Stitchwave for Artwave

I participated in my first ever Artwave this year. It's an event which I've been aware of for a while but had never been involved in before. There are many different versions of it and it's effectively an open houses or artist studio event, but kind of set as a trail so there is a booklet printed with all of the venues and their different opening times and you can walk between them or make special trips. I was invited to be a part of it at The Stitching Post in Isfield and, more excitingly, because The Stitching Post is all about stitching and fabric and gorgeous textiles, Kelly (the lady who runs and owns TSP) turned it into Stitchwave!!

Isfield is on what the Artwave organisers have called 'The Rural Trail', which basically means it's not in Lewes, Seaford or Newhaven where the majority of their locations are. Anyone register to join, either in a hired space with other artists to make more of a mixed exhibition, or in their own studios or houses. Some give over their houses quite completely and throw open the front door, hanging their pictures from every part of their walls and selling postcards off the dining room table. 

There were actually quite a few different venues open in Isfield so it was worth a trip out of the bigger towns and into the much more rural setting because you could make a day of it (especially as there's a nice pub in the village). 

TSP was open for two weekends, although our tables were set up for the whole time so weekday visitors to the studio could see and buy whilst they attended their workshops and bought fabrics from Kelly. The exhibiting artists (including me) were on a rota to come and sit and greet people, make tea and coffee, offer cake (Mr DT made a very nice banana cake for us!) and give demonstrations. Between visitors, there were some lovely opportunities for us to sit in the sunshine, listening to the chickens chooking in their pen, chat stitchy things and work on our own projects. 

I took my BIG project that currently lives next to my sofa waiting for small snatches of time to do a couple of stitches on it. It's not anywhere near finished but did draw a lot of attention with the different beads from Old Bicycle Shop that I've added and the big shells. Although interestingly, there were a lot of comments and questions about my floor stand rather than the Stitchscape clamped into it. 

In case any of you have questions about the stand, I don't know where it came from originally, or how old it is as I'm fairly sure I inherited it from my Nanna (or pinched it, I can't remember now). I would think really a more modern frame would be better, this one is just slightly too short and could do with being a bit higher, or adjustable to go up and down, and the wooden screw pegs are loose so it doesn't tighten up properly which means it could suddenly collapse at any moment. Who says embroidery isn't thrilling?

I do love it though, and have recently had it fixed by my uncle (thank you Steven!) because the whole 'head' section with the clamp snapped off where the dowelling had rotted in the middle and just gave up. I'm really pleased that it's back in action again. 

I did really well over the two weekends and, not only that, I had several visitors who I've previously taught in workshops, a lady who brought along her finished Fire Flower II kit (pictured below), a couple of ladies who wanted to book me for future workshops and someone who has just joined my Stitchscape swap (who brought that month's card with her to save on postage - savvy!). Thank you to everyone who made a purchase; there were lots of kits, cards and prints sold so I hope that you all enjoy your projects or pieces. 

There were nine of us exhibiting there, including Kelly herself showing the quilts she has made and selling some of the older projects or samples. We were all different but complemented each other beautifully, and Kelly had done a really good job of organising her space so that we sat nicely next to each other. 

I was next to Sarah Becvar who is a machine embroiderer and designer. We didn't actually meet as our rota didn't have us together at any point but she was doing really well with sales and apparently her demonstration on how to machine embroider a design on a card was very popular. I have just the teensiest amount of jealousy for machine embroiderers because they can produce work so quickly! Drawing with a sewing machine is an amazing skill, I have tried it before but I can't say I'm very good at it, possibly because it's so fast and I'm a go-slow stitcher. I still appreciate the beautiful design work though regardless of my little green shoulder monster, and Sarah's florals are really lovely - look at the beautiful bee below!

I would love my own space like TSP has. Mainly just the gorgeous shelves of wonderful bright fabrics so that I could hoard more metres and metres of fabrics without feeling guilty for taking up space in our home. (I have fabrics tucked away in every available space - plus a spare room at The Parent's house.) Kelly was making a quilt from the new Kasumi fabric collection from Makower, which I also have just bought to make a Koi kit with (watch this space) and it was nice to see her in action, as well as the beautiful finished articles she had hanging up. Some were for sale because they were previous collections or examples for kits she no longer has, and others were promoting upcoming workshops or currently available quilt kits. She's a busy lady, attending all of the major quilt shows and travelling the country with her fabrics!

Someone even more patient than me when it comes to stitching is Ana Kirby, who is a slow stitch specialist. She is quite measured I think in her approach, and stitches emotions, thoughts or feelings rather than creating things that would be seen as a recognisable image - although some of her little samples are slightly more decorative perhaps, joining fabrics together and just relishing the joy of using fabric and thread. 

These lovely lampshades are by Lexi and Lu, who choose the prettiest fabrics to make their shades. They aren't stitched, so aren't quite the same as the other artists who were in the exhibition, but they sure are pretty! You can commission them, or go on one of their lampshade making courses if you are interested in having a go yourself.

The Bridgerton Ladies are a rather fine little gathering aren't they? They are the work of Marilyn Willis and have been made using scraps of fabric and lace from real dresses made for the cast of Bridgerton! (I assume everyone knows what I'm talking about?) We did have a quick look to see if we could recognise any of the fabrics on a Google search of Bridgerton Season One but nothing jumped out at us. It was decided that it could be a challenge for whoever bought a Bridgerton Lady to re-watch the series and see if they could spot their dress. 

Marilyn has a range of different embroidered items, some upcycled, some created from scratch, and she also teaches workshops at The Stitching Post on various embroidery and textile courses. 

It was a very colourful corner with Alison McDonagh's ethical stitching. She upcycles even the smallest of fabric scraps into these wonderful pictures, book covers, textiles and all sorts really, saving them from landfill. She combines the fabrics with paints, machine stitching, fibres and hand embroidery so they are really textured and colourful with lots to see in them once you get up close. 

What you can't tell in an image, is that the colourful prints on these bags are actually printed on velvet! I couldn't help but stroke one to make sure but they definitely are which is quite amazing - what fantastic fabrics! Carole Brown makes all of her bags to be 'a little bit different', and sells them through her shop Teasel and Threads. There were bags, purses, pincushions and a few other little bits there which were all bright and lovely. 

Finally, these creations are by Jo Oakley, who is just starting out in selling her work so doesn't have any social media or a website or anything to tag her in. She is often at TSP as well though so that would be a good way to contact her if needed. Everything was so neatly and expertly stitched, from the English Paper Piecing to the machined top stitching. I think she did really well too, as all of us did as far as I know, which is fantastic. It was nice to be part of just a textile exhibition/show case rather than muddling in with watercolourists and photographers - not that they aren't worthy, but in this case we got everyone who was genuinely interested in the fabrics and stitching which made it much more personal in a way.