Detail of Artefact 4,

Making art comes with lots of highs and lots of lows. Those magical days when everything you’ve been working on comes together and you know you’re making good art. The whoop whoop moments when a piece of work is accepted in a juried exhibition. The rarer, whoop whoop whoop moments when a piece wins a prize or sells. In contrast - those weeks when you just can’t get ideas out of your head onto fabric, when everything you print or stitch is somehow wrong. And those, all to common, moments when a piece is rejected. You know you shouldn’t take it personally but you do.

Most of the time though the process of making art brings with it a quiet joy and a deep sense of contentment and well being. There are somethings that are not so much ‘fun’ but that’s OK because they are just one step in an overall process that you love. I print my fabrics with dyes and the rinsing and washing stage is the step I like least. But I end up with a pile of beautiful fabrics ready to use in the next stage of my process which makes it OK.

There is one thing though that I find just boring. And that is stitching sleeves to my quilts. Stitching the facings is OK as this finishes the piece and makes it ready to photograph and to share. But sleeves ….. nobody sees them, they add nothing to the visual impact of my finished art. It is very tempting to not add them until a piece has been accepted into an exhibition ….but then you find yourself working late into the night on a piece that has to be delivered / shipped the next day. Yes, been there, done that!

But this week I have been a good girl and have completely finished the piece that I’ve entered into Festival of Quilts (detail above). As per usual it is a big quilt. And as per usual I’ve added sleeves to both the top and the bottom of the quilt. Thank goodness for good coffee and a good supply of chocolate!

It is so nice to share lots of good news. Spring is in the air and there is a definite spring in my step!

First of all a very big thank you to everyone who has brought an Inspiration Pack or booked a workshop this month. So far we raised £225 for The Trussell Trust who support food banks in the UK. I have just 1 inspirations pack left (£5 donation for each pack sold) and I will be donating £10 for every workshop sold during April.

Secondly I am absolutely thrilled that Artefact 2 (above) has been juried into this years Quilt Visions at Visions Art Museum in Seattle. I am always a bit anxious as I start a new series because I might think I have created something beautiful but the rest of the world might disagree. Having a piece accepted in a juried exhibition is a massive confidence boost. Now I just need to ‘find’ more time to make more quilts! I’m also going to be shipping Cadence 7 to the US at the beginning of May. It is being exhibited as part of Excellence in Fibers VII at the Schweinfurth Art Center. So lots of good news on the Art front.

And good news in the studio. After a two year delay, because of you know what, I was absolutely delighted to welcome Alice Fox into my studio this weekend. Alice is an amazing artist and brilliant teacher. Many thanks to Angela, Lynn, Mandy, Anita, Judy and Sam for their amazing work…. there is some eye candy for you below!

This weekend marks the beginning of my ‘peak’ teaching period with workshops coming thick and fast. Quite a few workshops are full but there are still places available on some. It is short notice but I do have two places left of a workshop by Debbie Lyddon called Decorative Surfaces for 3D Textiles. It is a 4 day workshop (3rd to 6th May) and costs £360. If you are interested please contact me here.

Although I did a few days teaching in the studio earlier in the year my teaching ‘season’ started properly from last weekend with a wonderful couple of days with my Creative Surface Design students and will continue with my two day Simply Screen Printing workshop this coming weekend. From then on I’m teaching regularly until the end of October by which time I might need to take a day off!

In between teaching I’ll also be giving talks to different groups up and down the country and attending two shows - The Creative Craft Show at ExCel in London in a couple of weeks and Festival at the NEC in August.

It is going to be SO GOOD to be face-to-face with so many like minded textile lovers this year. A big thank you to the ladies at Art Through Textiles who I gave a talk to on Monday - your enthusiasm is infectious!

This year still feels like a ‘catch-up’ year though. I’ve had some cancellations recently as people catch up on much delayed holidays, family celebrations and hospital treatment. So I now have places on some workshops that were previously sold out. I have places on Helen Parrotts’ Northern Landscapes with Hand Stitch, Debbie Lyddons Decorative Surfaces for 3D Textiles and Louise Baldwins Accidently on Purpose.

Please follow the links to have a look at these workshops - all three artists are excellent teachers and time in a dedicated studio is such a joy.

I also have spaces on my 5 day Print Your Palette workshop (25th to 29th April) - this is a deep dive into lots and lots of ways of using a screen to print beautiful fabric. No previous experience is required though as we start with the basics on using a screen and on using dyes!

