Dorset, Durness, Deadlines and Doing things backwards

Well these are strange times. I'm sure that's been said before!

This week I was supposed to be teaching in Dorset, then heading off up to the far north of Scotland to one of my favourite places, Durness. 

It was on Balnakiel beach at Durness that this photo of my Granny was taken over 30 years ago. Sums her up. Tough, out-doorsy, headscarf, sensible trousers, in one of her favourite places - Scotland. I even swam that day, just around the corner from Balnakiel. I was planning on doing exactly that this time too. And puffins. I was so looking forward to seeing puffins, and we'd planned several jaunts to puffin-rich locations to track them down.

So Dorset isn't happening until 2022, and Durness isn't happening until next year. 

So why not create another deadline for myself instead?

As you may know, I've been working away on my first online course. There's a natural deadline coming up this week that ties in beautifully with an idea I've had for signing up a test group. Say no more say no more, but if you want in on the secret and a chance to be in it, make sure you've signed up to my newsletter. The invitation will be going out tomorrow Monday 8 June - and places will be limited. 

And doing things backwards?

Wouldn't it have been good to have thought through exactly how to film, edit, write, host, market, test, and sign up a course before giving myself a deadline to do it all?

Then again, sleep's overrated, isn't it?!

Change and challenges

It's probably fair to say that these are interesting, and challenging times. 

Personally, things started to go a bit awry last week when this happened to my tyre on my way to do a talk:

And of course nobody has a spare tyre nowadays, we all have those silly inflation kits and there was no way that was going to fix this. So I needed rescuing and putting on a truck. This is the sort of thing I've always dreaded happening, so on a personal note it's good to know that I can cope and work it out, and not just fall apart in a helpless heap.

One new tyre later, I managed to get to Chichester for the second day of my visit, for a Swirls workshop. Unfortunately, Chichester Embroiderers' Guild had their own bad luck in that their regular venue had been flooded. Luckily, one of their members was able to secure an alternative room at very short notice so the show could go on.

my teaching sample

And despite being in quite a small room, with limited space, the work that everyone stitched was super.

As always with these workshops, I love how people's personality comes out in their colour choices, and the size they choose to work. A lot of the time they surprise themselves!

I "was" booked to teach this workshop quite a few times in the coming months, so I'd prepared a folder of samples showing the whole process. I tried to remember to video what I was doing as I was going along, and my initial intention was to produce another little book, with links to the videos as a bonus. But now a lot of the workshops are cancelled, I'm thinking I may finally get my act together and create a little online course. I'm not sure exactly how to go about this, so that's what's occupying me while I can't go out and do anything else!

When things are up and running again and life has returned to "normal", I will of course be teaching in person, but an online course might be a solution for now. If that is something you would be interested in, please make sure you've signed up to my newsletter to hear about it first (you'll also receive a link for a 15% discount in my Etsy shop when you sign up). 

For now, thank you for reading - and stay safe everyone xx

Many things

Many things to tell you! I always tell myself "I'll write a blog post about that" and then time gets away from me again, and then another thing happens and I say "I'll add that to the blog post I was going to write about that other thing"...and so on.

Where to start?!

Workshops

Just before Christmas I had a very exciting meeting with Becky Drinan from Dot to Dot Studio in East Hoathly, East Sussex. Becky is the dressmaking tutor who taught Jade the Girl with the Bright Red Hair, youngest ever participant and finalist in the 2016 BBC Great British Sewing Bee.

Anyway, back to Dot to Dot. We've agreed three dates for one-day machine embroidery workshops for this coming year, with yours truly teaching up to 8 people a little project in the Dot to Dot studio.

The first workshop is Saturday 13 April, making little books with appliqué covers and stitched cord fastenings.

These are great little book covers for using up all your snippets and oddments of fabric, practising free motion embroidery, and learning how to stitch a cord. Your little book could become a needlecase (easiest) or a cover for a handmade paper book, or a reusable slip cover (a little more involved - for the keen!).

The second workshop on 17 August is machine embroidered landscapes - again, using lots of scraps of fabrics and different threads and fibres to create either an imagined landscape, or maybe recreate a favourite place in stitch.

In the third workshop on 23 November we will be making embroidered Christmas baubles!

