Bronnie and Larissa, what a team!   This is the last of 5 daily blog posts about The Geelong Fibre Forum 2023. It was important to me to record as much as I could about my students, their work and all the fun . . . and my dear friends. To see the first post and then the others - go to - Geelong Fibre Forum 2023 The organisation of an event the size of the Geelong Fibre Forum is mind blowing. It is all run by volunteers!! The main 2 being Bronnie and Larissa. How they manage to run The Geelong Fibre Forum every year, whilst working full time and running homes and families - I really don't know. Thank you so much lovely girls, this was a fantastic forum. This year was particularly special for several reasons. One being that Bronnie and Larissa had an exhibition of their own work. It was a real treat to see what they love creating. The opening party was fabulous, very much enjoyed by everyone. Bronnie & Larissa opening the exhibition Lots of happy talk and discussion about the wor...

Nicola Brown and me in the sunshine in Geelong         The Geelong Fibre Forum 2023 was fabulous. Yes, Australia was a long way to go, but it was worth it. There are few opportunities to teach a live 5 day workshop. They can be a challenge, but so rewarding when everything you have planned works out. It is a good test to check you are still capable of developing and delivering quality teaching. Whilst I am a very experienced tutor, you can never take anything for granted. You are only as good as your previous workshop or course. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with my good friend Nicola Brown (who also lives in Ireland and was also teaching) and tutors Mary Hettmansperger (America) and Pam De Groot (Australia) who I hadn't seen for several years. It was so very, very good to see them again. Plus I finally got to actually meet Dawn Edwards, who I have been friends with on FB for several years. There will be at least 3 blog posts about the work my group cr...

Printed layers of bonded recycled papers It's not long now - The Geelong Fibre Forum in Australia 24th to 30th September 2023 is just 12 weeks away!! I had better start getting organised. It always takes longer than I think. Planning what I can take in my suitcases. Teaching a 5 day workshop on the other side of the world can be a challenge, what materials do I REALLY need to take? The students have a comprehensive materials list, but I am always worried someone might forget something. I think there are couples of places left on my workshop - https://taftainc.com.au/workshops/kim-thittichai I haven't taught in Australia or New Zealand since 2019. I was due to teach this workshop in 2020 - but we we all know what happened that year, things got very quiet!! So International Tutors are now being invited back to the Fibre Forums and Quilt Symposia. Painting The Journey Taking sections from The Journey Printing blocks created from the original designs taken from The Journey It'...

Nicola and Pops I have just returned from a few days away staying at Clasheen in Carlow, Ireland with my great friend Nicola Brown. Nicola and I met when we were both teaching at Geelong TAFTA Forum in Australia in 2015 and have been good friends since. We tend to get together 2 or 3 times during the year depending on how busy we both are and if we are traveling a lot. Nicola is a brilliant eco printer, eco dyer and feltmaker. She works without traditional powdered mordants to create her beautiful eco printed and eco dyed fabrics. Nicola has a huge amount of information on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@clasheen , you can follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicolabrownclasheen/ With me being so interested in synthetic fabrics and distressing them with a heat gun and soldering iron, you might wonder why I would want to learn about eco printing . . Nicola told me I could eco print on nylon. My head exploded with ideas when she told me this! It's great at N...