Terry drawing with needle nosed bottles and thickened dyes

The Creative Textile Studio (previously known as the Virtual Studio) has been an integral part of each summers Festival of Quilts from the very first show. It is a space where visitors can watch and interact with a bunch of talented people demonstrating a wide range of textile techniques. Up until now it has been organised by Leslie Morgan and the students of her Committed to Cloth studio. Leslie has now decided that it is time to retire and focus on making her own art.

And I am very proud to tell you that I am part of a new studio collective taking over the reins. The collective is Christine Chester (Studio Eleven), Hazel Ryder and Terry Donaldson (InStitches) and myself here at Urban Studio North. This is a new venture for us and we have big plans! We want to stretch the boundaries of textile art and share with you the widest range of textile and mixed media based techniques. We want to inspire you!

We will all be demonstrating at various times in studio and will be joined by some wonderful artists and textile tutors including Clare Bullock, Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw, Jennifer Collier, Kate Findlay, Ruth Brown and more. As we get closer to the show I will share the studio rota so you can plan a visit. And our logo. Yes we are going to have a logo! But for now you might want to look at our Instagram page foqcreativetextiles

And maybe start following us? Or spreading the word to your friends? Any support is very much appreciated. We’re barely an acorn right now but we want to grow to be a great big creative, colourful, inclusive and inspiring tree!

Well that’s my opinion. If you’ve been reading these posts for a while - thank you! - then you will know that I love breakdown printing. With experience you have a level of control over the results but it is that element of serendipity that makes breakdown printing so special. And versatile. There are so many ways of adding colour and mark to a screen and they all give lots of very different looking prints. Breakdown printing forms the basis for my art and is the most popular workshop that I teach.

I had another wonderful group of students last week and you can see a small selection of their work below. Mid-week eye candy!

If you are interested in breakdown printing you could come and see me demonstrating at this summers Festival of Quilts, both on my stand (K47) and in The Creative Textile Studio. Or you could buy my book (details here). Or sign up for my online Breakdown Your Palette workshop. Or join me in the studio. I still have places available for the last five day workshop in 2022, 12th to 16th September. Priced £400, you can find out more details, and book, here.

And I’m very happy to announce dates for my Breakdown Your Palette workshops in 2023. The dates are 15th to 19th May, 12th to 16th June and 10th to 14th July. Unfortunately though I am having to put my prices up having held them for three years. The new cost will be £450 with £150 deposit and the balance payment of £300 due six weeks before each workshop. You can find more details here.

(Or yes and I also offer the 5 day Breakdown Your Palette workshop to private groups of six, giving a 10% discount on the price. Please contact me here if you want to know more.)

Plug over … now time for that eye candy courtesy of Alwyn, Clare, Enid, Jane, Janet and Kerry!

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.