Sample Sale This Weekend!

I'm having a sample sale this weekend, selling lots of my hand-stitched pieces at bargain prices.

Here's a peek at some of the things which will be available:

 

I'll be listing everything gradually this week over in my Big Cartel shop, and the listings will be available to purchase from 10am (UK time) this Sunday, 9th June. 

P.S. I've decided to keep my Big Cartel shop just for occasional sample sales, so after this week if you're looking for my printable PDF sewing patterns you'll only find them in my Etsy shop.

Crafty Ladies: Meet Ruth Singer

Thing were so deadline-crazy here last week that I didn't have a chance to put together a Crafty Ladies post... so, better late than never, let me introduce you to Crafty Lady Ruth Singer.

Ruth has some mad textile skillz! She puts these to good use creating beautiful, highly textured textile artworks and teaching dressmaking and other workshops in her studio. 

She's the author of three sewing books: Sew It Up (a manual of practical and decorative dressmaking techniques), Sew Eco (which focuses on sustainable sewing, and stitching with upcycled and vintage materials) and Fabric Manipulation (which includes 150 different techniques for pleating, stitching, gathering, etc).

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Hello! I'm Ruth Singer, a textile artist, author, tutor, historian, collector, cat owner, foraging addict and nature lover. I exhibit art textiles in galleries, work on creative projects with museums, write books about sewing and textiles and run a sewing school in Leicester.

Leicester is right in the centre of England, which is very handy for travelling all over the country delivering talks and creative textile workshops, as well as junk-shop forays and museum visiting.

Recently I’ve been making…

I've just received a big grant from the Arts Council for a solo exhibition at The National Centre for Craft & Design in Lincolnshire, so I am starting to work on pieces for that. I have a whole room to fill, which is exciting and terrifying in equal measure! The exhibition is called Narrative Threads and explores how we respond to and interact with textiles in our daily lives, looking at physical and emotional engagement with cloth, exploring tactility, memory and personal stories.  I'm also collecting personal textile memories, which you can contribute here.

I'm also collaborating with Bethany Walker to create a new body of work called Interlace, in which we combine concrete and delicate textile, for exhibitions in 2015. I am working on new colour combinations at the moment which is really good fun.

I’ve been working on…

Alongside my more creative work and teaching, I also work freelance to support designer makers in Leicestershire. I'm putting together some networking events and I'm also project co-ordinator for Ornamentum, a group of eight local makers who are creating collaborations for exhibitions and working on professional development programmes. I'm also teaching a social media workshop for designer makers this month too, so I have a good excuse to be spending lots of time on Pinterest!

I’ve been blogging about…

I'm only part way through a huge series of Postcards from Chateau Dumas, a wonderful venue in the South of France where I taught at week-long creative textiles course in September. Not only do I want to share what the lovely students made, but also the stunning surroundings, the buildings, the ambience of France. It was truly magical!

One of the Chateau Dumas posts to come is about the wonderful antique French linens I bought in the brocante. I blog about textile history quite a bit and enjoy sharing my knowledge and collections. It gives me an excuse to buy more too! I also write textile history posts called Pinning the Past for Mr X Stitch

I’ve been reading…

My reading at the moment is mostly research for my exhibition, so I am reading a lot of embroidery books, particularly old ones such as Constance Howard's book of embroidery stitches, textile history books like Quilts 1700-2010. I also tend to have Jenny Dean's Wild Colour open. Away from textiles, I always have a Richard Mabey book nearby and my favourite tree guide in my foraging bag.

 

While I sew, I’ve been watching…

When I'm working in my own studio at home I always listen to Radio 4 or 4 Extra.There's not much I don't enjoy but my favourites to work along to are classic or low-key crime dramas such as Paul Temple or anything Agatha Christie. I also like nature programmes and comedies, as well as the Archers.

In the teaching studio, I like tend to choose Classic FM as it is pretty relaxing and creates a calm atmosphere though sometimes when the music is very boisterous, the sewing machines start running faster and the students get a bit frantic!
 

