Making mainly pictorial textiles of scenes I've experienced, I'm not that comfortable working with more abstract concepts ( some of the Take it Further Challenges last year I found difficult) but I came with an open mind. On the first evening, after brainstorming a mind map of various pairings of opposite moods, we used coloured papers to make a pair of opposites, having a lovely time cutting, tearing and glueing (and swapping colours with our neighbours)
I was relieved that Jae was mainly concerned with making a positive statement with colour rather than anything more philosphical. I took onboard her comments about not only thinking about local colour in my pairing of 'Natural and Artificial' - I love the work of Barbara Rae (including her use of fluorescent paint) but often end up with a only slightly enhanced naturalistic palette rather than the more dynamic one ones I admire.
On Saturday morning, Jae demonstrated various techniques using Sericol Pigment Inks (Aqua Texiscreen) including monoprint, foam roller, brush, palette knife on wet and dry fabrics. We then started building up a collection of fabrics using one of our colour schemes with only 3 colours and NO ironing of fabrics allowed ( she obviously knows how we all use that excuse to procrastinate). 
It took a while to become accustomed to the consistency of the inks which were highly pigmented but transparent and slightly tacky and we were soon filling the washing line ( luckily in the heat they dried very quickly)
We had some individual time with Jae looking at the fabrics produced so far and how it fitted in with our aims. Some useful tips on putting fabrics into groups and isolating portions of them by folding. Most of us found that we had produced mostly patterned fabrics and needed some plainer ones to compliment them so back to more 'splash, tint and daub'
We then began tearing or 'rough cutting' strips and pieces, attaching them to a background with blind stitch and then starting to stitch into them . Interestingly, most of the fabrics I chose to use in this piece were dyed/painted old damask tablecloth - I wished I'd brought more to play with , they took the pigment so well and have a lovely sheen and feel to them , well suited to the subject.
I love the way that the pigment picks out the crumpled texture (like bark or trees )and I used up all the calico I'd brought with me ( and left over paint that others had finished with). I also liked the pattern made by loose threads (inevitable with all that torn fabric)
Probably my favourite piece of fabric of the weekend was produced right at the end , using up the rest of the paint on the roller over a failed attempt at using a palette knife. Everyone who looks at it says its a castle ( including my husband who has already claimed it for his office when stitched)
It was a wonderful weekend with stimulating tuition, good home cooking(those cakes!) and lovely to catch up with friends real and virtual, old and new. Shame about having to travel back on a Sunday - they kept apologising for no sandwiches or food on the train and only 2 working toilets! At least in 'First Advance' we were fed complimentary snacks and drinks. 
My current average stitch size ( as show in TBL 'Gythion Glow' above) is about 2 per inch. 
I can however stitch much smaller. This is my first ever quilt project c. 30 years ago - I was determined to get the teeniest stiches and worked up to 12 or 13 stitches per inch ( counted on the top only). In those days, pretty much all that was available was 2oz polyester wadding which is easy to stitch through and the cottons I pieced were from clothing from jumble sales - not too tight a weave. I used a 8 or 9 between and the specialised 100% cotton glazed quilting thread 'Belding Lily' from US. I started off using a 18" wooden quilting hoop but when the rectangular ones made from plastic tubing came available,this became my favourite - it still is as it's easy to adjust the tension evenly. 
In the late 80's /early 90's I settled on about 8 stitches per inch for consistency ( it took 7 years to hand quilt my one and only double bed quilt based on medieval tiles !)
When I got my Bernina sewing machine and could achieve small stitches that way, I started to increase the size of my hand stitching for decorative purposes, using cotton perle and silk buttonhole thread. In the late 90's it was about 5 stitches per inch in 'City Girl Dream of the Sea' (below)
And 5 years ago in 'Serifos Storm'(below) I'd increased (or should that be decreased!) to about 3 or 4 stitches per inch
As part of the TIF challenge last year , I returned to using glazed quilting thread but in huge tacking stitches (1 per inch! ) - appropriate to a piece about barely being held together. 
Although, with practice, I could probably achieve very fine stitching again ,my preference now is for combination of machine quilting and BIG handstitching which feels right for the scale I'm working now ( ignore the quilt police!) I use chenille needles ( needed to penetrate layers of acrylic paint as well as fabric and cotton wadding). The key it seems to me is evenness and consistency and developing a rhythm that suits and is enjoyable.
This A4 piece has been made with leftovers and offcuts from 9 projects completed this year, trimmed down and joined with zigzag using thread from a charity shop. Some of the fabrics are from charity shop clothes; from kimonos picked apart; some original Cameroon indigo cloth and a section of painted Durham quilt. Even the 'reduce-reuse-recycle' triangle was printed on a indigo dyed fabric sheet that had already been through the computer printer but kept jamming - it behave perfectly on this occasion. You can spot the component parts a lot easier from the back.