Bye for now, Leah

It was wonderful to be at the Scottish Quilting Show in Glasgow last week. The atmosphere was very different to the last time we were there two years ago. Then we were all nervous and anxious about a new virus that would go on to cause so much sorrow and hardship. This time there was a sense of hope and of life getting back to normal. It was so lovely to meet old friends and to see many familiar faces.

I was busy demonstrating breakdown printing on my stand and enjoyed explaining the process to so many visitors. I’d like to thank all of those who took the time to talk about printing and about the quilts I had on display. And all those who spent money …. the Wonky Print Inspiration Packs went down very well! I’d like to thank the lovely ladies on adjacent stands for ensuring there wasn’t an unwanted puddle behind the stand on the Thursday when I was on the stand by myself. And a very big thanks to my friend Ruth Brown for joining me for the rest of the show (Ruth is teaching two bookbinding workshops in my studio this year).

I printed ten pieces of fabric during the show. These will be appearing in a Wonky Print Pack soon as I am exhibiting at The Creative Craft Show at the ExCel Centre in London on the 1st and 2nd April. As soon as I have details of my stand I will share them with you. I will be printing on my stand and will have lots of my hand dyed and printed fabrics with me …. but only if I get a wriggle on ….

Bye for now, Leah

Detail, full image below.

You may remember a small quilt (well small for me) that I made last year in response to the Contemporary Quilt Group challenge ‘Uncharted’ called Taming The Wilderness. It’s the long skinny one that is part of my Cadence series. The organisers will be showing all 77 entrants in different groupings at different events over the next 12-18 months. I am absolutely delighted that my quilt has been chosen to be one of the 35 quilts that will be shown at this summers Festival of Quilts (18th to 21st August). It will then travel to Exeter, Glasgow, Birmingham and London between September 2022 and April 2023 as part of the ICHF shows.

But before then the quilt is getting its’ first showing at QuiltFest at the Llangollen Museum in Wales. QuiltFest is a little smaller than normal due to Covid restrictions but will still be worth a visit if you live nearby. Llangollen is a lovely town surrounded by stunning countryside. Sadly I won’t make it this year but have enjoyed the show in the past.

Taming The Wilderness was inspired by the artwork on an album called The Wilderness by Explosions in the Sky. The artist is Jacob van Loon and you can find the piece 8th & Main here. His work is amazing and I can see it inspiring more pieces in the future. So, in all its glory, here is Taming The Wilderness -

Cadence 7

Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Instagram may already know that I had a very good Festival of Quilts last week. Like most exhibitors, and many of the visitors I guess, I was a bit anxious about going and really wasn’t sure how the show would go. But it went great!

So thank you to the event organisers and the staff at the NEC - you created a spacious, safe, clean environment and your support is much appreciated. Thank you to my son Joe for helping with set up on the Wednesday and to my dear friend Ruth Brown for helping me on the stand during the show. Thank you to all the visitors - you created a wonderful ‘vibe’ and it was lovely to speak with so many of you after such a long gap. Thank you to those of you who are reading my posts for the first time. Thank you to those of you who brought my fabrics and my books. Thank you to those who placed orders for dyes, screens etc. And a very, very big thank you to the judges who awarded my quilt, Cadence 7, 1st place in the Art Quilt category. That really was the cherry on the icing on a very good cake!

Shows like Festival of Quilts are hard work but always rewarding. This year was special in so many ways and I’m glad that I made the decision to go. I have already booked my stand for next year - it is going to be amazing!

I’m very pleased to announce that I will be giving my very first live workshop at 4pm on Saturday 17th April as part of The Creative Craft Shows ‘Craftfulness Festival’. Like many event organisers ICHF have moved their events online and had a great response. You can find out more about the event here. All the content (50 hours of workshops) is being recorded live on the 17th April but is available to watch until 29th May. Which means if I make a real hash of it I will know that it is ‘out there’ for 6 weeks …. no pressure then!

My workshop is called Printing and Stamping with Textile Inks. Over 90 minutes I will be showing everyone how to use a thermofax screen, simple acrylic shapes and textile inks to decorate both sides of a cotton tote bag. The inks and the techniques are easy and safe to use so are suitable for children / grandchildren. Tutors don’t get paid to give their workshops but most of us have kits available via the ICHF shop - you can find out more about my kits here here. And you can find a show guide here.

The last event I attended was the Scottish Quilt Show at the beginning of March last year. It was a wonderful event and an opportunity to spend time with my daughter who lives in Glasgow. I’ve missed my daughter and being out and about so much but things are looking more hopeful now. At the moment I am planning to be at Festival of Quilts in August and have my fingers and toes crossed that it will go ahead (and that we get to see Jess soon!).