Ruth’s 3 Top Tips for Creativity

1. Innovate, explore and find your own style. To succeed in the contemporary craft world you have to stand out from the crowd. Follow your heart, explore your own deep-seated passions and don't seek inspiration from other makers.

2. Collaborate with people whose work you love. It is fantastically enjoyable and creatively invigorating.

3. Explore the world around you. Walk in the woods, prowl city streets, investigate local museums, read the books in your library, take part in community projects. Make your work express something about you and how you engage with the world.

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Visit Ruth's shop to see her range of sewing patterns and her upcoming workshops. You can read more about her work and current projects on her blog, and you'll find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. 

Click here to read more posts in the Crafty Ladies series.

The Fashion & Textile Museum and Borough Market

A couple of weeks ago I met up with the lovely Charlotte of Displacement Activity for a Nice Day Out in London.

Charlotte & I have known each other through Etsy and blogging for years but (apart from briefly bumping into each other at the station on the way home from last year's Festival of Quilts) we'd never actually met before. It was great to finally do so, and to have some excellent company for the day!

We met up at the Fashion & Textile Museum, for a visit to their (now ended) Artist Textiles exhibition.

It feels a bit mean to be saying this on my blog when the exhibition has now finished, but I'm really glad I got the chance to see this! I'd heard great things about it from other crafty bloggers and I wasn't disappointed. Lots of really interesting prints from different artists and eras, and a nice mix of fabric panels and items like dresses made with the fabric.

I also really enjoyed the display of Sarah Campbell's beautiful and colourful work, which showed the development of some of her commercial designs from sketches to finished product.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the exhibition programme at the Museum. More textile-focused exhibitions to visit? Yes please! Their next exhibition, Made in Mexico, opens on 6th June.

The Fashion & Textile Museum is on Bermondsey Street, which is rather smart with lots of lovely cafes to choose from for lunch. If you want you can pick up a free "fashion heritage" map in the Museum (or download it here) that you can follow for a self-guided tour of the area, exploring a bit of the history of its fashion & textile industries. We just went and had a nice lunch :)

 

After lunch, we headed to nearby Borough Market which is somewhere I'd not visited before.

It turns out to be a foodie paradise. So much amaaaazing looking food, both pepared and fresh, with lots of ingredients/varieties that I'd never even heard of.

Quite mouth-watering, and all in a wonderful setting!

Then we walked to the river...

 

... and strolled along the South Bank...

 

 

... to Tate Modern where we looked at some art (resisting the urge to climb on it, of course). We spotted some knitted pieces, and some paintings that would make great quilts. Then there was just time for a cuppa and some cake (mmm... cake...) before we headed home.

Textiles, art, food, tea, & lots of nattering - what more could you want from a day out?

Book Review: Remarkable Rugs

Today I'm reviewing a book that's a bit different from the usual crafty books I tend to feature - it's not a book with tutorials, but a "coffee table" type book featuring the work of textile artist Phoebe Hart.

Remarkable Rugs: The Inspirational Art of Phoebe Hart by Harriet Hart and Caroline Clifton-Mogg features 42 of Phoebe's hand stitched designs. The book is a lovely hardback that's jam-packed with photos of her gorgeous rugs and wall hangings.

I have to admit that I'd never heard of Phoebe Hart before I was asked to review this book, but I'm delighted to have discovered her work - she was a very talented lady!

 

There's a short introduction which covers Phoebe's life, work and techniques. Then the designs are presented in themed chapters: Islands of the sun (inspired by her time living in the Caribbean), On the wing (lots of birds), A Peaceable Bestiary (assorted animals), Flowery Work (lots of florals), The Fruitful Harvest (seasonal fruit and vegetables), The House Beautiful (homes and their gardens, from cottages to mansions to farms) and In Celebration (designs celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, etc).

 

There's a photo of each piece, with a short description of the design. Then there's a full page photo (or a series of full page photos) showing close-ups of the design. When there's a series of close-up photos these tend to each be at a different scale - showing whole sections or "zoomed in" to show the really fine detail.

This shell design is one of my favourites:

 

I also adore this kitty! What a character.