This will be the last item this year to be written up in my sketchbook/scrapbook -by expert planning (ha!) I have just a couple of pages left. The house is cleaned, studio tidied, cupboards and fridge stocked so I'm looking forward to about 10 creative days when I can concentrate on planning and starting some new work ( and a new sketchbook), mixed in with with some walks and visits to galleries for inspiration. 
As is often the way, I got carried away with my print blocks, producing far more than I needed. So for the TIF challenge, I used up some of the strips of fabric and organza I'd printed with 'Fire' layered and applied to a background of 70's furnishing fabric unearthed in the sort of the boxes in the cellar . The wadding and backing were salvaged from failed projects so everything in this piece has been recycled.
It's fairly crudely and quickly done ( well it is the last day of the month!) but sometimes that's no bad thing.
I've enjoyed the 'Take it Further Challenge' not only for trying out ideas and colour schemes I might not have gone for but also to see the varied results that others produced using the same themes. I won't be joining in next years challenge as it is stitch rather than design based. I'll just have to set challenges for myself ( I'll probably still be doing 2 Journal Quilts per month ) but I'll miss the shared endeavour.
I've had very little creativity this month but I have been doing a lot of sorting out - not only in my work room but also some of the miscellaneous boxes still lurking in the cellar ( so that's where my 'Paintstik' oilbars were!) Among the items I found was an old (Victorian?) silk velvet patchwork item , pieced quite coarsely over silk net , purchased at a Region 1 Area day. The dark blue/black fitted in with the colour palette for this month -I decided to use part of it to frame photos printed on fabric of some of the things I like about my studio space , some of my treasures. This was then mounted on a piece of silk ikat. 
Treasures 1-6 : quilt and textile reference books; Bernina Virtuosa 160 sewing machine(only 1 new circuit board and major de-fluff in 10+ years devoted service ) ; hand sewing threads ( mixture of old silks and ethically sourced hand dyed cotton perle ); Valdini and Oliver Twists variegated machine threads; Malaysian woven basket acquired at breakdown of World Orchid Show 1993 (used for storing rolls of paper etc); acrylic inks. 
Treasures 7-12: Liquitex acrylic paints; a small glimpse of my extensive fabric stash; 'humbug' triangular pincushion stuffed with sheeps wool circa 1980 - made by my mum, great design as it doesn't roll around and the natural oil in the wool prevents rusting; needlepoint sewing case , also made by my mum, the closest I got to a Turkish carpet until I went travelling several years later; watercolour sketchbooks from my travels; my computer!!!
Over a year later after we moved in , I've pretty well sorted out my working space - the 'master bedroom', the largest room in the house (except for the kitchen). As compensation, Ian got the bedroom with the best view overlooking the garden as his study ( and we can wave at each other across the landing)
The main difference is the loss of a design wall but this hasn't caused as many problems as I thought it would - I've hung a sheet from the back of the door but mainly use A1 size cork boards which are easy to move around. 
The main working space is a huge desk (thanks to Sue), with our old solid butchers block kitchen table at right angles - a reasonable height for cutting out. For storage, I've just put up some bookshelves saved from the living room of our old property - they're just the right width for the alcove ( must be Edwardian Proportions, both old and new houses date from around 1905). For my art equipment I've got Ikea Ivar shelving and boxes that have aged nicely after 15 years. 
You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff I got rid off during the process of moving but I've still managed to fill this huge 3 door wardrobe with fabric, smaller pieces in these baskets, yardage in big plastic crates.
In theory this is the guest bedroom ( a single fold-up bed) but they'd have to put up with the pins - Ian has a sofa bed in his study which is probably the safer option. The bed unfolded is quite useful for propping up the design boards.
I used my previous studio space for both stitching and painting, which meant being meticulous in clearing up between different activities and carrying buckets of water up ladders. Now, I've taken over the conservatory (more of a lean -to) for painting and printing. The light is fantastic even on a dull day (although it can get very hot). Money ran out before we could replace the lino - probably just as well - I trod on some monoprints that I'd left to dry on the floor and left a trail of glittery footprints. 
What is also different from my previous workspace is that it also houses my computer and printer. When I work from home on scientific papers etc, the cutting table is handy for laying documents out. The computer can of course be a terrible time waster but the benefits of being able to print fabric out or work directly in Photoshop means I'm much more productive ( and not having to shin up a ladder everytime I feel creative)
So what I had to work with was my shopping lists . The example I used was more legible than ususal as Ian was reading it and crossing items off as he found and ordered them on the Ocado website. Once you've placed a few orders, the site automatically pulls up previous orders and even prompts you ( as our first order was a Xmas one , these prompts tend to be of a beverage nature!) and the list can viewed as pictures of the items. I haven't used Photoshop to manipulate or alter text before - I was rather taken with the effect achieved with the filter 'palette knife' leaving just a hint of the writing.
