Hand Lettering Success

I ran a new course this week at Ardington School of Craft- Hand drawn lettering NOT Calligraphy. Had spent a fun few days designing resource sheets and gathering 'props' - art works from as far back as my days as a student at Kingston Poly (as it was known way back then) - I knew there was a good reason not to throw stuff out.
I had a good sized group of which three had previously done paper cutting with me and two others have signed up for one of my workshops at Art in Action - so I was really chuffed.
And it all went well with lots of letters rendered in many ways, alphabets designed and some really pleasing artworks finished by the end of the day.

I will definitely be running this again. . . if you are interested, do drop me a line

Some handy typographical jargon

Things you can do with letters

A beautifully initialled Summer

Signage for open gardens

A few N's

Some great alphabets and I love the "Laughing"

More lovely alphabets and she was obviously
doing something that made her happy!

'Homeland' Quilt finished!

First apologies for the lack of blogs - truth been told I have been crazy busy with one thing and another which isn't really a valid excuse but it is the truth. And one of the things that I have been busy with is completing my quilt for Art in Action and now it's done - all assembled, stitched and quilted - I use the term quilted loosely as I don't send my quilts off to a mysterious long armed armed quilter - instead I dot buttons across the design, stitching them in place, by hand, using embroidery thread and knots - and the buttons have been salvaged from the garments that have been used in the patchwork, so going right back to the origins of patchworking where every scrap was recycled - I am not a fat quarters and jelly rolls person, there is more than enough textiles and fabrics in the world to upcycle without producing more specifically for patchworking and crafting with. Sorry that sounds like a rant but you know what I mean.
So here is the story of the quilt in pictures

The Plan

The fabrics

The first few blocks

Dustin checking quality of machining
- after he has cleaned his socks!

Love this embroidered fabric

Trimming the backing ready for folding over to form binding

Another quality control moment from Dustin

Hand stitching the buttons in place

'Homeland'  - finished