It's amazing what you find!

Last year I visited the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace, London. Before we even got inside I thought that the Rose window looked a good source of inspiration so I took a pic. Once inside it still looked amazing! The show had loads to look at but one yarn that caught my eye was from the House of Hemp. I didn't buy any on the day but sent for some by mail order.

I decided to use it for a weaving project and wanted to do a check design so I warped the loom using the three colours.

Here's the finished result!

I like the colours together but wasn't happy with the edges of the weaving, not tidy enough for me. I might have to cut it up and use it for another project!

Looming ahead

Decided to warp up the loom and get weaving! I'm using a 2 shaft rigid heddle loom and sampling with various yarns before deciding on a project.

Norfolk Craft Guild

We have now completed our second week of our autumn exhibition at the Loft Gallery, Blickling Hall, Aylsham, Norfolk, only one more week to go. We have had lots of interested visitors and lots of lovely comments about the work on display. I thought that I'd share some of the photos that I took of the displays, so here they are. If you haven't been yet it's well worth the visit!

Festival of Quilts 2010

I have just spent a wonderful Sunday at the NEC in Birmingham at the Festival of Quilts. This is the major quilt event in Europe and has an international flavour. Lots to see, lots to buy, enthusiastic demonstrators and fantastic workmanship in the quilts on display made it thoroughly enjoyable, even to a non-quilter like me! The following pics are just a few that caught my eye as we were walking around, so feast your eyes!

Blakeney Craft Guild

Every year in July I take part in the month long exhibition at Blakeney on the north norfolk coast. There is a lovely mix of crafts from textiles through to pottery, wood, metal and glass. The exhibition is staged by the committee so that all crafts are mixed together which makes you see something different every time you walk round the two rooms. We have visitors that come back year after year and many are already buying their christmas presents! There is usually a demonstration taking place, I always demonstrate my silk painting when I am on stewarding duty. I have included a few pics taken on one of the days that I was there, you can see that the weather was glorious which makes eating lunch outside a real treat. 

Pass the salt please!

One technique that I have always used from the word go is the application of salt to move the paint around the silk to create patterning. You can use any type of salt, the following pics show the results using coarse sea salt. Finer table salt will give less dramatic patterning but will be equally unique. After applying paint the salt must be placed while the paint is still wet but not flooding. You then leave the whole frame to dry naturally making sure that the frame is not disturbed. When dry brush off the salt, fix the silk and then wash to remove all traces of salt.

Frame showing the salt applied to wet paint.

The patterning increases dramatically the longer that the salt is left to work.

The finished silk taken off the frame, salt removed, fixed and washed ready to use.

I used the silk pieces for my silk fronted notebooks.

Tulip mania

Highly prized in the 17th century by the Dutch, the tulip gained a remarkable following leading to tulip mania. Tulips became a status symbol and sold for vast prices. Undeniably beautiful I took this photo this week of tulips growing. I love the strong bold image and this has inspired my folksy picks this week. Click on each pic to take you to the folksy shop.