The tracing of the section of the Journey It is a great feeling to have finished filming The Journey to Design workshop. And we already have students enroled and working away. I just love it.   The tracing on the right (above) is the section I took of my moth Journey. On the left are the 2 printing blocks I made from the design. The positive and negative parts of the design. I enjoyed playing with the blocks, it has been a while since I made any.   The 2 blocks and a try out on some cartridge paper I always clean my blocks with baby wipes . . . From the left - a scrunched up baby wipe for the final cleaning of the blocks and 3 of the wipes I used flat on the blocks to clean them and get extra prints. I ironed Bondaweb into the back of the second baby wipe print. Then cut away the white areas (negative space). I then peeled off the backing paper and ironed the applique design onto the left hand baby wipe. it made a great background.   I then back stitched around the applie...

A view of my table as I paint the moth inspired Journey exercise  I have spent the past week painting and filming the painting of my moth inspired Journey design exercise. It always takes longer to set up the lights and web cams than you think. But I am more than halfway through now. And then there will be editing the videos and then loading everything onto the website. Another job that always takes longer than you think. It will be worth it though. I am very excited about sharing this workshop with my online students. Lines and shapes that I found interesting on the several moths I used for inspiration. The new workshop will be launched on Friday 31st January on a years subscription. You will be able to view the videos in the workshop whenever you like, wherever you are in the world. We will look at taking section with L shapes to isolate designs. These designs can then be made into printing blocks or stencils and templates. The finished Journey Depending what inspiration you use...

A pretty silk fibre bowl by Sally Thompson   Some of the students on the Experimental Textiles Video Library have started work again after the festive break. It only takes one to post their sample in the private group attached to one of the 12 workshops, and then a few more join in. I love it when my phone pings to tell me someone has posted a new comment or image.  Sally Thompson, Gina Dean and Sue Redhead have been having fun experimenting with silk fibres.   The other side of the bowl above         Sally also experimented with molding fibres around a ball.   The first try of a silk fibre vessel, very successfully I think.   You can of course mix your media when you are making bowls and vessels. Sally was having a clear out and decided to shred her old recipes, and then - Bam! A bowl made from a combination of paper and silk fibres. Doesn't it look fab with the toning silk fibres bringing out the orange tones in the shredded paper.   ...

  A quick blog post today to announce my next Thread Talk with The Embroiderers Guild - The Journey to Design. Saturday February 1st at 2pm. Here is the link to book a ticket - www.eventbrite.co.uk The tickets are £7.50 and the lecture will be available On Demand for a year after the live event. I will be talking about why I am so passionate about helping my students create their own, original designs.  If you didn't catch my lecture - Learning Through Play in September, it is available On Demand here - again for £7.50 - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-demand-thread-talks-kim-thittichai-learning-through-play That's it - just a quick post today.

A beautiful Suzani embroidery  It is now 111 days till I leave for my 2 tours of Uzbekistan. The original tour sold out so fast, we had to add another, which will start on March 23rd. I get breathless with excitement just thinking about it . .  Since my move to Ireland I haven't been saying Yes! to too many things, I wanted to settle into my new environment and not get too distracted. And then came Covid, so I REALLY settled in. So when Isha from Aahilya Holidays first asked me to lead a tour for her, I said no.  You may remember that I led 4 tours to Jaipur with Jamie from Coluricious in the early days of tutors of and artists leading travel tours. I think I felt that I had done with travel and I was happy to be settled where I was. Discover new foods   However, I have always dreamed of exploring Uzbekistan, the colours, the textures and the general romance of the country. But never, ever, thought I would be able to actually go. So when Isha suggested we go to Uzbek...

The MOST delicious chocolate cake It's been a while!  I have been thinking, you could probably hear the noise from where you are . . My birthday was last week and I hosted a lunch for 12. It was more a celebration of me moving to Ireland and into this amazing house 8 years ago. A small group of friends and neighbours who have helped me settle so well into this great community. My sister was here for a week which really helped. Lynda got the housekeeping and cleaning gene that seems to have passed me by!!! She was godsend. An absolute star and I love her dearly. (not just because she cleans!!) Pavlova with fruit decoration - one I prepared earlier! I don't entertain a lot at home, the house is usually too messy - anyone who makes will understand. But I do love feeding my friends, so it was wonderful to cook and create a big spread for my guests. I had such a great time, I didn't take ANY photos . . very rare for me.  There was some chocolate cake and trifle left and some of ...