To book your place with Dot to Dot please click here.

Exhibition 1

In 2017 I exhibited at Ramster for the very first time, and I'm going to be there again this year. The show runs every day from 16 to 31 March, and is well worth a visit - two gorgeous old halls in a stately home, absolutely packed with embroidered textiles. Much of the work is for sale, and there are always hundreds of artist cards to choose from, unframed pieces of work, and other bits and bobs for sale.

I think I will enter my purple swirl

and my two little birdie pieces that I've been working on recently. Here's the first one (sorry the photo isn't great, I blame the lack of daylight!)

Exhibition 2

Maggie Grey has kindly invited me to take part in the Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta in the New Forest on 27 and 28 April. I'll be exhibiting and selling work, as well as handmade cards and packs of goodies. I've never been to the Fiesta before, but I know it's a popular event - and I love the New Forest! The last time I was there we were camping at Easter, and our tent zip froze. While we were struggling with frozen fingers to escape into the frosty morning, we were taunted by the smell of sizzling bacon from all the cosy campervans and caravans. I've booked a B&B, but I am tempted to take my little tipi and camp...it won't be that cold, will it? It's nearly May! 

I've also given one talk already this year, and one workshop, with another three workshops and a talk to come - all before Ramster kicks off!

So at the moment I am VERY BUSY trying to make enough things for all these different things, and keep all the plates spinning! But busy is good, and it takes my mind off politics, albeit temporarily.

Finally...

Back in November I did a couple of little questionnaires asking for your thoughts about what I'm up to, and also about the creative process. Thank you to everyone who took the time to take my little surveys - the results were really interesting to read and very encouraging!

The results of the creativity survey are being compiled into a project that I've had ticking over for a while now. I have a Big Idea about the creative process, in particular how to get "unstuck", and also how to make your work "better" (something that is also hard to define).

Personally, I get stuck all the time - and I'm a master procrastinator, so I have much experience in this area! Can you tell?!

As a tutor, I like to think that I help people to get the best out of their stitching when they come to one of my classes or a workshop. I've worked with many many people now, and I can usually tell where people need a little prod to produce really wonderful work.

The problem is, do I turn this project into a mini online course? A mini book? A longer course? A longer book?! Maybe I'll do them all. When I've got a moment.

Thank you for reading!

First Five on Friday!

Yikes. Friday came round quicker than I thought...

1. Teaching prep
I finally got down to some work, and started my tried and tested method for planning my teaching year - shuffle lots of bits of paper around the table and hope they don't blow away. As usual I've lurched from having no ideas at all, to having far too many for the time available...

It's a hard task because I need to take into account the wishes of returning students (more heat dispersible, more textured stitching, how about some felt and paper-making? etc) with the needs of the beginners or less experienced. And I find that the more I start to nail my ideas down, the more pop into my head. Catching and containing my ideas into a 25 week teaching plan is a bit like trying to hold cooked spaghetti in my hands.

2. Sketchbooks
Also in preparation for my classes, I took delivery of this rather delicious pile of sketchbooks. Now there's a stack of blank pages Gina!

3. Mushroom
Sadly, one of our EG branch members (and ex-Chairman no less) died at the start of the summer, and friends and EG members have been helping the family to clear the house. An avid stitcher and beader, Fay definitely won the competition for "she with the most fabric at the end, wins" so at last week's committee meeting there was a bit of a fund-raising bun fight - with more at the meeting on Saturday. Despite my attempts to declutter and not buy any more STUFF, I confess a fair amount came home with me - including this beautiful darning mushroom.

How could anyone resist?

4. Food
In the name of research, I baked burnt some low-sugar biscuits this morning, using bananas as the sweetener. Hmm.

Hard to judge with the slightly charred edges, but I think they're lacking a certain something. Probably sugar. I'll try again, this time with choc chips not pecans. In other culinary news, I continue to knit my own yoghurt - with more success than with the biscuits.

5. Embroidery (finally!)
I have been inspired to make a bowl.

I should be finishing other things, but you know how it is once you get an idea? I wanted to try and make one using fabric, not water soluble and thread, but not wrapped and coiled, and not one of those folded quilted things with binding and ribbons at the corners, or a hexagonal sort of effort. I wanted it to be completely smooth and rounded.

