Get your craft on!

 

It's time to think about Christmas presents!

Christmas on a budget can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. This year my motto is make, recycle, thrift, re-purpose. 

With this in mind I started thinking of those short straight waiter-style aprons that always look neat, comfy and don't restrict movement. I like the way the strings are long enough to wrap around and bring to the front. You can use this to tuck in a tea-towel. 

I decided to make them using 2 coordinated cotton prints and make them reversible too. I added lace trims, a nifty pocket and a couple of printed words for a little extra detail. 

I've made a start on the present list.....but there's still a bit to go!

"Goodnight Chicken"

Hand-dyed fabrics, vintage lace, free-motion embroidery, fabric painting and machine-stitch sketching are just some of the techniques used to create this frame-stretched piece for the exhibition "Art is a Wound Turned into Light" at NUIG for Mental Health Week, which opened on September 30th 2015.
This piece was a slightly new direction for me to explore. I enjoyed allowing the piece to evolve in the same way as I treat a page in my sketchbook. I just gathered fabrics and lace scraps in my studio and allowed the piece to evolve as I worked.
Working in this way is all about enjoying the process and not worrying about the outcome.

Galway Culture Night: "Building Claregalway"

A wall-hanging created with the help of some local children for Culture Night at Cruthú Studio in Claregalway on the 18th September, 2015. The children used fabric crayons to depict something about their life in the community, I quilted each one and we used recycled ribbons to tie them together. We talked about the connections between people, communities and interests and how this makes life interesting. I love creating something new with the help of young artists like these.
Cruthú Studio is owned by artist Elaine Cunningham and Culture Night saw the studio come alive with face-painting, millinery, mixed-media art, music, poetry, stilt-walking, paper-craft and textile art. What a vibrant arts community we have!

Pop Up shop at Cruthú Studio, Claregalway: 
every Thur, Fri, Sat in August 2015

A number of local artists have come together for a pop-up shop at Cruthú Studio, Claregalway for the month of August. Pop in and see the range of work available for sale.

Summer Country Wedding

I enjoyed helping to decorate this barn for my friends' wedding. A mixture of old and new embroidered table-cloths, patchwork quilts, wall-hangings, bunting made together with the 'hens' over a glass of wine and the result is casual country style. Perfect backdrop for the organic feast and dancing that followed. Great memories!

 

 Finding inspiration for colour choices

This simple arrangement of Sweetpeas and Sweet Williams in a jam jar is my starting point for a colourful lapquilt. Watch this space for signs of progress. But I warn you..... it may take a while!!

Notebooks for sale at the Fancy Nest in Claregalway

Delighted that some of my work is available for sale in this beautiful interiors store in the heart of Claregalway (next to Supervalu). Pop in and take a look at the gorgeous selection of gifts available.

Some new notebooks on their way to Galway Crafts and Collectables

Just some of the new notebooks on their way to Galway Crafts and Collectables in the Corbett Court Shopping Centre, Galway this week. This is a great shop with some lovely handmade gifts from Galway makers. Pop in for a look!

Free machine embroidery

A little bit of stitching on a stencilled image of wings for a computer game lover.

Say hello...

Another pillow for my favourite movie-fan. We're on a bit of a roll now!

Thriller Nights

A small pillow project completed for my favourite Michael Jackson fan! Fusible appliqué, foiling, Thriller lyrics printed on fabric. Enjoyed making it and the research... i.e re-watching those iconic videos and dance moves...Owww!

Exhibition opening Friday 20th 6pm

 

The Western Branch of the IPS Exhibition 'Go Leor Quilts Galore' opens on Friday at 6pm in Geata Na Cathrach, Fairgreen Road, beside the Revenue Offices. It will run from the 21st to 2th September from 10am to 5pm each day. Admission is free and it promises to be a great show of quilts. Drop in if you get the chance!

Small steps...

 

'Home is where the heart is' in progress

 

The Western Branch of the Irish Patchwork Society (IPS) has set a challenge for its members to create 26 x A3 size quilts, one for each letter of the alphabet. I picked the letter H. This A3 challenge suited me perfectly, as I didn't get a lot of time in the studio recently and it's nice to see something through to completion. I'm also hoping this is the first step towards producing a new selection of larger pieces for exhibition next summer. Small steps... 

Birds and Blossoms

Quilt in progress...machine appliqué, free-motion machine quilting, 100% cotton fabrics, approx. 40inch square.

Eye of the Needle: Exhibition by pupils of Presentation College Galway



The Junior Certificate School Programme provides secondary school students with an opportunity to collaborate with a local artist in the classroom. I was very happy to accept an invitation to work with Junior Certificate students at Presentation College Galway to share some textile skills with them.

 

We started the project with a visit to an exhibition of craft entitled 'Modified Expression' curated by the Crafts Council of Ireland at the Galway City Museum. The students received blank sketchbooks to record their observations and reactions. We decided to take our inspiration from references to eyes in proverbs, literature and popular culture to create a series of textile art pieces. Following a series of workshops on fabric painting, fusible appliqué and hand-stitching the students created 8x8inch blocks which can be exhibited individually, in groups or all together.

 

We are delighted that the Westside Library is hosting an exhibition of the work completed during the project in their reception and project room. Cora and the library staff added a further dimension to the project by creating links between the students' work and a selection of books from the library.

 

The exhibition will run until the 14th of June, so pop in and take a look at the display of textile art, stitch samples, sketchbooks, research, photos and more by these young artists at the Westside Library, Galway.

 





CRAFTed project at Dunmore National School, County Galway

The CRAFTed project is supported by the Crafts Council of Ireland and the regional Education Centres to bring craft-makers into primary schools to share their skills. I was delighted to be invited to work with 2nd and 3rd class pupils (8-9yrs) to create a textile artwork based on the theme of Spring and New Growth.