Phoebe Hart's designs are intricate and quirky and quite beautiful. Looking at the photos of a whole design you admire it almost like you would a painting - the overall composition, the choice of colours, etc.

But the close-up photos are where you see the full beauty of the pieces as textiles and how much life they have in them as well as (of course) getting to see how Phoebe has constructed the different motifs.  

 

 
This is a gorgeous book that left me feeling the way I do when I've visited a great exhibition. If you're interested in textiles and, (like me), looking at these pictures made you go "oooh" I think you'll find this a really inspiring addition to your bookshelf.

Remarkable Rugs is published by Double-Barrelled Books. RRP £25. It's available from Amazon UK, Amazon USA, The Book Depository and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: the publisher sent me a review copy of this book. The Amazon & Book Depository links in this post are affiliate links]

Quilted Jewels

As part of the Three Choirs Festival there have been lots of concerts, exhibitions and other events happening this week in Gloucester. I went along to St Nicholas Church to see a selection of exhibitions with a crafty theme...


There was an exhibition of work by textile artist Jane O'Leary - the posts on her blog about preparing for the exhibition are really interesting. I particularly loved this piece, the details in it are just lovely:


I fell totally in love with the selection of beautiful engravings by Sarah Van Niekerk (you can see lots of images of her current work here).


The main exhibition was "Quilted Jewels", a display of quilts by the members of three local quilting groups: Montpelier Quilters, Highnam Quilters and Churchdown Patchwork and Quilters.

Seeing the church covered in all those colourful patterns was a wonderful sight - they were hanging everywhere and draped all over the pews in a riot of colour. My little camera struggled a bit with the lighting conditions but I'm sure you can use your imagination a bit!


A few of my favourites were... "Mediterranean Madness" by Linda Simmons:


"Stained Glass Window Quilt" by Mary Davies and "Heraldry Hanging" by Pat Wilson (which included fabrics hand-dyed by Pat's daughter Cathy):


"Farmyard Fun" by Linda Simmons and "Freedom Road" by Valerie Pickard:


"Dazzling Diamonds" by Mary Davies and "Rice Bowls" by Linda Simmons from a Kaffe Gasset design:


"Joined Hands" and "Diamonds are Forever" by Polly Sutcliffe:


And a hand-pieced quilt by Anna Jones called "The First of Many" which was started years ago, abandoned half-finished in an attic and then re-started and finished with the encouragement of the Highnam Quilters group.


I also couldn't resist taking some snaps of the textiles and patterns in the church while I was there :)

Finished! (C365/346)

I have finished my accounts! Hurrah hurrah hurrah *happy dance*

I've still got the actual tax return to do, and a few bits of printing and filing to sort out but spreadsheets have been completed, calculations have been made, all bar one receipt has been found and neatly filed. Success!

Also satisfying but in a totally different way, I finished these last night:
Rather embarrasingly you can see them in my work in progress pile way back on day 51!

365 / 217 - An Assortment of Circles

I neglected to adjust my camera's white balance whilst taking photos today, and by the end the light had changed completely and so today's Crafting 365 photo is rather yellow:
As unsatisfactory as that photograph is, it will have to do because it is effing freezing today and I'm not going outside again to take more photos! Brrr! Instead I am warming my hands up with a nice mug of hot tea and shall tell you about yesterday's crafty efforts...

Yesterday was all about circles: stitching together the pink and blue textile art pieces ready for backing another day; starting work on the pastel mobile I cut out last week; and stuffing the remaining pincushions. I've used up a fair bit of the felt scraps I was hoarding (I maintain that I am "tidying" by making these pincushions but the boyfriend is having none of it), but there's still plenty lying about the place so there will no doubt be more to come. Here's the finished collection:So many circles! They'll all be listed in the shop this week - one is already parcelled up to go to a new home when the Post Office reopens tomorrow. I'm trying to work out the best way to adapt the circles-within-circles idea for a textile art piece but I've not yet settled on an idea I'm happy with so it'll have to wait. I'll let the idea percolate for a while and come back to it another time. Plenty to keep me busy in the meantime...