Following swiftly on from Shropshire the day before - I delivered a 2 day workshop - Extreme Surfaces for Stitch at InkBerrow Design Centre  We had great fun layering Vilene Spunbond backed with Bondaweb and stitched onto craft Vilene . I love teaching at this venue - the workshops are perfect for my classes. Layers of dyed Vilene Spunbond machine stitched onto dyed craft Vilene and then zapped back with a heat gun.   These beautiful samples were created by my youngest student ever - pre dyed Vilene Spunbond CS500 (yellow) had Bondaweb ironed onto the back and shapes were cut out with a soldering iron. The backing paper was then removed and the negative spaces (yellow) were then ironed onto the the black and blue backgrounds, more pre dyed CS500. Simple and exquisite! Pre dyed CS500 decorated with painted Bondaweb, sequins and glitter. This was then 'cut' into wavy strips and layered up to create a 'frothy' effect. T

 Extreme Surfaces for Stitch - Denman College  7th - 9th December layers of Vilene Spunbond, Tyvek and polyester organza  machine stitched to pelmet Vilene and zapped with a heat gun I have finally had word that my new book, Layered Textiles, will be delivered the first week of August. Much later than it was promised but at least I have a date. AARRGHHHH!!!! I do so hope it is worth the wait - I am still a bit concerned about what they have done with the cover. The anticipation is killing me  . . . .  * There have been a few changes with my Denman College www.denmancollege.org.uk workshops. Firstly the July workshop next year , Hot Textiles part 2, has been brought forward to January 9th - 11th. I have also added an extra workshop for Denman this year - December 7th - 9th Extreme Surfaces for Stitch. My courses are always fully booked at Denman with waiting lists - me teaching at the W.I. who would have thought??? It is a great place to teach and wonderfully relaxed place to be a s

 Hurrah! and lashings of ginger beer! My first course in Australia 2012 is full - there are still places left on other courses so if you are one of my Aus followers - check out the website fibrearts.jigsy.com/fibre-arts-at-ballarat-2012. I am so excited, particularly as this will be a new workshop combining newspaper with Vilene Spunbond and painted Bondaweb . . ooohhhHH!!!! It's going to be GORGEOUS.   old dyed newspapers layered with painted Bondaweb and gilding flake with STITCH, don't die of shock, I do get round to stitching sometimes . . . .   old dyed newspaper decorated with foiled Hot Spots!and Yes! more stitch  There are still places left on my workshop for ContextArt Forum in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains 4-DAY Workshop: HOT TEXTILES – NEW SURFACES FOR STITCH ( from Mon afternoon April 16 th to Friday noon, April 20 th 2012). Come and discover what Kim has been experimenting with in the past 2 years since she first graced Australia shores in 2010 to work

students painting up products I always enjoy teaching at Art Van Go , www.artvango.co.uk we are all SO well looked after. Fresh coffee and tea on tap with biscuits in the morning and chocolates in the afternoon. But I suppose you will want to know about the work! Hot Textiles 2 is the follow on workshop from Hot Textiles - funnily enough! The main idea of these workshops is the safe and creative use of irons, heat guns and soldering irons. Although my book Hot Textiles was published back in 2007 these workshops are still my most popular.  We were working with Vilene Spunbond, Tyvek, pelmet (craft) Vilene, Bondaweb, painted and plain and polyester organza, all the usual suspects. I also included Hot Stuff Sheets and Lamifix. As followers of this blog will already know, I have a passion for old painted and dyed newspaper. The faux chenille technique with newspaper was also tried out in this workshop to great success. It is featured in my new book and judging by the reactions from m

Hello again and welcome to my new followers. I seem to be having trouble getting on with things this week. I had 2 more very hectic but enjoyable days teaching at Harrow Way Community School in Andover (see Thursday January 6th) on Monday and Tuesday and spent most of yesterday in a daze and recovering. Am I getting too old for all this dashing about? Consequently I am behind with paperwork and updating this blog. However - here I am now!   West Dean College This will be a 3 part post on the tales of my course at glorious West Dean College last week We had a fantastic time with the students producing work of a very high standard. To do the work justice I will separate it into sections. We will start with using old painted and dyed newspapers. The students enrolled on the course were - Mike Wallace, Janette Lazell, Linda Beadle, Rose Chapman, Alison Davis, Alyssa Bacon and Avril O'Brien. One of the luxuries of teaching at West Dean is the small group sizes, each student

  The fantastic art room at UCTC Yesterday saw me teaching a mixed group of year 10 students and teachers at  Uckfield Community Technical College We had a fast paced, slightly crazy day that was very, very enjoyable. I must say I occasionally find it hard to concentrate on teaching when I am enjoying the interaction with the students so much - I know it's not very professional - but there! The day had been set up by Clare Summons and Maggie Brand. Two very dedicated teachers who are full of energy and great ideas for their department. The art room that I was working in was full of incredible structures and art works - a very inspiring place in which to work . The idea was to demonstrate some of the latest techniques in textile art and for the students to try using painted Bondaweb and Tyvek.  As you will see from the samples they certainly got the idea. I hope to be going back to this college early in 2012 to continue the fun we had.  The samples were created using painted Bo

We will all, no doubt, succumb to the call of chocolate and other delicious naughtiness over the next few days. My favourite treats at the moment are Magnums minis, I can hear them calling me from the back of the supermarket as soon as I walk through the doors . In all my years of researching packaging for heat distressing the wrapping on these ice creams is the best so far. I just love the golden and brown tones that all merge together. If you buy mini ice creams you don't feel SO bad. The boxes are wrapped in a large sheet of gorgeous brown wrapping and then each ice cream is individually wrapped in more beautiful wrapping. Fantastic! I am sure that most of you reading this will already be aware of these delights but just in case they have passed you by, I thought it my duty to share this with you. Most food packaging can be textured with an iron just as you would Tyvek (see page 70, Hot Textiles). Place your packaging in between two sheets of baking parchment and iron LIGHTLY

Hurrah! and lashings of ginger beer! I've finished the book. The first draft has gone winging its way to my editor. Oh the relief!!!!                           The book is about layering textiles and here are three of the images that have inspired me in the past months. I am hoping the book will be published ready for The Festival of Quilts next August, but it will be a tight schedule, so fingers crossed. I have had to remove the heat gun from the nid-noi.com website as it has been discontinued, I am hoping to find a replacement at the trade show in February. I will let you all know when I have found one. A 300 watt versions will work - but they take time, and if you are like me with the attention span of a goldfish, you want your heat gun to work fast! I can now get on with putting my house back together after our best ever Open House. I am looking forward to a weekend off  . . . . . and away . . . . Ho! Ho! Ho!!!  x

Well we had a very full on week. My girls worked hard and produced some great samples - at least one of which will be in my next book . Here is a selection - Liz Smith 1 - Layers of Vilene Spunbond CS 500 Tyvek and polyester organza, machine stitched onto dyed craft Vilene in a flower pattern. The layers were then zapped away with a heat gun and the rest taken away with a soldering iron. The beads for the stamen were added later to create a more three dimensional sample. Craft Vilene is an excellent background for zapping onto as it doesn't distress with heat. Liz Smith 2 -  Strips of painted Vilene Spunbond CS 800 and 700 have been cut into wavy edges with a soldering iron and ironed on to painted Bondaweb. Liz wasn't keen on the colour combinations she ended up with but I think they work well together. Marilyn 1 - Layers of painted Bondaweb layered with Vilene Spunbond CS 800 and 700 that has been cut with a soldering iron have been ironed a piece of han