Last week I taught my last workshop for 2022 and it was a good one. Three great students, beautiful work, lots of laughter …. even when the handle fell off the studio door and we were locked in! (Big thanks to son Joe for letting us out and to my lovely father-in-law Bernard for fixing the problem - don’t know what I would do without them).

I have a five month gap until I start teaching again. Last year I spent my ‘off’ season making art. This year I will be spending it writing my next book and developing my next online workshop.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be working my way through a series of tasks that help me re-focus away from teaching mode. I have already moved the benches around a bit and taken down the big plastic screens that separate some of the benches. I’ve cleaned the six student trolleys and re-stocked them ready for next spring. I’ve started the process of inspecting, scouring and, if needed, repairing all my screens. I will be bleaching all my drop clothes to strip out some of the colour that has built up on them during the year. Those that remain very coloured will go through a ‘redemption’ bucket of thiox which is a powerful but very smelly discharge agent. Those that are still too coloured will be re-purposed as quilt bags. I will be organising all my teaching samples, giving some of them a wash before packing them away. I have diligently worked my way through the left over studio chocolate bars and will not restock until spring (who am I kidding!). And I have written a big list of the other stuff that needs doing before next spring.

Yes, some of these things could have waited but they really do help me ‘transition’.

This week I will also be getting ready for the Great Northern Textile Show on Sunday 23rd October. I will be exhibiting and will have a stand and hope to see some of you there. Lots of things to do to get ready, including preparing some more Wonky Print Inspiration Packs!

So, realistically I won’t be working on the book for another week or so but I’m itchin’ to get going!

Twin needle Coptic stitch, Origata and a Stub binding

Some of you will know that I’m pretty focussed when it comes to how I use my time. If I’m not teaching or doing (the absolute bare minimum) ‘family / house’ stuff then I am in my studio making art. I read, do jigsaws, watch zombies on prime / netflix to wind down before bed but nearly all of my ‘free’ time is spent in the studio making art. I call this being focussed. Husband uses the word driven. I do get knackered sometimes and hubby will suggest I take a day off. Day off clearly means something different to him. To me it means wake up, skip having a shower, put on yesterdays t-shirt, kick aside the pile of laundry as I leave the bedroom, ignore the dirty dishes, grab a big packet of chocolate biscuits and head straight out to the studio. Remembering to lock the studio door so that I can’t be interrupted by my well meaning husband.

I do however make time for making books. I guess you could call it my ‘hobby’ now that textile art is my career / vocation.

And this last week I’ve been delighted to have friend, textile artist and book binder Ruth Brown teaching in the studio. I couldn’t sit in every day but I did make three of the five books that she taught during the week. My first ever twin needle Coptic stitch bound book which I love! Much firmer than the single needle version books I’ve made in the past and so many design possibilities. An Origata bound book which features a folded paper wrapper that holds the front and back covers. And a little stub bound book. The students also got to make a hard backed notebook and a travel journal.

Ruth is an excellent teacher and has a brand new studio in Otringham, nr Hull. Do have a look at her website here for details of her workshops. She will be demonstrating in The Creative Textile Studio at this summers Festival of Quilts as well as helping me on my stand. Do stop by and have a chat with her if you’re interested in book binding. (And don’t tell anyone but she is currently writing a book on hand bound books with stitched spines and will be teaching here at Urban Studio North in 2023 …. details to follow!).

I am delighted to announce that bookbinder and textile artist Ruth Brown will be giving two workshops in my studio next year. I sat in on the workshop she gave this year and it was brilliant. Ruth provides all the materials along with detailed notes. No prior knowledge is assumed and her demonstrations are well thought out and inspiring. You can find out more about Ruth here.

Ruth will be teaching a repeat of Books for Textile Artists from 30th August to 2nd September 2022. You can find more details and book here. In this workshop you will make -

·         A blizzard book - a folded book to contain business cards.

·         A crown book - a variation on the blizzard book with removable pages

·         The Secret Belgian Binding - this gives a book which opens completely flat and has a cover which will turn back on itself. The cover pieces and the spine piece are woven together with a crisscross effect. The signatures (pages) are then sewn on to the weaving.

·         A long stitch binding where there is a wraparound cover and the signatures are sewn through the cover.

