Don't let the seagulls eat your chips if you are on holiday this week! I am  busy gathering things together to teach 2 weeks of summer schools at my studio in Northumberland. This is the first time I have done this since I used to teach print making summer schools 10 years ago and if it works well I may concentrate on running more longer  blocks of tuition as I know many of you who are abroad would like to participate. Anyway here is a textile seagull and a print making one too to keep you in the summer mood.

Wheatear

I love Wheatear stitch and the hedgerows and fields are rich with flowers and grasses despite the drought. In the north we have had the odd dull day and even a little rain which has helped to make this perhaps the best summer for a long time. Looking forward to teaching two weeks of Hedgerow to my summer schoolers.

Fleurs d'après Breughel

Have finished this piece recently. As you know I like to use old things, gifted items and charity shop finds and this is a charity shop unfinished tapestry which I have worked into with appliqué and stitch. I hope to do a series of these for exhibition but find the canvas a bit hard on my hands so have to be really motivated by the image! I love dahlias and zinnias together and these are freshly picked from my allotment where I have a cutting garden.

Frida

I was at the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V & A yesterday. Loved seeing her personal effects, particularly her sewing box and the little rag doll she had made. When I had put together my Frida Doll course I had not known that she made them too.
I learnt so much about Tehuana costume and was surprised at how rich the fabrics, weaving and embroidery were. In the photographs I have seen over the year it has always been the colour combinations that had impressed me so it was good to get so close to the fabric themselves .
Here is a link to the exhibition. They have extended the date slightly so you might be able to get tickets but be warned it is very busy.

Thread and Thrift place on course

A place has come up for my THREAD AND THRIFT course at The Hearth, Horsley, Northumberland on Sun 8th July. It is £50 for the day including materials. If you are interested please contact me through my website. here is the course description

"I have great respect for the culture of thrift and make do and mend practiced by previous generations in domestic settings and I try to continue this tradition by using what I already have, buying only second hand or incorporating gifted fabrics. Every piece of old fabric or needlework has a story to tell, particularly those created and found through unpicking old pieces of quilt and I collage these little bits of preciousness together into new patchworks which are further embellished with carefully chosen and lovingly work hand stitching. In this workshop you will build up one beautiful collage using old and new materials but if you want to turn it into something more functional I will also show you how to turn it into a little keepsake bag."

The whole story

You blog readers get to see every page of a little wallet book which I have just finished. It has been in progress for a couple of years because I find it difficult to work with green but I got there in the end and it is full of preciousness and tender detail.

For sale!

Just restocked my Etsy shop. I have had little time to make things to sell recently as I have been teaching many many workshops, preparing for Open Studios and of course gardening.
 Link to my shop HERE