In one section of my upcoming new book I look at how we might extract palettes of colours from a range of different sources of colour inspiration. When developing colours for new projects I sometimes jump straight in, mixing and playing with thickened dyes straight onto my fabric. At other times I need something to get me started, and a simple paper exercise can be just the thing I need to help focus my ideas.

The image above is my (current) collection of Colour Catchers. Colour Catchers are the paper-like laundry aids that prevent colours bleeding. I use them whenever I’m washing freshly dyed or printed fabrics. They capture any stray dye and are brilliant! I snip pieces from them when carrying out a colour study but many people use them in mixed media projects or as a base for embroidery.

Below are images from one of the worked examples in the book …… my starting point was a collection of photos of the beach at Dunure, Scotland, my second favourite place in the world after my studio!

Colour Your Palette will be available to pre-order on my website from the 1st November with shipping expected to start before the 10th November. I am so excited!

I am so very excited that my second book, called ‘Colour Your Palette’ is close to completion. It has been a bit of a slog but I’m just a few more hours work away from sending it to the printers for a ‘proof’ copy so that I can check the colours of the images (all 340 of them!).

It is a book about colour. In it I translate colour theory, which is nearly all written about paints, into colour practice for people, like me, who use dyes to add colour to fabric, thread, yarn etc. Dyes do not behave like paints. They come with some limitations but those limitations are far outweighed by the potential dyes give us to build up layers of colour, mark and shape on our cloth. And they are wash fast!

I take the reader through the creation of a series of colour references that teach us how a huge number of colours can be mixed from a starting set of eight base colours, how the order in which we layer our colours matters, how different fabrics take colour differently and how you can accurately match or reproduce colour irrespective of whether you are using thickened dyes to screen print or powdered dyes to dye fabric in a bucket.

I look at different colour schemes and guide the reader through a series of colour studies which look at different ways collections, or palettes, of colours can be derived from different types of colour inspiration. Although this isn’t a book that focusses on lots of different techniques for adding colour to cloth I do include a section on the tried and tested methods I use in my art and that I teach in my studio. This has turned out to be a big book, over 200 pages! ! I’ll tease you with more details over the coming weeks.

Colour Your Palette will cost £25 + shipping. After a lot of thought I have decided to make it available for pre-order from the 1st November with the first books expected to ship on 10th November (or earlier!). Sometimes pre-order means a discount but I’ve decided (on your behalf!) to donate £1 for each book ordered between the 1st and 10th November to The Trussell Trust, a UK charity that runs food banks and campaigns against food poverty. Since the beginning of the pandemic you guys have helped raise over £400 by buying my charity bookmarks. It would be nice to increase that in the run up to Christmas.

I’m so excited! And just a little bit tired ……

Leah x

I just realised that I have been neglecting this blog! I haven’t even given you a porch update. I’m happy to report that it is because I have been super busy working on my next book and teaching.

The porch is beginning to look like a porch. For a while it was more of a pergola than a porch but it now has a roof and part of two walls. It means we can be Covid-19 safe and work with the studio doors wide open and it doesn’t rain in. It isn’t quite at the stage where it helps keep the studio warm on cold days but the lovely badger, with a little help from bodger, is getting there. Because we are doing this cheaply we haven’t poured a level foundation so there has been a far bit of swearing trying to get everything square! It will be worth it!

Teaching has been going well with some amazing printing this last week. My students are happy with the layout of the studio and the new rules. It is so important to me that we get this right as I don’t want to increase risk for my students or my family. Nine weeks with additional local restrictions hasn’t reduced the numbers and I suspect we will see more restrictions in the coming weeks and months. But we soldier on!

I only have two free spaces left on workshops this autumn. One is on my Creative Surface Design program starting on 21st and 22nd November and the other is on my five day Print, Stitch, Go! workshop on 9th to 13th November. If you are thinking about booking but maybe have some concerns re Covid and local conditions please get in touch here and I’ll do my best to help.

And finally, the book. The content is done. Words, samples, photos. The last few sections will be going out for their final proof reading this week. So now I just have the layout to do. Just. I’m considering adding padding to my table top as I know there will be some serious head banging as I try to remember how to use InDesign. And swearing. I can guarantee there will be swearing! But, just like the porch, it will be worth it!

Walking into a clean and orderly studio set up and waiting for my students to arrive. Quite moments in the evening tidying up and getting ready for the next day. My garden full of fabric and drying screens. The calm after the students leave, when my studio becomes my space again.

And along the way a riot of colour. Seven students across two five day Breakdown Your Palette workshops, each creating their own unique pieces of fabric. Creative, happy days spent in good company. I have missed this so much! Teaching is a bit different in this new normal but just as satisfying.

The new normal means being flexible - plans often change, both mine and my students. I’m having to reschedule the Books for Textile Artists workshops with Ruth Brown for next April and have had to delay the start of my upcoming Creative Surface Design class until November. I currently only have three places left on workshops in 2020. There is one place on my Introduction to Surface Design 1 day a month for 10 months course which starts on Saturday 26th September. There is one place on my Print Your Palette 5 day workshop (Monday 28th September to Friday 2nd October). And there is one place on my Creative Surface Design course which is spread across five weekends with the first weekend being the 21st and 22nd November. I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that next year is better and that we can all plan with a little more certainty.

