Rusty & Gnarly Textiles Workshop Day 3

Today the sun was shining and there had been a lovely ground frost. This is the front of the hotel and they obviously knew I was coming with the red carpet!

It looks wonderful in daylight and sits in over 70 acres of grounds.

I went around the back taking advantage of the sunny frosty morning.

Amazing courtyard area.

With amazing people in it. Shay and June, who just happen to be Powertex tutors and a whole lot more!

Back at the hall for our final day. We put our pieces into colour families along with any threads and fibres that we'd brought along.

Shay and June burning and soldering into their fabrics. 

Janet hand sewing and Cath deciding on her thread colours.

The ladies from Wolverhampton guild making stitch marks in their pieces.

Jeni had loads and loads of strips all pinned together, whilst Margaret was sewing tiny beads into her project.

Everyone busy ripping, tearing, here Kay was trying really hard to burn the place down, she set her corrugated on fire more than once!!

June, oh June, OMGosh, what can I say!! June was just gathering herself to go and wash yogurt out of her bag and everything else. I won't go into any more detail as you just had to have been there for it to be meaningful - but what an absolute scream this lady is. 

And this was the result, Shay her daughter and me in absolute hysterics. I am actually amazed how clear these two photos came out because I was laughing so much, tears were actually running down both of our faces!!

If anyone ever gets the chance to take a Powertex workshop with these two ladies I would thoroughly recommend it, they cover postcode areas LE9 and LE10. I can honestly say I haven't laughed (and cried with laughter) so much in absolutely ages!!

So now to the end product. These are Cath's. She did actually take one of them a step further and get some machine sewing done on it.

This one is Janet's and she'd done some fantastic hand stitching on her piece, it looked fabulous.

And this was one of Janet's fantastic boxes of threads, just look at all those gorgeous shades of greens, totally amazing and she also showed me how you split them down - thanks Janet.

This one is Judith's and it looks amazing IRL, she had loads of layers and different textures on it. She too hand stitched into it. I hope she posts a photo when she's finished it.

This is Jeni's, she pinned all her strips together and embellished them as she was going along - amazing.

And this piece is Margaret's, she was the master bead sewer, she was so good at it and did it so fast, it looked absolutely amazing and the colours in her background piece were amazing too.

This was a second piece that Jeni had started to compile.

These were Lisa's who was an absolute whizz on the sewing machine.

And she was also fantastic at hand sewing too, she made these most amazing holes by stitching into the fabric and pulling.

This one belongs to Maureen, she was a bit like me, no sign of any sewing, but she was well into bikes so that was exciting - lol.

I love this one, this was made by Kay. She has incorporated the actual rusty washers in her piece.

This is Cheryl's piece and her background is a piece of bark paper. It looked like leather to me, it was very strong.

And finally these were June's. I love how she's used those huge nails in the piece on the left.

I didn't manage to get any more photos as people were packing away and starting to leave.

Had a brilliant few days. Have to say, the sewing part wasn't for me, but loved the first two days creating the backgrounds and making different fabric and paper parcels of rust. But the best thing was the atmosphere, the friendliness and kindness of absolutely everyone in the group. Everyone was so willing to share, help and offer any support and guidance as needed. It was a special few days. And the stories I was told, well that's another story!!!

Rusty & Gnarly Textiles Workshop Days 1 & 2

So today saw me arriving at this village hall for the start of a three day workshop hosted by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden, formerly of The Beetroot Tree.

Just arrived and Judith kindly invited me to join her on her table.

Everyone unpacking their requirements list.

And finding a place for everything.

There was even a picnic area where a few of us sat outside to have our lunch.

The Best Western hotel I'd booking into for a couple of nights was literally just across the road.

This is the main building where I was staying. This is the backdoor to the reception.

The hotel room was fabulous, so big.

With a walk in wardrobe.

And a huge, huge bathroom.

Day 2 and back at the hall ready to unwrap and reveal all our rust.

These are mine. Still to unveil the three tied up bundles, ooh exciting.

Cath in pink, Janet and Judith opening their surprises.

Maureen and Lisa opening theres.

Margaret and Jeni, Jeni just being Jeni!!

Kay and Cheryl opening theres.

Cheryl excited about the unveil and liking this one.

And here are some more of mine laid out to dry.

The four ladies on the table behind me from Wolverhampton. Karina and Roberta and Elise just walking away in the grey hoodie.

And Shay, June, Janet and Cath.

Cheryl admiring Maureens fabulous creations.

Me, June and Shay. I was talking to these guys on FB the day before but had no idea I'd be meeting them the following day - we had a blast.

More of my pieces drying after more colours had been added after the rust was revealed.

As you can see, some people had made loads and loads, the big problem was getting everything dry. Elise and Maggie checking how their pieces were doing.

Jeni's fabric rust makes drying off.

Judith rummaging through her mega stash of cotton fabrics.

Everyone busy working away on their backgrounds.

Alysn gathering the group together and explaining some steps.

Demonstrating playing with pieces of metal including copper and brass and stainless steel fabrics. Holding them in plyers and putting them in the gas flame to see how they reacted. We all had a go.

As this post is getting rather long, I'll do day 3 on another.