And finally I want to say thank you to the students who signed up to my online Breakdown Your Palette workshop during March. With your help and a small donation I have been able to donate £275 to YoungMinds, a charity that works with children and young people with mental health issues. Thank you.

Leah x

Being an artist is more than just making art. At least it is for me as I believe showing work to others is an important part of calling myself an artist with a capital A. In a perfect world exhibition organisers, curators and galleries would somehow know that I had just finished a piece of fantastic art and would be beating down my door to get at it …..

Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that and so a significant part of most artists life is self-promotion, filling out calls for entry, submitting exhibition proposals and, if successful, shipping pieces across the world (which is increasingly difficult and worthy of a post in itself). As you may have noticed I’m pretty active on the self promotion front but I have to admit that I’ve let some things drift whilst I have focussed on teaching and writing.

Before I got distracted I kept a file of potential ‘calls for entry’ that looked at least 18 months ahead so that I could identify ‘targets’ and work to have suitable quilts ready for specific dates. I work in series and have found trying to respond to other peoples themes rather disappointing. I discard many opportunities to exhibit because of that and only keep a list of those that don’t have specific themes or have themes, such as ‘Structures’ that might fit with my work. Or I did. Having a few scraps of paper in a random pile does not count as a proper list. I have put that right and now have a well organised file of ‘calls for entry’. Most are in the quilt world but I’ve also decided that now is the time to venture out in the bigger textile world. Having a list doesn’t mean success. The more you submit work, the more rejections you get. But, as the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it’!

The other thing I used to be very disciplined about was submitting proposals for exhibition, either on my own or with others. Curators are often working one or two years ahead. Some artists prepare a collection of work and then submit proposals but most, myself included, submit proposals when they only have ‘work in progress’ and maybe one or two finished pieces. I haven’t done that for a long time and I could kick myself as there is almost certainly a back log due to Covid. And the success rate is even lower than ‘calls for entry’. I don’t have anything in the pipeline and realistically can’t expect to having a solo exhibition for at least two or three years. Ho hum!!

The good news though is that I am now feeling very happy with the work that I’m creating. To the extent that I’ve submitted a couple of pieces to a couple of calls for entry. I can’t share images of the full quilts but have included a photo of the detail in one piece above. And, more importantly, I know that I have a new series. By that I mean that I have an inspiration / set of ideas that has enough breadth and has engaged me so deeply that I know I can produce more pieces of art exploring the same theme. I am calling this new series Cadence as its inspiration has come from the regular and repeated process of making breakdown screens, printing fabric, washing fabric, cutting fabric, arranging and piecing fabric, layering and stitching. And because I think it is a lovely word.

Feeling connected to my process again is wonderful and means that I have the confidence to write new proposals for exhibition. To look further ahead on days when the present is so dark. So watch this space!

Hidden Message 2 - one of the quilts on display in From There to Now

Those of you who live in the UK will be aware that the government announced new restrictions covering Greater Manchester (where I live) on Thursday evening due to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases locally. We are no longer able to visit each others homes or gardens. They have not imposed any new restrictions on businesses so I could continue to teach. However, whilst my students never go inside my home, they do use the garden to access the studio, the bathroom and screen wash trough as well as sitting in the garden on sunny days. It is tempting to bend the rules as I know that I, and my family, are being super careful. And I know that the studio is Covid-19 safe. But I’m not going too. If we all bend the rules we will never get free of this disease.

So yesterday I contacted those students who were due in the studio in the next couple of weeks. They have all been so understanding and so lovely and I thank them for making a difficult day easier to bear. I’m trying to reschedule the Breakdown Your Palette workshop for later in the summer and may have a couple of free spaces if it goes ahead.

But life goes on and there is much to celebrate. Beyond The Festival of Quilts launched on Thursday and I have had some fabulous responses to my virtual gallery ‘From There to Now’. Although the official event finishes tomorrow I believe that the galleries are going to be left visible until next years show. I’ve also had a good response to the Helen Parrott and Rosie James workshops in 2021 with half the places taken in a couple of days. They are popular teachers!

And thank you to those who have ordered from my webshop, especially those buying my limited edition bookmarks. As a reminder the 10% discount code FOQ2020 is valid until midnight on Sunday.

Yesterday was horrible but today I have given myself a good talking to and am back working on my book.

Leah x