Twin needle Coptic stitch, Origata and a Stub binding

Some of you will know that I’m pretty focussed when it comes to how I use my time. If I’m not teaching or doing (the absolute bare minimum) ‘family / house’ stuff then I am in my studio making art. I read, do jigsaws, watch zombies on prime / netflix to wind down before bed but nearly all of my ‘free’ time is spent in the studio making art. I call this being focussed. Husband uses the word driven. I do get knackered sometimes and hubby will suggest I take a day off. Day off clearly means something different to him. To me it means wake up, skip having a shower, put on yesterdays t-shirt, kick aside the pile of laundry as I leave the bedroom, ignore the dirty dishes, grab a big packet of chocolate biscuits and head straight out to the studio. Remembering to lock the studio door so that I can’t be interrupted by my well meaning husband.

I do however make time for making books. I guess you could call it my ‘hobby’ now that textile art is my career / vocation.

And this last week I’ve been delighted to have friend, textile artist and book binder Ruth Brown teaching in the studio. I couldn’t sit in every day but I did make three of the five books that she taught during the week. My first ever twin needle Coptic stitch bound book which I love! Much firmer than the single needle version books I’ve made in the past and so many design possibilities. An Origata bound book which features a folded paper wrapper that holds the front and back covers. And a little stub bound book. The students also got to make a hard backed notebook and a travel journal.

Ruth is an excellent teacher and has a brand new studio in Otringham, nr Hull. Do have a look at her website here for details of her workshops. She will be demonstrating in The Creative Textile Studio at this summers Festival of Quilts as well as helping me on my stand. Do stop by and have a chat with her if you’re interested in book binding. (And don’t tell anyone but she is currently writing a book on hand bound books with stitched spines and will be teaching here at Urban Studio North in 2023 …. details to follow!).

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!

Simply Screen Printing is a two day introduction to screen printing that usually sells out but I have just had a cancelation for the workshop on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September so a place is now available. The workshop is aimed at beginners, those who have never done any screen printing before and maybe never used dyes before, but is also great for those who just fancy some time in a studio with like minded people printing fabric!

My goal for the weekend is to get students to the point where they are comfortable using a screen and confident enough to give it a go at home. And, of course, that the students love the 6 - 8 pieces of fabric they will print during the workshop.

We use simple things things like shredded paper, string and masking tape to create pattern and, of course, we do a little breakdown printing. I provide really detailed notes and instructions on how you can get set up cheaply and easily at home. You can find out more and book here.

Here is some delicious eye candy from the Simply Screen Printing workshop that ran in March ….. thanks to Alison, Carole, David, Mary and Sylvia.

Artist Louise Baldwin will be teaching her Accidently on Purpose workshop in my studio in July (Sunday 24th to Wednesday 27th July) and I spoke with her recently about her current work and what she aims to achieve during the workshop. She also shared some new images.

Talking about the images Louise told me -

‘This is some of the work that was on show recently where I’ve pushed together all sorts of bits and pieces from guitar necks to pegs, book covers and cake tin bases. Entangled with stitch and gestural marks in gold thread or wire and beads. The theme was Found and most of the materials were found in my studio as I tried to sift through the years of collecting in preparation to move house. I love working in a non hierarchical way with materials, where a bit of old worn paper is as important as a pearl; a staple as important as couched gold thread. I will often work on larger pieces and break them down into smaller works or layer them up to create depth and unexpected collisions of materials.’

Louise is a member of The 62 Group of Textile Artists and has exhibited internationally. Its fascinating to see how her work has developed in recent years away from 2D pieces into these fabulous 3D collections of found objects.

Talking about the workshop Louise said ‘I hope that, in our workshop, we will get to knock lots of ideas and materials around, make lots of mistakes and accidents and select out the most exciting and parts to develop.’

With a requirements list that includes ‘A little collection of odd stuff like wooden skewers, thin metal, feathers, buttons, metal zip, fake flowers, clips, broken jewellery, plastic lids …..   -  the kind of odd stuff that kicks around in drawers for some reason’ I can’t wait to see what happens!

There are still two places available on her workshop. You can find out more here.

I am very excited to tell you that I hope to be teaching at the Fibre Arts Australia event in Ballarat from the 13th to the 19th April 2023. There is an amazing line up of international and national tutors taking part in this annual residential event and the range of workshops really pushes the boundaries of what is textile art. I have put together a new workshop for the event called Colour Play: Low Tech Screen Printing with Temporary Resists which combines a deep dive into colour and how to control colour when working with Procion dyes alongside using simple screen printing techniques with the aim of creating a cohesive collection of fabrics printed in colours from each students source of inspiration. The workshop will, of course, include my all time favourite technique, breakdown printing.

