Spring Knit and Stitch, Olympia

A week has now gone by since the Spring Knit and Stitch Show at Olympia  and I've just about recovered! On the Saturday I went with my mother-in -law Sheila to have a good look round  but Sunday was stewarding day.

I went in early before it was open to the public  so I could take photos of the TVCT 'Halfway Between' stand. It looked fantastic and I'm so pleased that my dolls house mock-up proved useful .

It was quiet to begin with but soon there were lots of interested people having a look around. The show attracted quite a wide  range of  knitters and stitchers and I think our stand with it's variety of textiles appealed to that audience.

No photography allowed(we encouraged people to buy the catalogue)  but in a quiet time I got Sue to take a snap of me with  my 'Fleet Mudflats' ( as used  in advertising and  show catalogue!) .
There's still the opportunity to see 'Halfway Between' at the National Needlework Archive

I spent the Sunday afternoon with my white gloves on , stewarding the 70 or so  quilts of Contemporary Quilt Specialist Group of Quilters Guild Of British Isles. Lovely to see such a wide range of quilts (including older ones) made by my friends and with my white gloves having a  fine time sneaking a look at their backs. I've written a post for the 'fire' blog on this topic. 

A little retail therapy did not go amiss - some fabrics to dye with indigo later in the summer and a range of threads including luscious linen ones from  Namolio.

Buy a Plank!

 

I love African fabrics  and have bought a lot from Magie Relph  of the  African Fabric Shop over the years ( I was her first customer! ). I especially like the kola and indigo fabrics that Musa produces, using quite a lot of it in my 'Tunisian Door' made especially for 'Under African Skies' exhibition.  So I was sorry to have missed out on the opportunity of buying a piece of Helen Conway's quilt when she cut it up.   However the artists that  did obtain a 'plank' have produced a wonderfully diverse selection of quilts which are now up for auction on the 'buy a plank' auction website. I urge you to visit  and consider bidding  for a worthwhile cause. I know which one I'd like to own!

Thanks to Nina-Marie  for asking so nicely if she could use this as inspiration for her colour palette!

I also used  some of Musa's fabrics in my 'Fleet Mudflats' piece (below) for TVCT 'Halfway Between'  exhibition which opens at Spring Knit and Stitch show at Olympia, stand F60, tomorrow. I'll  be visiting on Saturday, stewarding on Sunday  so if you see me, do say hello - I love to meet people who read my blog!

Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles at Knit and Stitch Olympia 13 -16 March

 

Booking is now open for Knit and Stitch at Olympia  13-16 March   and TVCT  'Halfway Between' is one of the featured exhibitions. I'm thrilled that an image of the stitching on  my 'Fleet Mudflats' is being used in the advertising !! Find out more about Thames Valley Contemporay Textiles here.

Text in Textiles

 An inspiring day at Thames Valley Textile Group last weekend,  with talk from Sara Impey ( who's  work I've long admired). Very entertaining  with wonderful sense of fun and ridiculous while addressing serious issues. Phrases that resonated I scribbled down : a liking for "density of text on the printed page"; "integrity of wholecloth" and tips such as not leaving big gaps between words  as get repetitive patterns forming.  I haven't done much with text apart from peeling poster JQ's but I fished out this piece of paper lamination -  and then put it back in the box as there are too many other projects on the go at the moment!

In the afternoon, the grand reveal  for 'Halfway Between' . In a moment of weakness I'd offered to help with curation and design of exhibition at Knit and Stitch  at Olympia next spring. With such varied work both 2d and 3d , it's going to be a challenge to make a cohesive display in a small space.

Peeling Portals Preview

I've had 'Green Door II/ Peeling Portals' on the design wall for months, pending finishing other projects. With deadline of 14 September  fast approaching (TVCT 'Half way Between' submission date) it was time to review in earnest.  After several weeks of swapping doors around , printing off some new images on fabric , finally  ended up with an arrangement I was happy with , pretty much a tweaked version of what I started with! It's now sown together with strips of Heide Stolle Webber fabric, it just (just!) needs quilting before and after adding the laminated layer.  

A productive afternoon

 I took the afternoon off today to make the most of  the weekend while Ian is at his parents to get 2 pieces of work underway for  Festival of Quilts. I concentrated today on my entry for CQ challenge
 ' Horizons' ( 50 x 150cm).   My aim was to create the background on the old red quilt I used for 'red flotsam'  to use some of the results of my screenprinting experiments from a few years ago.

 I became quite an expert on ripping 2 inch masking tape into raggy strips!

 

 Sample after first lot of  masking tape and painting with blue and red acrylic paints.

 

2nd lot of making tape applied then 'unbleached titanium' acrylic paint.

 

 Taped

 Painted

Tape removed

 

 Reasonably pleased with the first half  of the full size piece. Maybe a bit too regular , I'll  try to create more variety for the second half.  Loved the mass of coloured making tape I peeled off!

While I'm waiting for the paint to dry, time for a final play with my 'half way between ' indigo piece  - need to finalise the size by the end of May if I want to enter it in FoQ! Off to bed for an early start  tomorrow!