I've been acumulating lots of used 'colour-catcher' sheets put in the washing machine to absorb loose dye from clothes. It's quite sobering quite how much dye comes out (the bright blue one on the far right was from a bathmat that had already been washed a few times) You sometimes get a nice random space dyed effect (especially from a 'darks' load) They seemed an appropriate material to use , being ephemeral.
To put them through the printer, I attached them to an A4 size sticky label ( which is what I use for organzas). Unfortunately they wouldn't come off the label afterwards so I had to incorporate them too (well I suppose that's the 3 layers of a quilt dealt with) , another time I'll use Freezer Paper
When I was wondering how to stitch it, it was Ian who suggested that I use black thread , to reintroduce the feeling of words
I'm rather excited by the ideas that this has generated: the manipulated text; the wonky lines;the large stitches; the crumpled texture of a material that is neither paper or fabric.
I couldn't help a wry smile when I saw the theme for this months 'Take it Further Challenge' was 'BALANCE' as I had just been diagnosed with Labyrinthitis after a bout of intense vertigo and dizziness caused by a viral infection. Happily this has now cleared up but what else could be the subject of my August TIF but the 'labyrinths' of the inner ear.
I searched for images on the web , thinking originally I would use the one above to tie in with the colour scheme but decided on the labelled b&w one below from the medical text book which looked like some exotic sea creature. 
I printed out the image on cotton poplin and also on silk organza and then overlaid them , slightly offset, so the images didn't line up properly, giving a slightly blurred image. 
I wanted a rough quality to the stitching in keeping with my feelings of becoming unravelled. Outlining the shapes on the top layer only became quite disorientating as I found I was following the wrong line, becoming sidetracked. The large tacking stitches along the labelling lines were more successful, holding things together.
Not a pretty or even very satisfying piece but thought provoking and very much about the process of matching stitch with intention. While I was sewing the long tacks, I was thinking how much I liked the mark they made and about doing more on future pieces. It's actually quite difficult to make such large stitches regular and I was questioning whether I actually wanted them to be regular and if not, how I could sustain that irregular look as I became more practiced in that stitch? I used to make quilts with very fine 12 stitches to the inch quilting then moved to using heavier threads for a bolder effect. How can I sew in a crude, random way when all my programming is to achieve a small, neat stitch?
One of the suggested principles of the course was that you keep one Studio Journal to gather everything together using the ' compost method' so that ideas from one project can cross to another projects. Rather tongue in cheek,( and not really in the spirit it was intended) I can also use this 'compost principle' to justify my use of multiple sketchbooks following the practice of composting in this household!
So pushing this analagy, my equivalent of the containers for kitchen waste, garden clippings and paper shreddings (the 'gathering ' stage) are my current selection of sketchbooks pictured above. These are: 2 x A5 (1 portrait, 1 landscape format); 1x A6; 1 x A4 cartridge paper excercise book; 1 x A5 watercolour paper sketchbook. My most frequently used is the A6 which I keep as an illustrated diary when travelling, notes from exhibitions , lectures etc. The A5 sketchbooks tend to have a more traditional function eg I'll be taking these for drawing in situ on my painting holiday later this week. It's useful having 2 on the go so that when doing quick sketches,you don't have to wait for the page to dry before doing another. I've fairly recently discovered the very cheap but good quality A4 excercise books which I use as scribble pads taking notes on courses, sketching out ideas , ripping out pages for other purposes. Doesn't matter if it gets dribbled on when taking notes for dyeing for instance 
Last year, I started keeping an A4 spiral sketchbook as a 'lab book', recording what I'd done for particular projects AFTER I'd completed them eg July Take it Further challenge on Persian Archers (above), notes on screenprinting course( below). It's a useful process to review what worked, what didn't and to distil and summarise. Although not an 'art journal' , I'm happy to show it to people and it acts as a compact portfolio of my current work. This, using the compost principle, is the equivalent of the dustbin of sieved compost.
I started a new A4 casebound sketchbook for the Studio Journal course. I have used it for the exercises and am beginning to realise that although I won't use it quite as intended, it could have a role to play for capturing ideas. Currently I have photos stored on the computer in an 'ideas' folder and inspirational articles and pictures from magazines stored in looseleaf binders . In one of the colour excercises we did, I combined photos with scanned copies from my A5 sketchbook and found matching swatchs of fabric (below)
