TextileArts news and re:views

The latest issue of Fibre&Stitch (issue 3) is newly out, offering a feast of techniques, projects and information. Scanning down the table of contents, some headings immediately caught my eye - Terri Stegmiller with a series on techniques and methods for writing on fabric, and special guest articles by Linda Stokes on shibori with transfer dyes, and Helen Suzanne Alexander on achieving depth and distance in fibre landscapes.

There's also a fascinating article by guest author Virginia A. Spiegel in which she explains how she collects and records information in her studio journals, and shares the thought processes that led to a particular series of art quilts.

The talented artists who contribute to Fibre&Stitch have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of ideas for colourful and beautiful projects and this issue is no exception. I especially liked Terri Stegmiller's cheerful 'scrappy fabric coasters' and Debra Jo Hardman's 'thread-play scarf', to name but two - and there is much more here to stimulate creativity.

To see what's on offer, you can download the table of contents in PDF format from the Fibre&Stitch web site, or to get a practical taste of Fibre&Stitch, look at the generous range of projects and techniques on the free projects page.

Fibre&Stitch is a quarterly electronic publication in PDF format. You can subscribe online ($29.95 USD for a year's subscription), and a single issue is $8.95 USD.

This special exhibition will be on show from 8 November 2007 to 9 March 2008 in the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

Participating artists are from 12 countries and include Judy Chicago, Elaine Reichek, Tilleke Schwarz, Berend Strik, Andrea Deszo, Mattia Bonetti, Nava Lubelski, Clyde Olliver, Kate Kretz and Benji Whalen. A catalogue is planned.

Into the Woods (detail), Tilleke Schwarz

Sharon Boggon's popular blog, In A Minute Ago, has moved to a new home here, and Sharon's other blogs Mindtracks and Wisdom of the Ages have also moved (these links are to the new addresses). Sharon tells the story of the move in her first post at the new address. If you haven't visited In A Minute Ago before, it's a mine of inspiration and information you really shouldn't miss. Just one example is the Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge, which suggests ways to experiment with a different stitch each week throughout 2007; and there's much more - Sharon always manages to have her finger on the pulse of what's happening around the textile art community, and she updates her blog every day to share the latest news, a great site she's found, a snippet of information or a link to an interesting article. Sharon shares her thoughts and questions freely so there are some very interesting discussions in the comments, and on her new blog it's very easy to join in.

Sharon's Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework is another excellent resource for embroiderers, and was one of the earliest textile resources on the web at a time when many people were hardly aware that the internet existed, let alone finding creative ways to use it.

In April and May 2007 there's a chance to study hand stitching with well known tutors Jenny Bullen and Kay Dennis, and gain a City & Guilds qualification.

Courses in Stitched Textiles (Hand Embroidery) with Jenny, and Stitched Textiles (Stumpwork) with Kay, are being offered by the Embroiderers' Guild at Hampton Court Palace. The five-day courses lead to the City & Guilds Level One Certificate in Design and Craft. Participants will also be able to enjoy seeing wonderful examples of hand embroidery and stumpwork from the Guild's extensive Museum Collection.

The Hand Embroidery course dates are 30 April - 4 May; Stumpwork runs from 21 - 25 May. The fee for a five-day course is £195. You can find out more on the Embroiderers' Guild website, or contact Lynn Szygenda on 020 8943 1229 (ext 30).

March 23rd sees the publication of a new book - Mark Making - about the embroidery of Tilleke Schwarz. The book covers 20 years of Tilleke's work in full colour photography, with an introductory essay by Dr Jessica Hemmings, focusing on the content of the work.

Mark Making is published by Ter Burg (editor of the Dutch Textile magazine Textiel Plus). It's a 72 page softback, written in English, with some parts also translated into Dutch. Priced at 15 euros (postage and packing is extra), the book can be ordered from Tilleke Schwarz - contact her on or visit www.tillekeschwarz.com.

A major exhibition of Tilleke Schwarz's work will be shown in the UK in autumn 2007 at the Knitting and Stitching Shows in London, Birmingham, Dublin and Harrogate, and Mark Making will also be on sale, if you can bear to wait! More information at www.twistedthread.com, where the new book will also be available to order soon.

Fen Edge Stitched Textiles (FEST)

embroidery exhibition

at Blickling Hall, National Trust property in North Norfolk
11th April - 22nd April 2007

Blickling Hall is not open on Mondays or Tuesdays.
Further information from the National Trust at Blickling Hall, Norfolk.

About Fen Edge Stitched Textiles

The group was started in September 2002 and they meet six Saturdays a year at Cottenham Village College with their mentor, Pauline Verrinder. Advanced textile artiists go through a selection process to gain entry to the group, with no restrictions on where they live.

FEST has 15 members who are mainly from the east at present. The group aims to raise the profile of textile art by sharing and encouraging the personal development of its members work, and to extend their experience by exhibiting regularly both locally and nationally. Above all they indulge their passion for textiles and share it with others.

FEST has already exhibited at Textiles in Focus, nr. Cambridge and twice at the Fashion & Embroidery Show at Harrogate. In April 2007 the group are exhibiting at Blickling Hall, Norfolk and again at the Warner Archive, Braintree, Essex, in Spring 2008.

A Question of Identity is the new touring exhibition of work by Nolitex (Notts Lincs Textile Artists), a group of 18 artists based in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire who have been exhibiting together for the last 11 years. The exhibition opens in Lincoln on 27th February.

The title reflects the theme members have all worked to over the last two years, each member taking a very different perspective on the subject as they considered what makes them who they are.

The group is diverse in its techniques, encompassing a wide range of skills from felting to printing, free machine and hand embroidery and mixed media to sculpture.

"Creating this exhibition has been an introspective exploration of our passions and journeys through life.

We are very fortunate in that we have just been awarded some lottery funding to allow us to buy a laptop and camera so we may take our work and expertise out into the community and show people how our art is created. It often inspires people to try expressing themselves creatively themselves."

There will be a member of Nolitex present at the Gallery for the whole of the duration of the exhibition to answer questions and allow purchases of cards, portfolio pieces and of course the work itself.

The Gallery is within a stone's throw of the Cathedral at the top of Steep Hill in Lincoln, ideally placed for the Castle and some excellent quirky shopping and excellent coffee and book shops.

The forthcoming issue of Maggie Grey's online magazine, Workshop on the Web, is a very special issue - a moving tribute to Valerie Campbell-Harding, who died on 5 October.

Few people can have touched as many lives in the world of textiles and embroidery as Val: inspiring, teaching and sharing her great knowledge and delight in exploration. Her life, her work, her writing and her teaching are all remembered and celebrated throughout this issue by those who learned from her, worked with her, and loved her.

December's WoW also carries an article by Val herself, 'Seeing Pink Elephants', an invitation to play and discover new textures in the oddest of raw materials.

Workshop on the Web represents joyful excellence in textile art, an ethos that owes much to Val's influence and inspiration. It consistently demonstrates the wonderful creativity of those who practise embroidery and other textile arts, and it's going from strength to strength as a community. I always love to read it, and this issue is definitely one to treasure.

The December issue of Workshop on the Web is out on 1 December.

www.workshopontheweb.com