 

 The children were given a selection of blank, empty containers to create a 3D assemblage on the theme of Spring. Think out of the box, invent, try out ideas and just see what happens!

We looked at the six species suggested by the Greenwave Project: Hawthorn, Ash, Horse Chestnut, Primrose, Swallow, Frogspawn. What happens to them in Spring, how do they grow and how do they move? We sketched, collaged and made notes in our sketchbooks. We tried to capture the idea of movement by creating 3D fold-outs and pop-ups in our sketchbooks.

 We discovered colour-theory by mixing 3 primary dyes to create 3 secondary colours. We dyed cotton fabrics to use in our wall-hanging.

We cut out plant and animal shapes from our dyed fabrics and used 'Bondaweb' to fuse our shapes to a background fabric.

The pupils decided on the layout and design of their wall-hanging.

They enjoyed learning how to hand-sew and gather their stitching to make 3D flower shapes.

Machine quilting, a hand-woven Sun and a 3D flying bird gives further dimension to the finished wall-hanging.

These pupils can feel justly proud of their wonderful wall-hanging which will be displayed at their school for many years to come.

But you can also take a look at their work if you visit the International Quilt Festival of Ireland in Galway from 7th to 9th June, 2013, as the wall-hanging will be exhibited as part of the 'Playground' exhibition of children's work. See www.iqfoi.com for more info on this wonderful festival.

Galway Local Food & Craft Gift Fair

 

Here's an event I will be participating in this weekend!

 

"Galway County & City Enterprise Board, in conjunction with the Galway County and City Councils are delighted to announce the very first Local Food & Craft Gift Fair showcasing Galway designers, handcrafted goods and artisan produce which will be held on the weekent of Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of November in the Black Box Theatre, Galway. Opening times will be Saturday 10am - 7pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm.

 

There will be 40 stands and many of the crafts people will be giving demonstrations of their work throughout the weekend.

 

There will also be a children's play area and other activities for families.

 

For more information contact 091 565269, email info@galwayenterprise.ie, see www.galwayenterprise.ie or follow us on Facebook."

Craft in the community: Claregalway & District Day Care Centre

 

 

Stencilling on fabric, fabric collage and card-making are just some of the craft skills I've been working on with the clients of Claregalway & District Day Care Centre as part of a project to bring craft skills into the community.

 

Over the coming weeks I hope to work with the group on a collaborative piece of textile artwork to hang in the centre's reception area. The clients will discuss skills they have learned and skills they have taught over the years. These memories and stories will weave their way into the artwork we hope to create.

 

Watch this space!

Eye of the Needle: Presentation College Galway

We each view the world differently and all of our experiences help to make us who we are.  ‘Eye of the Needle’ is an exhibition of work created from the imaginations of Junior Certificate students at Presentation College Galway, making notes of their observations in sketchbooks and using their newly acquired skills with fabric and thread.

A visit to the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild

I was delighted to receive an invitation to visit the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild (http://www.nipg.org.uk/) as guest speaker at its meeting on Saturday 6th October where my talk was entitled 'In pursuit of inspiration'. I brought along samples of my work through the years, and a photographic slideshow showing some of the workshops and community arts projects I've been involved with.

 

The guild members were so welcoming I immediately felt at home and I thoroughly enjoyed my morning with them. It's nice to hear what other groups are planning in terms of workshops, speakers, challenges, exhibitions, etc. 'River Fabrics' of Holywood, provided the shop on the day.

 

Joint chairperson Anne kindly brought me to see St George's Market after the meeting on Saturday where local food and craft producers sell their work. This was bustling and vibrant with some lovely contemporary craft on show. http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/stgeorgesmarket/citymarket.asp

 

We also paid a visit  Space Craft, a gallery of contemporary craft. http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Space-Craft-Belfast-P11814.  I particularly loved the ceramics exhibition by Red Earth Designs http://www.redearthdesigns.co.uk/. If you get a chance to visit do so!

 

On Sunday the venue for my workshop entitled 'Sketchbooks for Textile Artists' was the wonderful Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra.

 

Starting a sketchbook is a very enjoyable way to help refine one's own creative style, but can be a little daunting too. I hope I provided participants with the 'tricks' needed to get over any fear they had of those 'perfect, clean, white pages' and soon everyone was enjoying creative chaos with messy hands and ideas flowing. All of us in search of that sometimes elusive thing called 'inspiration'.

 

Here are just some of the photos from the day at Cultra.

 

I'd also like to share another link to NIPG member Angela McCormick's blog where she shares some lovely photos of how she works through her sketchbooks. http://pinfiddlequilts.blogspot.ie/

A big THANK YOU to everyone at the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild for such a warm welcome, a pot-luck dinner, stories shared and great fun during my very enjoyable weekend in Belfast. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with all the activities of this vibrant guild.

An evening of fine wine, local food and craft at Claregalway Castle

 

On a recent September night I was invited to the recently restored Claregalway Castle (to join the castle mailing list for future events see http://www.claregalwaycastle.com/). I was delighted to be part of this unique event. Bonfires showed the way to the castle entrance.

A court jester performed in the courtyard.

 

With trumpets, pomp and ceremony, Les Fins Gousiers d'Anjou (http://www.finsgousiers.fr/ arrived to kick off the celebration and tasting of fine wines from the Loire valley paired with cheeses, breads, chowder, oysters and cakes from the Galway region.

The castle was open for exploration with a few gargoyles guarding the tower.

www.madeingalway.ie is a website created to promote the food and craft produced in the county and a number of craftspeople were in attendance showing ceramics, woodwork and textiles.

Here's a selection of the work I exhibited on the night.

Watch out for more events showcasing 'Made in Galway' and be sure to visit Claregalway Castle whenever you get a chance!