This is my first attempt, just a small one because I wasn't sure my idea would work, but it is! I wouldn't go any smaller though, it's a pig to stitch as it gets caught under the machine. I need to work out what to do next as well. The outside is all one colour, pale blue, but I want a bit more texture and interest inside.

Onwards! Until Tuesday x

Making a start

It's all very well spending ages planning what I'm going to teach, it's another thing getting the ideas out of my head to create samples, and another thing again asking the students to trust me and give things a go...

Here are some leaves I've been playing with, for the Fairwarp class:

And for the adult learning class, I seemed to spend ages last week mixing up paint (and gave myself blue fingers, natch)

The painting'n'sticking was still a bit damp for people to take home at the end of class, so I took it home to dry - it all looked amazing on my dining room table!

I don't think everyone was convinced with being asked to do this, so fingers crossed the stitching that will follow this week will reassure!

I topped off the week with the obligatory trip to this place:

Mixed feelings - I was very tired, but there were some excellent exhibitions and I took (fewer than previously) photos to use in class, and found a bargain box of 20 sponge brushes for £3.75!

A grand day out

On Tuesday I was up bright and early to go into Battle....

with five keen machine embroidery students!

Courtesy of Jenny's book and Gina's workshop idea, we made a collection of some rather beautiful bags. 

 They weren't all completely finished by the end of the day, so for the purposes of the photos some of the tassels are "unattached" and need a bit of a haircut...don't look too closely!

Jane's

Pauline's 

Caroline's

Jean's 

(with free machining!  There was a certain amount of bullying and cajoling, but we got there in the end!)

and last but by no means least, 

Anne Marie's:

Thank you for a grand day out, ladies!

Cold pricklies

It's what comes of having warm fuzzies last week.

Ofsted.

Just 48 hours of madness in which to tame all the paper in the lever arch folder, make sure my objectives were all s.m.a.r.t. some quick rejjigging of a lesson plan to make it marginally more exciting than "students finish work started in previous session" and I was finally deemed to be "Good" (I think I forgot to take my hoops of fire to jump through whilst balancing a ball on the end of my nose)

...just as well the students are Outstanding!

All are Fiona's outstanding pieces of stitch, exploring texture . 

I love the merino wool in the third one down...



Warm fuzzies

The other day I heard someone describe teaching as something that could either give you "warm fuzzies" or "cold pricklies".

Wednesday and Thursday were definitely warm fuzzies!

I forgot (as always) my camera for Wednesday, so I'll have to grab some pictures next time.  We are approaching the end of the City & Guilds course and there is some utterly fabulous work emerging.  I am stunned at what people have been able to go away and do after a session of vague and waffly teaching with me...(well, it feels vague and waffly to me sometimes!  I get side-tracked by ideas).  Promise photos next week...

Meanwhile, on Thursday we have been making holes in things.  Someone told me a while back to confront my fear of teaching with craft tools that could potentially burn down the building, as it was fun...and I think I'm finally convinced!

Here is my original sample (in a sudden flash of inspiration it is backed with FOIL - I have after all got quite a lot of the stuff)

And here is Ann's piece, pre-burning of the holes - this is Ann who said she was no good at free machining...I beg to differ:

 

Angela's (also pre-burning).  I love the frayed edges of the silk that Angela has used:

And Carole has been very busy, displaying her work beautifully in a hard-backed book:

 

And Sheila has also conquered free machining and produced some beautiful work:

 

Now that we've burnt holes in anything that will stand still long enough, we've started to play with shirring elastic:

The Girl has also been stitching cut-through circles for her plant cell quilt:

Girl tacked all the hexagons, I did the triangles (because the points were fraying) and then Girl stitched it all together by hand, and free-machined and cut away the blue vacuoles.  All nuclei and chloroplasts also stitched on by Girl's hand.  Since this (blurry) photo, I have stitched it up with wadding and a backing, and Girl will machine quilt it next time I can grab her to come and use the sewing machine...

Science homework isn't what it was in my day...

FINALLY we also managed a spot of tray-dyeing in class yesterday (no wonder the car was laden to the roof!)

 

Sneak preview...

I haven't ironed it yet...