Teaching on the other side of the world is going to be ‘interesting’. I can’t just decant my studio into my suitcase and bring everything I need with me. I’ll be working with the organiser to source dyes etc from Australian suppliers. I won’t know the exact layout of the class room until I get there. And I don’t know yet how we will dry breakdown screens. But I love a challenge and an adventure!

Fingers crossed that enough people sign up!

This is a brief but heartfelt post …… a massive thank you to those who bought my Inspiration Packs of dyed fabric and threads, signed up for a workshop during April or bought a second hand textile book whilst in my studio. Together we raised £252.50 which I have just donated to The Trussell Trust. Yes it is a drop in the ocean bit it will help support food banks in the UK and help the charity in it’s campaign to eradicate food poverty.

You can find out more about their work with food banks here.

Thank you again, Leah x

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.

In my last post I told you about the things that I’m doing to raise some money for The Trussell Trust, a charity that supports food banks in the UK and campaigns to end food poverty. Having recovered from The Creative Craft Show at ExCel last weekend I’ve spent some time updating my online shop. So …..

• I have now added the Charity Inspiration Packs that I have left to my online shop. Each pack contains a mix of silk, linen, cotton and viscose fabrics and threads. Each pack costs £12.50 and I will donate £5 from each sale to The Trussell Trust. You can find them here. I’ve also added some more Wonky Print Inspiration Packs.

• I have added new dates for a Breakdown Your Palette workshop (12th to 16th September) and a Simply Screen Printing workshop (16th and 17th July) as the other workshops had sold out. You can find out more about all my workshops here. And, as a reminder, I am donating £10 from every workshop place I sell between now and the end of April to The Trussell Trust.

• I have reduced the cost of my online Breakdown Your Palette workshop by 25% from £240 to £180 until the end of April in recognition of the fact that not everyone is free to travel yet. And in recognition that attending a workshop in my studio is not cheap and not accessible to all.

I’d like to thank everyone who stopped by my stand at the show last weekend, it was a real pleasure to be able to exhibit Ruins 7 and I’m humbled by the response it received. Ruins 7 was made in response to the Russian devastation of Aleppo in Syria. Let’s hope the world learns some lessons this time round.

Thank you for your continued support, Leah x

Ruins 7

Those of you who have been reading my posts for some time will know that when the pandemic hit I, like many others, felt completely useless. One of the things that helped me feel slightly less useless was raising money for The Trussell Trust along with help from my brilliant customers and students. In 2020 we raised £692.50 through the sale of limited edition bookmarks, donations for Colour Your Palette books sold, donating and buying second hand textile books from the bogshed library etc. These efforts continued in 2021 albeit at a slower pace and we raised £345 for YoungMinds.org.

And now this year. Well that feeling useless thing is back. At least it is for me. The war in Ukraine is horrific and I am in awe of the generosity of people across Europe and around the globe in supporting the Ukrainian people. But there is something closer to home that I’m also finding distressing. And that is the effect of rising energy and food costs. It is incomprehensible how so many people will fall into poverty in the UK when we live in a country with the 6th or 7th biggest economy. The pandemic hit the poorest families hard; the staggering rise in cost of living is going to cast a much wider net with those on fixed incomes and those who were getting buy facing tough months ahead. I am ashamed to live in a country were ‘heat or eat’ is a decision that so many people will have to face every day and where there are more food banks than McDonalds.

So I am going to try, with your help, to raise money for The Trussell Trust again this year. The Trussell Trust is a charity that supports food banks and campaigns for the end of food poverty in the UK. At some point I will make more bookmarks but for now …..

• I have made 36 Inspiration Packs each containing a mix of silk, linen, cotton and viscose fabrics and threads. Each pack costs £12.50 and I will donate £5 from each sale to The Trussell Trust. (I’m taking them to The Creative Craft Show at the ExCel Center, London on the 1st and 2nd April and will add any that remain to my website early next week).

• I will donate £10 for every workshop place I sell between now and the end of April.

• I have reduced the cost of my online Breakdown Your Palette workshop by 25% from £240 to £180 until the end of April in recognition of the fact that not everyone is free to travel yet.

Thank you to the lovely Millie T for donating thread to the cause!

I know that some will believe that any money raised should be used for Ukraine as their need is greater but hope that most of you will understand and support my efforts.

Leah x