Anyone who is self employed, particularly in my line of work knows we have to book our work quite far ahead. Whilst it can seem you are wishing your life away, it can also be good to have something exciting to look forward to. I have just signed the contracts for Fibrearts Ballarat Australia and the Creative Fibre Festival in Blenheim New Zealand in April/May 2012. I have also had confirmation for the Fibre Festival in Anchorage, Alaska for March 2012.  my gorgeous girls at Fibrearts Ballarat April 2010 I am SO excited about going back to teach at Ballarat - watch out Donnie and Ruth - Yeehhaa!!!! This time I will be concentrating on 3D structures using all the Hot Textiles techniques. It should be great fun and by then we should have some new products to play with. What will make my happiness complete is that Mary Hettmansperger will also be teaching that week. We met this year when we taught together at Ballarat and Orange. She is FANTASTIC, it will be wonderful to see her agai...

my stand looking quite tidy from the front . . . . I have just unloaded my poor car after the The Design and Technology show. I don't think it has ever been SO packed to the gunnels. It is a 13 year old Volvo V70 and still going very strong - thank goodness. The show was great fun. My role was to inspire, help and listen to teachers who need help to create new courses that include textiles, whether they teach art, textiles or D and T. A lot of schools and colleges are developing new, more creative courses and need help with the new products and materials that are now available.  My main tasks were to demonstrate how to use a heat press for transfer printing and a die cutting machine to cut out textile shapes along with all my usual heat distressing techniques. on closer inspection - not quite so tidy behind the scenes - definitely not tidy! showing how to use a die cutting machine (Prestige Pro) to cut textiles You may have seen die cutting machines such as the Sissix Big S...

print by Cath Bristow  Some of you may know I open my house twice a year as part of the Brighton Open Houses in May and November/December. It has been great fun turning my house in to a temporary gallery and a great chance to catch up with friends and ex students because I can be guaranteed to be 'at home'. However, my life seems to galloping along even faster than ever and something has to give - so I have decided to have a break from the Open Houses for a while.      Textile Garden by Sylvia Lynton   For our last exhibition we will have wonderful mix of talent as you will see from theses images, more can be found on our website one2six which should be updated by the end of this week - I haven't been able to get the updates ready for the ever patient and very wonderful Jayne to put onto the website, there is just too much going on. We are open for 4 weekends, November 20, 21 - 27, 28 and December 4,5 - 11, 12  from 10am to 6pm.     Raku cer...

  happy students in Sarah's VERY well equipped studio I was delighted when Sarah Lawrence of  Craftynotions invited me to teach 2 one day workshops at Craftynotions base camp in Newark, Nottingham. The first workshop was based on Vilene Spunbond and the second on Tyvek. The students were - Mary Kerr, Sheila Buchan, Jackie Litchfield, Cheryl Herod, Carol Devany, Janice Rose, Judith Gill, Margaret Williams, Linda Sottle, Anne Marsen, Jean Baker, Elaine Winterton and Brenda Wilkinson. Two of the ladies did both workshops and one of them came all the way from Edinburgh.   layers of Spunbond and polyester organza stitched together then zapped back with a heat gun The first day was devoted to colouring and distressing Spunbond. Sarah has developed a new range of absolutely fabulous paints and sprays that work particulalrly well on all Spunbonds and Tyvek. I have waited a long time to find the perfect paints, but I think I have found them. As some of you will know - when pain...

 The Textile Studio at Denman I love teaching at Denman College - the home of the W.I.   The teaching studios are well equipped, the food is great and I always have fab students in my group. The workshop ran from the 25th - 27th and a good time was had by all. The word had got round that I like to do stretching exercises to music with my students after lunch every day to help every one stay awake and feel refreshed. I was going to leave this as after all; I was teaching at the W.I. but no, my ladies were expecting it to be part of the course. Oh we did have a laugh! The students were - Jane Bothwell, Helen Dickinson, Sheilah Edgson, Jean Harnaman, Carole Jethwa, Jeanette Lamb, Patricia Richards, Margaret Sargeant, Pauline Walker and Jill Wilson.  The workshop was fast paced to cover all the products everyone wanted to try. The students painted and dyed Tyvek, Bondaweb, Vilene Spunbond and various weights of sew-in and iron-on interfacings. These were then layered up ...

Some of you may be familiar with the work of Brenda Killigrew and her students at Inkberrow Design Centre in Holberrow Green, Redditch, Worcestershire . The courses run both privately and by the college are textile based - Fashion Illustration, Millinery, Theatre, Corsetry, Tailoring, Textiles and Interior Design and Soft Furnishings. Brenda puts on the amazing fashion shows at ICHF shows. If you have been to Sewing for Pleasure/Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch you can't help but be aware of the sensation they cause. In these increasingly troubled times in further education we all need to be grateful to people like Brenda who have the energy, foresight and downright dogged determination to carry on delivering top level courses. It is a thankless task sometimes and we seem to be heading for some dark days ahead!!!! Great samples from just playing with the products to see what they could do So - less of the doom and gloom and on with the fun and joy of teaching and torturing students....

Well - Ally Pally has come and gone . The show is always one of the highlights of the year and this year we were not disappointed . It was wonderful to see the retrospective of Juila Caprara's work, what an incredible artist and teacher she was. I also particularly enjoyed the work of Gizella K Warburton, her muted tones and layered textures were a feast for the eyes . It was great to see so many of my friends and customers at the show, thank you all for dropping by. I know it can be difficult to get to me sometimes when I am surrounded by hoards of lovely ladies but thanks to those who made the effort. I was assisted on the stand by Brenda and Lou from Inkberrow Design Centre and Castanea . Having a disgusting cold I was in ever more need of their tender care and energy. They were absolute superstars - supplying me with hot chocolate on demand and mopping my fevered brow when necessary. Having been so inspired by the show I have just been going through some of my photos - I a...