A cake and flowers for my birthday.   . . . and then another cake . . . !!! We are now over halfway through Experimental Textiles, this session was the sixth of nine. I have only ever taught one group at a time before, this year we are running two groups - a Thursday/Friday and a Saturday/Sunday. We will be doing the same next year. It is very interesting teaching the two groups side by side - they are both strong and are producing some excellent work. One thing that I hadn't considered was the air of competition creeping in between the groups. It is light hearted - but very definitely there!!! One of the benefits of having two groups - when the tutor has a birthday - you get two cakes!!!  When we are all settled with coffee (and cake) first thing on day one of the session - we look at what has been done for home work produced to reinforce what did on the session before. On the previous session we had looked at constructed textiles - felt, knit and weave...

 A very sensitive and subtle piece. This would make a beautiful cover for a tall night light/candle holder. You would just need to stitch a back seam to create a tube.  (Decovil 1 iron on interfacing, colourwashed with paper additions.) So, a busy week this week . . . .  Tuesday and Wednesday I was teaching a 2 day workshop at Art Van Go - Reclaimed Papers. It is great fun - you don't have to make anything that looks like anything - it is a great process. Just tearing and layering.  The group all cracking on. I love teaching at Art Van Go www.artvango.co.uk . It's a great space to teach in, plus I get to see Viv, Kevin and the team. This was my last workshop this year - and is was fabulous. The group worked really hard, and Viv and Kevin were on great form. Torn, painted newspapers torn and layered up with painted Bondaweb. This process is featured in my book Reclaimed Textiles - it's called 'Pretties and Background'. Once the pape...

Viv and Kevin. Starting our time in Dublin with a full Irish breakfast. Apologies for the delay in writing this post life has been a tad - hectic! I had a lovely time in Ireland. Laura and I shared a house in Donnybrook with Viv and Kevin from Art Van Go. We were there to do The Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin. This is the second time that Vilene have a stand at this show, and after having such a good time last year we knew what we were in for . . .   Laura on the stand, halfway through setting up the stand.   It is great fun working with Laura at the shows - we do have a laugh together, we work hard too, of course!!! The Dublin show is not as busy as the other two in the UK, but it has a fabulous atmosphere and great charm. Some of the stand holders are the same but there are many more from Ireland. There was lots to see and many friends to catch up with. I always enjoy looking at the graduates showcase. There is always interesting and intriguing...