I'm amazed with the response I've had to my workshops since launching them just over 4 weeks ago but am mindful that social media on it's own is unlikely to provide me with a steady stream of new students. So as well as having the new title of 'teacher' I am pleased as punch to be able to add 'demonstrator' to my list of titles. 

I contacted ICHF about demonstrating with them but expected to have to wait until next year. Which was OK because it would have given me plenty of time to practice demonstrating in front of my students. But fate sometimes does everyone a favour and I am delighted to tell you that I will be demonstrating at their Creative Craft Show at Event City in Manchester on 6th to 8th September. I'm excited and terrified at the same time! This is a great show to be my first - Event City is about one mile away from my home and studio so I won't have to worry about forgetting things. And I know that I'll see some friendly faces amongst the visitors. I'm trying to develop a workshop for the event as well - something that will last either 60 minutes or 90 minutes and can be done in a room where the only water is what can be carried in a bucket. So something that doesn't get too messy. This particular challenge is keeping me awake at night but I'm sure inspiration will strike soon!

I've also started placing adverts and have had new flyers printed. Thanks to the African Fabric Shop and Patchwork Parade for taking some! If you would like some please just contact me - I have lots! Maybe I should give myself another new title 'marketing manager'! Blimey, I think I might need a lie down!

Having decided to start teaching I spent a lot of time drawing out potential layouts. To scale of course. I didn't want to lose my giant print bench but quickly realised that my not so giant print bench and my sewing table would need to make way for the students benches. I know, I know; you have to break eggs to make an omelette. And so converting my studio into a space where I can teach 6 students has inevitably meant making a mess and breaking some stuff.   

The not so giant print bench has been dismantled. I was feeling sad that we were going to get rid of it. I forgot that the men in my life hate throwing things away. Instead it is going to be used in the cellar as a Warhammer gaming table (don't ask!). Not quite sure how it will fit but that is not my problem. At least it won't be once they move the bits out of the studio!

I thought my studio was well equipped but as I work through the lesson plans I'm realising that there is a lot of stuff I need. And that all that stuff will need to find homes. It's slow going but I am making progress. I now have a second water boiler thanks to my friend Ruth. I've christened them Stan and Ollie. I also have labels on cupboards. Next weekend we are making the tables - exciting times!

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I love colour! And whilst I've always kept records of the colours I've mixed for my art I have never taken the time to systematically create colour blankets. Until now. Colour is fundamental to the classes I am teaching so creating resources to help my students understand colour seems like an obvious thing to do. And it has been so much fun, I wish I'd taken the time to do this years ago!

My favourite piece so far is the colour wheel above created by blending two primary reds - magenta and scarlet - and two primary blues - turquoise and royal blue. It's my favourite for two reasons. Firstly I didn't make any mistakes when making it but mostly because of the surprising colours you get when you mix scarlet with either of the blues. Instead of the 'purples' you might think you're going to get you get some beautiful browns.

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When you mix the two primary blues with two primary yellows - acid lemon and golden yellow - all of the blended colours are colours that you would label 'green'. No surprises but using the colour wheel I can see instantly how to mix an olive green or a lime green. 

The third colour wheel mixes the primary yellow with the primary reds to create an abundance of oranges. What is interesting in this colour wheel is just how overwhelmed yellow is by red. Even a small addition of red creates oranges that are close to their red component.

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And finally (for now!) I have stolen an idea from the excellent DVD 'Exploring Fiber Reactive Dyes with Claire Benn' to create what Claire calls colour tartans. I have created exactly the same 'tartan' on two different cottons - the cotton poplin that I use in my art and a more open weave plain cotton. The colours are extremely close although they are very, very slightly richer on the poplin which has a slight surface sheen. Doesn't really show up in a photo so you'll have to trust me on this. Or make you own!

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The last 7 days have been exciting and terrifying in equal measure. I hung my latest exhibition with Helen Conway at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery last Tuesday (with an awful lot of help from my son Callum and father-in-law Bernard). On Wednesday I was interviewed by Bethany Armitage of Quilt Now (very nerve-racking, article on the Stockport exhibition in the next issue). On Friday I launched myself as a teacher and on Saturday Helen and I had our preview. 

Definitely an emotional rollercoaster and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the response I've had to my workshops and to the exhibition with Helen. I spend so many hours working away on my own that sometimes I question what I'm doing and why. Affirmation keeps me going, big thank you to everyone that came to the preview, that responded to our posts on Facebook and an especially big thank you to the wonderful women who have booked on to my courses!

After the preview I drove up to Scotland for a weeks holiday in Dunure, my second most favourite place after my studio. The weather here is glorious and the sunsets over Arran are stunning. I have brought work with me to do but the sun is just too enticing ...... 

I am very excited to announce that my new workshops are available to book on line.

The workshops will take place in my studio, which I am calling the Urban Studio North, in Eccles, Manchester. The studio is light, spacious and easily accessible. I'm limiting student numbers to 6 so that each student has plenty of space to work and I have plenty of time to give one-to-one support. My aim is to supply as much of the media and equipment needed for each class so that, in most cases, students only have to bring fabric. 

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I have developed an introduction to screen printing workshop that includes breakdown printing called Simply Screen Printing and an introduction to dyeing workshop called Dyeing to Begin. Both are two day courses, suitable for absolute beginners and are intended to be pretty fast paced with students printing / dyeing lots of beautiful cloth. I have also created a 1 day a month for 10 months programme called Introduction to Surface Design which covers dyeing, printing, breakdown printing, mark making, paper lamination, adding and removing colour and so much more! 

