Festival of Quilts 2016: Free Motion Stitching From Life

Lots of posts to write on my 4 days at the Festival of Quilts   starting  with the one day class  on Wednesday  with Susan Chapman   drawing with the sewing machine. I had a 4.30 am start  from London  but fueled by  coffee I didn't flag too much  until the afternoon.
On  loaned Bernina B330  machines (luckily   not too dissimilar  to my Activa 125 )  we started with some warm up exercises on  2  layers of medium calico : feed dogs up, stitch length zero, fast feet, slow hands, shoulders back , breathe!! 

After some scribbles  and writing our names, we 'drew' various machine feet and gadgets with continuous line.  Who knew they could be so interesting!! We then drew our neighbour - Judith made a very good job of drawing me reading my Kindle - mine of her was less successful.  We both agreed it's much easier drawing people   who are wearing glasses.

In the afternoon Bailey  patiently sat   in 3  different half hour poses  wearing a variety of different clothes and accessories - hat was good, the scarf very difficult.

 

Then in contrast to normal life classes where you have quick poses then a more sustained  session, we had Bailey standing  for 5 minutes. These were my favourite sketches - no time to overthink, I love the energetic lines produced.

A very satisfying afternoon's work ! Other used scraps of fabric and added  coloured details to some of their drawings - I'd run out of steam after my early start,

  Susan was an excellent tutor and I loved her figures in the 'Quilt Creations' section of the show and the sentiments behind it; ' Communion' is a vision of the world where all nationalities and cultures will stand together. There will be no hatred of people simply because of colour , religion or culture  but an understanding and tolerance of their differences. Amen to that.

I also spent some considerable time with the stitched pieces by Rosie James in the 'Art Textiles:Made in Britain ' gallery, looking with even more admiration now I'd had a go at the technique myself.

This afternoon I wanted to have a go at home on my own machine while the instruction  was fresh in my mind. Ian was a  willing if fidgety model - I'll make a better job of his head next time, it definitely did not show my handsome husband at his best!

The ' selfie' I did in the mirror, as Penny pointed out on Facebook, made me look cross ( it's the concentration)  but with addition of  the bits of  collar from a favourite shirt that has decided to disintegrate, I'll make the deadline for August's Journal Quilt!!

Fleeting Moments

'shibori 'Clouds

'Shibori' waves on Chesil Beach

You would be forgiven for thinking that our breaks in Weymouth revolve around food and real ales! Today we had the treat of a traditional afternoon tea at the 'Height's' Hotel and Restaurant overlooking Chesil Beach. The first time we've been inside, we usually make our way there at some point for the amazing views.

Probably our favourite spot however is the'Taste' Cafe at Chesil Beach Nature Centre- we walked there for lunch both yesterday and today. I never tire of  watching how the Fleet lagoon changes by the minute, with the tide rising and falling and different light and weather conditions.It formed the basis of my 'Fleet Mudflats' quilt  and I've had various bits of fabric marinating on my design wall for the last few months.

Lots of little waders (Dunlins?)spotted when I didn't have my  new binoculars with me ! 

colourful beach debris 

Seedheads at Smallmouth Bay 

Thumbnail sketches 

The dining table becomes my studio space - scraps of fabric for journal quilts today, mono-printing planned for Thursday (we're  visiting friends in Wellington tomorrow) and beer festival on Friday ( our 3rd)

The View from Room 32

My favourite location for  sketching was my  bedroom on the top floor.
I was spellbound on the first  morning,  only just making it to breakfast on time as the sun gradually crept  down the mountainside, areas in shadow gradually getting lit up , first the trees on the left then the right, then the whole area turning  from purple to orange. Total magic! I took lots of photos through and of the balustrade and managed a pencil sketch. The second morning I was a bit more organised and had my mint tin watercolour box in my handbag so I could colour in my sketch.

 

 

 

 

 

The third morning I set my alarm and had my shower before the sun rose ( those of you who know me well will find the idea of me doing something before my first coffee extraordinary!) and was armed  with  several sketchbooks and my proper watercolour box.  

 

I came back to my room at midday to change into my walking gear and the view was different again, with the colours and shapes of the balustrade more pronounced.

 

Am I a Finisher? Quilts v. Paintings

I read with interest the post by Terry Jarrard-Dimond 'Are you a finisher?' , tried and failed to leave a comment, but decided I wanted to explore the subject further anyway.
Whether I'm a finisher or not depends partly on the medium and also the time and input involved.
I generally do finish my quilts - I put a lot of thought and time into the design, the subject has to be something that inspires me, I'm good at planning (the scientist in me!) and most of all I love the process of problem solving.  So with all that investment I generally want to see it through. Sometimes quilts just don't take off , usually if I've done so much planning that there's little interest left ( as with my 'Weir' where the creative energy went into painting and Journal quilts leaving insufficient for the actual piece itself). Abandoning at an early stage is not the same as not finishing.   Paintings are another matter! 

With watercolours, where you can't correct, if something goes wrong then I start another one! Quick fresh paintings look better than laboured ones to my mind but there's always the risk of continuing to make the same mistakes!  I'm afraid I've tended to apply the same approach to mixed media and acrylic paintings too but I'm getting better at persevering - my recent course at Slapton has helped a lot.   

At Prawle Point, I made a lot of sketches in pen and watercolour of the view through the gap in the eroded sandstone. Then back in the studio, we were encouraged to work larger - I had a board 20 x 15 inches with a start of a painting in yellow and red from years ago.  The tutor really liked the preliminary wash of burnt sienna and my tentative outlines in graphcolour pencil! It was a challenge to try and preserve some of that underpainting while building up the shapes.

I usually paint directly in front of the subject or when  working at home I  surround myself with 'storyboards' of  photos and drawings , so working only from sketches was quite scary to begin with.  Initially I didn't gather enough information or was concentrating too much in making pleasing paintings of my sketches but my 'note-taking' has improved.

Working on this painting (need a name -orange rocks? ) was a revelation. Not having any photos (apart from the small screen of my camera) I used my sketches to block in the main shapes . Then I got stuck and would have abandoned it but setting sketches aside and with the tutors advice ( get rid of the green , change the direction of the rocks) worked into it more - the advantage of acrylics.

There's still a lot wrong with it but it marks a breakthrough in simplification and perserverance - I'm finally becoming a finisher of paintings too!