InStitches Creative Textile Courses
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        • Judith Needham - weave your own chicken
        • Cas Holmes - Layers, lines and image 2021
        • Stewart Kelly - Following a line
        • Christine Chester Poetry of decay
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        • Amanda Clayton - Fragile Forms
        • Judith Needham - Willow apple basket
        • Caroline Bartlett - An Investigative Journey
        • Amanda Hislop - Abstracted Land 2021
        • Alice Fox - Natural Structures
        • Matthew Harris - Text-ile
        • Wendy Dolan - Architecture in stitch 2021
        • Liam Biswell - Experimental Printmaking
        • Debbie Lyddon - stitched collage 2021
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Fancy playing with colour this April?

25/2/2015

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Chase away those winter blues this April and spend a day tray dyeing with InStitches. 

We'll have pots and pots of colour for you to play with and defy you not to get carried away.  People usually end up selling their soul (well...almost) to find even more fabric* to transform with luscious colour; it's SO addictive.

Don't delay - book your place here

* so that's why we have fabric by the metre for you to buy on the day!
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Taking a cut?

19/2/2015

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We both love linoprints, especially the work of Fiona Humphrey and really enjoyed working with her in her studio last year. 

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The marks and textures found in her prints combined with such beautiful colour choices really inspire us to try harder with our own lino cutting, but we have quite some way to go before we reach her creativity!  So I have to content myself with owning these two pieces of her work featured above.  If you would like to see more of her linocuts or collagraphs then visit her website:
www.fionahumphrey.com


Last week it was the turn of ITS students to try their hand at linocutting, using their own themes as inspiration.

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Sarah carves a flower...
...and Gaynor prints arches

whilst a trip to Sydney inspires Joan!
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They have also been busy working into their sketchbooks, this time it is the Federation Bells which are Joan's inspiration.

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Fiona cut and painted some beautiful fungi.  Her pages are still works in progress, so we can't wait to see how she is going to develop the idea.

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And this is a piece of Gaynor's beautiful painted fabric.  Doesn't it just make you  want to reach for your thread stash and start stitching?

and of course, there was cake!

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Each class Christine brings one of her wonderful homemade cakes in for us all to enjoy.  Delicious with morning coffee or afternoon tea, and in turn we make a donation to her chosen charity, which this year is Macmillan Cancer Support

This week it was apple cake with cranberries, try the recipe here!
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Recipe Quilts & cake!

13/2/2015

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Wednesday was the last class in the Recipe Quilt course and it was wonderful to see the finished quilts.  The concept of our Recipe Quilt is everyone starts with the same 'ingredients' (unit shapes), adds their own variety (fabric choices) and mixes to taste!  The result: every quilt a winner; every quilt different.  Take a look, aren't they just fantastic?

All ready for (next) Christmas is Lyn with her Christmas stars quilt:


Bev worked really hard with her black and white, but red all over quilt; beautifully balanced.  Worth all the effort , don't you agree?  We just love the Scottie dogs (praise indeed from two dedicated cat folk!)

Fiona S. just has the binding to finish sewing on; a tricky one because it's wider than usual, but will be worth the extra effort in the end!
On a different scale was Fiona B.'s quilt, but none the less stunning for being that little bit smaller.  Fiona - you finished, well done!

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...there was cake!

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with thanks to Fiona S. we had cake with morning coffee (and we LOVE cake with coffee, or tea!!)  If you would like to try a piece too, then head over to Nigella's site for the recipe:

http://sugarspiceetc.com/2013/08/29/nigella-lawsons-store-cupboard-chocolate-orange-cake-chocolate-orange-marmalade-cake-recipe/
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Artists to inspire you: Cleo Massi

6/2/2015

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Here at InStitches we enjoy looking at the work of other artists, including those who work outside the world of stitch (yes, they do exist. Strange, but true, there are people who do not sew.  Weird!) and one such artist is Cleo Mussi. 

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Trained at Goldsmiths in the 1980s,  ion the Textile Dept., 
Cleo Massi's interest was in recycled fabrics, knowledge of pattern, print, weave and stitch which translated easily into reclaimed ceramic; she is known for her humorous twists and attention to detail. Cleo Mussi’s exhibitions are often large installations of up one hundred individual elements. The narrative within her work is reflected within the ceramic that she incorporates. She recycles a large proportion of her materials; the combinations of marks and glazes as well as functional forms are combined to produce works whose content whose content reflect design styles and fashions within British ceramic history incorporating aspirations and desire for ornamentation across the classes.



A-Z Handbook : http://www.mussimosaics.co.uk/a-z-handbook.php
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To see more of Cleo Massi's work visit her web site: http://www.mussimosaics.co.uk/information.php
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    Welcome to our blog! Here you'll find out what's been going on, plus plenty of ideas and inspiration and the odd cake recipe!

    Check back often to see what we're up to - it's great to have you along

    Hazel & Terry
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