And I have my first guest tutor. Ruth Brown will be teaching a two day workshop on Hand Made Books tailored towards textile artists. This will be suitable for beginners and will cover a range of book types. 

I will be adding more workshops and more dates over the coming months but I am really interested in getting your feedback, good (hopefully) or bad. Do the workshops look interesting? Have I given enough information? What do you think about the pricing? Am I a mad fool?

Having spent lots of hours at my computer getting ready to teach (writing lesson plans etc) I have now moved onto the much more fun bit. I want to be as prepared as I absolutely can be which, for me,  means creating lots of samples and practising the demonstrations that I'll be giving. I know that I know my stuff and I know that I have enough knowledge to probably demonstrate 'off the cuff' but that is not who I am. I'm a control freak who writes lists, makes detailed plans and practices, practices, practices! So whilst I wait for some 'official' stuff to come through that I need before I can launch my workshops properly I am playing at the bench.

Whilst I'm not planning on giving a class on colour just yet, colour is fundamental to surface design, particularly when you are layering one colour on top of another using dyes rather than paints. Sometimes you want to achieve dull, sludgy brown but when you don't and that's what you get it can be demoralising. So I am spending some very happy hours in my studio making different types of colour blankets that, I hope, my students will find useful. Inspired by Claire Benns wonderful DVD (Exploring Fiber Reactive Dyes from Gali Publishing) I have created my own version of a colour 'tartan' on two types of cotton to see if they take colour differently (they didn't) and am now making colour wheels based on secondary colours (oranges, purples and greens). I am playing with intent and loving every minute of it! 

I love a good list and it turns out that there is a very long list of things that I need to do before I can start to teach in my studio. It is so tempting to start rearranging the studio, to start ordering 'stuff' and to spend hours at my bench preparing samples and practising demonstrations. But there is not much point in doing any of that unless I know I've actually got some students.

So first things first - writing lesson plans and getting everything loaded onto my website. Writing lesson plans is fun; figuring out what can be fitted in a two day workshop and what is a logical order for the demonstrations whilst remembering that the technique driven workshops will be aimed at beginners; making the workshops fun, intense, great value for money but not overwhelming. Getting things loaded onto my website has also been fun albeit in a slightly masochistic way. Lots of going round in circles figuring out what works and what doesn't work. Lots of cups of coffee. Lots of biscuits. Maybe the odd swear word. 

So far I have four workshops loaded but hidden from view. I am itching to share them with you but I am waiting for my local council to confirm that I can teach without needed to submit a formal 'change of use' application. Everything I have been able to read suggests not so fingers crossed!

And as a reward for all my hard work I 'allowed' myself to do a little rearranging. I started with the most important area. I have moved my coffee machine away from where we'll (hopefully) be mixing dyes. Health and safety in action. Still need to buy more cups, glasses, different teas, fruit bowl etc but I think this will work.

It has always been my long term plan to teach in my studio and right now feels like a good time to start. I have spent some very long days at my sewing machine this last year preparing work for my two exhibitions with Helen Conway but sewing time is serious thinking time. Time to think through all the pros and cons.

I have given a lot of thought to what, and how, I want to teach. I have taught informally before and found that I really enjoyed showing students how to use dyes, paints, screens, tools etc to create work that was uniquely theirs. So I will be teaching surface design but I will not be showing students how to 'make a Leah Higgins quilt'. I am currently putting together lesson plans for 2 day workshops and for 'a day a month' programme. It makes sense to start with technique driven classes for beginners then add more advanced classes. Any suggestions or requests will be gratefully received!

I have also given a lot of thought as to how it will affect my family as my studio sits behind our home. The good news is they all think it is a great idea and are helping me get the studio (and the garden which is a mess) ready. I will limit surface design classes to 6 students. I could have fitted in more but I want students to have lots of room. And I didn't want to lose my giant print bench! Which I love.

I hope to run my first workshops in July. Assuming that I can attract any students. It's all rather exciting and rather intimidating at the same time. I'll be adding details to my website, hopefully before the end of May. Better get back to it!

With just over three weeks to spare I have now finished all my pieces for Fragments, my upcoming exhibition with Helen Conway. Phew!

So what next? I have no immediate deadlines to hit so the pressure is off for the first time in a long time. I am free to continue to explore the monoprinting / breakdown technique I played with last year. I should be excited. I should be full of ideas and energy. Especially as spring has arrived and I usually love working at the bench on days when breakdown screens can dry outdoors. Instead I feel kind of flat. Maybe stale is a better word. Or studio'd out if that was a word. Not that I want a break from being in my studio. I don't. It is my favourite place and whilst I don't mind taking a few days or even a week off I cannot imagine going longer without being in there.

Maybe it shouldn't surprise me that I feel this way. I have been putting in long hours for over a year to prepare work for my two exhibitions with Helen. And for most of that time I have known exactly what I needed to do. Each piece had been planned; fabrics had been printed and samples had been sewn. I have spent months cutting, constructing, layering, stitching and finishing. Thankfully I enjoy every part of my process but it has taken steely determination some weeks to hit the deadlines I set myself. And all at a time when my home and family life has been full of unrest; coloured by sadness and anxiety.

So how do I get my art mojo back? How do I recharge my batteries?

• I am going to give my studio a deep clean and clear out. I need to reclaim my space.
• I am giving myself permission to play. I want to reconnect with techniques other than breakdown printing and with media other than thickened dyes. I want to colour and print cloth without a fully defined end point.
• And I am giving myself permission to be less than 110% focused on my art for a while; to volunteer, to teach. To connect with others.

And when the sun shines I may even take time out to sit in the garden with a cup of good coffee and a book!