Pretty Patches magazine

I have had a number of emails asking me about residential courses / exhibitions

So here is a list

I teach regularly at the Bramble Patch

Please check their website for courses, and numbers. I like teaching there as Anne is very flexible with dates and numbers so if you are interested in a particular course then an email or a phone call to them is appreciated

I also teach at Paulines Patchwork in Poundbury in Dorset

The Quilt Cabin in Hebden Bridge, although we have had to suspend classes until the work is carried out

I have a small exhibition at Prague Patchwork Meeting at the beginning of April and a much larger one at Quilt Expo in Beaujolais in France

I have 40 years or work being displayed at Midsomer Quilting near Bath and Bristol. This is a joint exhibition with Sheena Norquay “Is it really 40 years?”

This starts on 18th march

I also have some quilts on show at The Great British Quilt Show in Utoxeter at the end of April.

I am teaching in France with Crafty Retreats at the end of May and will be running the 2 residentials that I usually run at Grange over sands in November / December. Please email me if you are interested.

I have also been asked to teach on a cruise next Summer. It departs from Southampton and will visit Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tallin, Bruges and St Petersberg. All very exciting!

 

Please email me if you want any more details of the above.

I have a few finished small JQ’s and teaching samples but have not photographed them yet so pictures of them will have to wait.

Thank you to all you have sent me emails hoping I get better, it has been a nasty cold/cough/flu bug and I think it is going to take some time to get better. Would be quicker if I actually stopped and rested a bit more!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had been featured in Pretty Patches magazine but I had not received a copy

Anne Williams (editor of the Quilter and writer and editor for other quilt magazines) sent me a copy of the magazine whilst i was away.

I never buy quilt magazines, but I do like to read them when students bring them in etc, and have never been tempted to rush out and buy one. However I really like this new magazine. The graphics are modern, and the colours contemporary. Some of the projects are perhaps too basic and not always well made (often made by some young trendy new writer-am I getting old?) but there are some great projects in this magazine.

It was also good to be featured alongside Kate Dowty as I really like her work.

You should be able to read my article here

 

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More holiday photos

I don’t seem to be able to get rid of this nasty virus so have totally collapsed and am using this time to catch up with admin etc so am posting more pictures here.

We went to Portugal in October and I loved it, I wanted to return as there were a few places I wanted to go back to. The flights to Porto from Manchester are cheap so a good friend and I pretended we were young again and with a tiny back pack each set off for a few days in Northern Portugal. We were so lucky to have 3 clear blue sky days and i have stacks of inspirational photos

So why do I like Portugal?

Port is cheap!

Folk costume

The sea

Porto

Pottery

Food

Viana

Fabric shopping in Porto

Braga

Washing hung everywhere

Aveiro and Costa Nova

and more

Incase anyone is interested these pictures are taken with a Canon S120 point and shoot camera – on auto

 

 

 

 

Holiday time

I haven’t done any stitching for a few weeks as I’ve been busy with other projects.

My new publication should be ready next week. It is less pages than my previous books and will be available from the beginning of March for £10 plus pandp. It explains my interchange applique technique and has photos of lots of my quilts.

More to come about it later.

I am just back from a couple of short trips abroad. I came home one day and went off again the next day – maybe a mad idea but it worked, just spoilt a bit by catching a nasty virus that completely wiped me out one day.

My husband was given some tickets for the England rugby game in Rome so we had a few days holiday to see the sights of Rome. I have been to Rome a few times so wanted to go out of Rome, as well.

Here are some photos of Rome, Orvieto and Villa d’Este

St Peter’s

Surrounding St Peters

The Colosseum

Other Roman remains

 

 

Orvieto

Villa d’Este

Around Rome

The rugby

A great atmosphere and an inspiring trip.

Next set of photos to come later

Purple

Just thought I would share some of my recent photos that I might use to make February’s Journal Quilt.

A week’s admin

I think it would be a really good exercise, over a year, just to record how I spend my days as a Textile Artist / Teacher. Today I have sat at my computer, what seems like all day. My husband came in and said “Are you still sitting there!”

I teach, make quilts, write books and produce kits. What percentage of my week do I spend doing these?

Making Quilts

Drawings and designing?

Searching for, sourcing fabrics, materials etc?

Stitching?

Teaching

Preparing for teaching?

Actually teaching?

Writing and sending requirements list?

Preparing invoices?

Books and Kits

Writing instructions?

Photographing pieces of work?

Liaising with Graphic Designers?

Exhibiting

Writing proposals?

Filling in Forms etc?

Packaging and posting Quilts?

Media and marketing

Blog posting?

Sending emails etc?

Social media?

The list is long -the stitching takes up only a tiny tiny part of my week.

This week there has been no stitching, no designing and what seems like nothing much to show.

I have made hundreds of kits, ready for teaching in Olympia in March, Prague in April, Beaujolais in April and others throughout the year.

Buying new bags, having new labels printed is so easy on the internet but they all take time.

I have also done a plan for the joint exhibition that Sheena Norquay and I are having in March at Midsomer Quilting – more to come about this another time.

I have written all the instructions for my new project book – Interchange Applique – it is only half the number of pages compared to previous books but just as colourful. I am hoping it will be ready for Olympia.

So, not a lot (it seems) to show for a week’s really hard work but it does feel good to have it all done. I’ve even tidied up a bit, and been to loads of different exercise classes at our local gym (to give myself a break), so I feel fitter.