·         A Drum Leaf binding - this is a binding where each pair of pages is a spread with no stitching in the centre, making it a lovely way to display art work or photographs. The version we make will have a case binding (a hard back).

She will be teaching More Books for Textile Artists from 21st to 24th June 2022. You don’t have to have done the previous workshop to do this one as no previous knowledge is required. You can find out more about the workshop and book here. In this workshop you will make -

·         A single section, stub binding.

·         An A6 hard back notebook covered with hand-dyed fabric book cloth.

·         An elegant Origata binding.

·         An A5 twin needle Coptic stitch sketchbook with cloth covered hard covers. This intriguing stitch formation gives a more stable book than the more common single needle version.

·         A travel journal with laminated book cloth covers, an elastic closure and a storage pocket at the back.

In the meantime, if you’d like to spend time in the studio before winter sets in then I have a few places left on my workshops this autumn. Including one space on my two day Simply Screen Printing workshop that has become available because of a cancellation. Have a look at my Workshops page for more details.

Bye for now, Leah

Although nothing can be certain it looks likely that recreational and leisure businesses, such as Urban Studio North, will be allowed to open up in July provided we comply with strict hygiene and social distancing rules. There are no longer restrictions on lengths of journey in England and local hotels are planning to open from 4th July.

In light of this, and after a great deal of thought, I am currently planning to start running workshops again from 20th July onwards. None of us know when life will return to the old normal. Instead we all need to adjust to a new normal. So, to ensure compliance with social distancing, and to reduce demand on shared facilities such as the bathroom and sinks, I will be restricting class size to a maximum of 4 students for the rest of 2020.  I have already contacted the students affected by this change. I am making lots of other changes in the studio and in how I run the workshops. I have written a detailed COVID-19 UPDATE which I urge students, and prospective students to read. This is, of course, all subject to change should government advice change in the coming weeks and months.

I have had to cancel and reschedule lots of workshops over the last few weeks and months which has meant slotting some additional workshops into 2020. I am continuing to take bookings for workshops this year and have the following spaces left:

Breakdown Your Palette, 7th to 11th September - 1 place left on this 5 day dive into breakdown printing - find out more here.

Introduction to Surface Design, a day a month for 10 months starting on Saturday 26th September - 3 places left. Aimed at absolute beginners and covering a really broad range of surface design techniques. Ideal if you live locally to Manchester, you can find out more here.

Books for Textile Artists with Ruth Brown on 10th to 13th October - 2 places left. Because of the class size we are running two workshops back to back. The original dates are full but there are two places available on the workshop running from Saturday 10th to Tuesday 13th October. Ruth is a great teacher and with a limit of 4 students per class you’ll get lots of her time. You can find out more here.

Simply Screen Printing, 7th and 8th November - 1 place left on this two day introduction to screen printing. You can find out more here.

Print, Stitch, Go!, 9th to 13th November - 1 place left. We spend the first half of this workshop screen printing and dyeing fabric and the second half using that fabric - yes, I will make you cut into your lovely printed and dyed fabrics! Aimed at people who have never printed or dyed fabric before this is a really fun five days. You can read more here.

Although I’m a little nervous about opening up again I am really, really looking forward to teaching again. The studio has been too quiet for too long!

My lovely husband is coming home this week after 12 weeks or so shielding with his dad. This feels like such a big step forward for us and we have all our fingers and toes crossed that the situation in the UK continues to improve. Every country has different levels of restrictions right now but I hope that many of you are now able to spend a little more time with family and friends.

Stay well, Leah

What better way to spend Bank Holiday weekend then with my friend Ruth Brown. We try to meet up two or three times a year in one of our studios for some dedicated 'play' time. This time I visited Ruth in her studio on Sunk Island and took over all my book making stuff.  In between lots of catching up, coffee and cake (and some experimental work with breakdown printing that I will share later) I finished a book that I had started during our family holiday in June. It is just smaller than A5 and I used a waxed, coloured linen thread and coptic stitch to join the book covers to the signatures (paper). Really happy with how neat the stitching looks!

I also took over some mulberry paper to see how it performed when making bookcloth. My previous pieces have all used Kozu paper which is a little pricey. The mulberry paper (from Colourcraft) worked beautifully. I have covered 3 boards ready to make a sort of 'double' book in which one of the boards is a common back board. This is a seriously addictive hobby!