I had a pleasant day at the show yesterday. We got there early to book into the workshops which I had spent a long time studying. Eventually settled on Barbara Howell using photographs for inspiration. This was really interesting and I thought it was something I could get into. Definitely a way for me to get away from patchwork quitls and into art quilts. I learned a lot in the 45 minutes and the course was free.
Next workshop was Maggie Davies using Abaca Tissue and Fabrico pens to make a lovely poppy picture. Foils and heat activated glue all came into it to complete the picture. It was a demo not a workshop so it was free, but another one to be enjoyed and I got lots of ideas to take away.
My last workshop was advertised as using paintsticks, which I've wanted to try for ages. When I booked in the chap said it had been changed and we would be doing this......gesturing to a small wall hanging with stamped and embroidered flowers, a bright border and completely bound around the edges - was that alright? It looked lovely so I didn't mind the change of medium or paying £6.50 to make one. What actually happened was we were given a small square of fabric, a few carved wooden stamps and acrylic stamp pads and a box of Fabrico pens, some of which didn't work very well and the lady leading the workshop said they had been badly treated by previous workshop attendees - preumably at another show as this was the first workshop on the first day at Harrogate. We were told to play around on the fabric and stamp all over to get a feel for it. 15 mins into the 45 mins workshop I'd done as much as I wanted to do to the square of fabric so I ventured to ask about paintsticks. I was told they were messy, very, very messy and if you didn't use them for some time then a skin formed over them..........................I was disappointd with this workshop. I've done fabric stamping and pens before and the finished item fell short of what I expected. My own fault, £6.50 doesn't go far these days!
My friend went to the Sally Holman session which was £6 and they worked on a kit to make a seascape card and got hints and tips for completion from Sally. They came away with the whole kit to finish at home.
The rest of the show..........well it looked like the same stalls, in the same places, selling the same things as last year and the year before but there was one or two new ones to look at. I bought a Rennie MacKintosh pattern and fabric kit for a wall hanging from Patwork Creations. I bought Lisa Lam's new book Bag Making Bible. Lastly I got Christmas fabrics from Scarborough Sewing Centre for a pattern I want to do from an old quliting magazine I found in my pile.
Lovely day out, not sure if I'd go next year unless I plucked up the courage to actually enter a quilt in the show.
1 comment:
Sounds as though you were short changed on the workshop Lynne :( I have used oilbars a little and yes, they do seal over between uses but you just scrape the skin away with a scalpel, not a problem. I do find them a bit messy but they still have their uses. Ruth Issett has written a book about using them and I've done a workshop with her. You can use them to make a rubbing over a textured surface or lay some colour down on the edge of a 'mask' and brush the colour onto your fabric with a toothbrush to get a softer effect. I think you need to work lightly otherwise you can get lumps of oily colour that smudge. Once applied you need to let the paint dry/set for a day or two. I think you can heat set but obviously it will bleed oil a little and you need to use baking parchment to protect your iron. (Probably need to check that last bit). I have a tin full of oilbars that I really should use more often.
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