pm
£45.00 including materials and equipment.

This class is designed to give you the skills needed to make a quilt. We will be learning how to cut, piece and quilt a gorgeous patchwork block, which we will turn into a fabulous 16" cushion cover.

If you want to come along to either of these course please email Dolly Bobbins.

Looking forward to teaching in Malmesbury and spreading fabric addiction into Wiltshire!

City and Guilds Module 3

Last term was filled with teaching classes and working on Module 3: Colour and Applique.

I love colour and have 3/4 books by my bed all about the chemistry of colour, the meaning of colour and the development of synthetic pigments.

As usual I had to investigate colour, which was fun! Then I had to choose an artist to research. In February I visited a exhibition about Henri Matisse's paper cuts at Strouds Museum in the Park.

His paper cuts were completed when he was too ill to paint and sculpt, but the need to create art remained. With the help of an assistant he used paper to create huge murals, that were colourful and vibrant:

La Gerbe, Henri Matisse (1953)

I love the mix of colours and the scale of the original pieces is huge!

As well as exploring colour I had to develop the portfolio using a historical theme. I visited Bath and took lots of photos of the gorgeous Georgian buildings and the Fashion Museum. The course notes suggested developing a design around a piece of historical textiles. I chose an 18th Century embroidered ribbon:

From this I explored colouring pencils, felt tip pens and paint!

It was great fun playing around with colouring pencils and pens! Lovely to have the freedom to just play!

The applique element was developed in making my samples for the module:

Needle Turn Applique

Reverse applique

Machine applique with painted paper, plastic, Roses wrapper and hand dyed fabric/felt

Machine reverse applique using felt

The loved completing the applique and I was lucky enough to use Oakshott fabrics. The bundle I used is called Lipari and is simply gorgeous! The best bit is I have loads left to make another quilt!

My final piece was developed from the first portfolio - Line:

I experimented with hand dyeing different weights of fabric, threads, bubble wrap and postcards. It was great fun and I really love the final piece.

Next it's Texture and Landscapes/Geological.... and it has to be done in black and white! So exciting!

A Colourful Journey

The Easter holidays have flown by in a flurry of days out, painting the boys bedroom and completing my City and Guilds module.

Before the Easter madness started, I sneaked off to Bath for a bit of time to myself. Whenever I am in Bath I have to visit Country Threads. It is my favourite local quilt shop and is a MUST if you visit Bath.

After a little shop I headed off to The American Museum to visit the Kaffe Fassett exhibition.

In the garden leading up to the exhibition space there is a huge tree that has hanging lanterns and pompoms in a riot of colour:

 It really made me smile and is a great way to start the exhibition!

Once inside, nothing can prepared you for the riot of colour! 

When I started patchwork many moons, Kaffe's book Patchwork was one of the first books I bought. It was a real treat to be within breathing distance of some his amazing designs and be able to see the detail of his fabrics up close.

The exhibition is organised into colour sections with pieces of ceramics, paintings, knit wear, tapestry and quilts in each section. 

My favourites were the quilts, which were so beautiful.

This room was so calm and relaxing, with gorgeous greens and pinks. The designs are simply amazing and the wall hanging at the end of the room took my breath away!

Inside the museum proper they have his original fabric design sheets framed and hung. It is fascinating to see how he went from a painting to a full fabric range. Also the bold colours are just gorgeous!

I took LOADS of photos, but these are the ones I love the most!

If you get a chance to go, you must! The exhibition runs until the 2nd November at The American Museum in Bath.