A busy time

I came back from a successful trip America to go almost straight to Winchester to teach Jacobean embroidery for Embroidery Now.

The level of experience of the 8 students was quite high, but I think everyone went home with some new knowledge. Took the opportunity to have a look around Winchester and was lucky enough to see an embroidery exhibition and separate quilt exhibition both on in Winchester library (Winchester Discovery Centre). There were some fabulous old quilts including one reported to have been stitched by Jane Austen:

Jane Autsen is buried in Winchester Cathedral, and while there it is worth checking out Antony Gormley's 'Sound II' art installation in the crypt:

To see what else is being taught in Winchester, have a look at http://www.embroiderynow.co.uk/. Classes are soon to start in Brighton also if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.

Back into the swing of things

A new class:

I am running a Design for Embroidery class soon which is a good excuse to do some more drawing, something I have not been very good at keeping up with since I got back from Cyprus, (It doesn't take long to get back into old ways!) By the end of the class (5 hours) I'm hoping the students will have an original design complete with stitch plan and colour ideas, having just taught them basic drawing skills, composition and tone! I'm hoping I haven't been too ambitious, we will find out soon. I'm also teaching a traditional stitch sampler for a week and a one day goldwork class.

For anyone interested in Crewel Work, I'm running a one day Jacobean class in Winchester in October. More details can be seen at: http://embroiderynow.co.uk/

I also have an entry for the British Sari Story Competition to complete and I'm setting up a shop on Etsy for embroiderers across the pond. Busy busy busy!