But until then I have a lot to grateful for. A big thank you to Sharon, Sue, Heather, Judy T, Alison, Judy S and Mandy for keeping me company and inspiring me over the last two weeks!

Many of you will know that I closed the studio a couple of weeks ago when local Covid-19 restrictions were introduced restricting access to peoples homes and gardens covering the area I live in. Although we are in an area with a relatively low and decreasing infection rate not all areas in Greater Manchester are so fortunate so the local lockdown remains in place. HOWEVER …. the government published revised guidance on the 14th August detailing the list of circumstances under which people may enter your family home or garden. Second on the list is ‘for the purposes of education or training’. I contacted my local councillor over the weekend just to be absolutely sure and he has confirmed that bringing students into the studio and garden is allowed!

Phew! I was getting increasingly upset that we might be in and out of lockdown throughout the autumn and winter, that I wouldn’t know if I was coming or going and whether it wouldn’t just be easier not to try to teach. Of course the situation could get far worse and we could end up back in full lockdown with travel restrictions in place. And I appreciate that some students who don’t live locally might not want to travel into the area. But for now I am enjoying some positive news!

The next workshop I run will be my five day Breakdown Your Palette workshop on Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September. This week was rescheduled at short notice so there are a couple of places available. If you are interested you can find more details here.

And the positivity doesn’t stop there …. today we are starting a new build. In order to work in a Covid-19 safe way in the studio we need to keep the doors open allowing lots of air flow. Not a problem on dry, mild days but winter is coming. My favourite builders, son Joe (Bodger) and father in law Bernard (Badger), have a plan! Over the next couple of weeks they are adding a porch to the studio. It will have an opening at the front to allow air flow but will stop the rain getting in and, hopefully, stop the heat getting out. I have been doing my bit by giving the timbers a coat of primer and undercoat. Their aim is to build something that fits with the rest of the studio front. My aim is to try to keep calm and carry on working on the book ….

I’ll post an update soon!

As I mentioned before I’m having to make changes to dates, and individual students are having to make decisions based on their own circumstances so there is a lot of movement on workshop availability over the next couple of months. Below is a list of the workshops with availability. I know that it feels a bit risky signing up for a workshop when things can change overnight but I am refunding and rescheduling when things do change so rest assured on that front.

Yes, I expect the mini-lockdown in place in Greater Manchester to last 2 - 3 weeks and yes, I think there will be further lockdowns as we get into the main flu season. But in-between I am determined to enjoy the company of my lovely students in an environment that is as safe as it can be. A slice of ‘normality’ in these uncertain times.

• Breakdown Your Palette - rescheduled workshop will now take place from Monday 31st August to Friday 4th September. It looks like there will be two spaces - please contact me if you want to be put on the waiting list.

• Breakdown Your Palette 7th to 11th September - 1 space

• Creative Surface Design, first weekend 19th and 20th September - 1 space

• Introduction to Surface Design, first Saturday 26th September - 2 spaces

• Books for Textile Artists with Ruth Brown 10th to 13th October - 2 spaces

Take care,

Leah x

Hidden Message 2 - one of the quilts on display in From There to Now

Those of you who live in the UK will be aware that the government announced new restrictions covering Greater Manchester (where I live) on Thursday evening due to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases locally. We are no longer able to visit each others homes or gardens. They have not imposed any new restrictions on businesses so I could continue to teach. However, whilst my students never go inside my home, they do use the garden to access the studio, the bathroom and screen wash trough as well as sitting in the garden on sunny days. It is tempting to bend the rules as I know that I, and my family, are being super careful. And I know that the studio is Covid-19 safe. But I’m not going too. If we all bend the rules we will never get free of this disease.

So yesterday I contacted those students who were due in the studio in the next couple of weeks. They have all been so understanding and so lovely and I thank them for making a difficult day easier to bear. I’m trying to reschedule the Breakdown Your Palette workshop for later in the summer and may have a couple of free spaces if it goes ahead.

But life goes on and there is much to celebrate. Beyond The Festival of Quilts launched on Thursday and I have had some fabulous responses to my virtual gallery ‘From There to Now’. Although the official event finishes tomorrow I believe that the galleries are going to be left visible until next years show. I’ve also had a good response to the Helen Parrott and Rosie James workshops in 2021 with half the places taken in a couple of days. They are popular teachers!

And thank you to those who have ordered from my webshop, especially those buying my limited edition bookmarks. As a reminder the 10% discount code FOQ2020 is valid until midnight on Sunday.

Yesterday was horrible but today I have given myself a good talking to and am back working on my book.

Leah x

Sewing Blue by Rosie James

It is an absolute pleasure to announce that Helen Parrott and Rosie James will be teaching at Urban Studio North next year. They are both amazing artists and teachers and I’m so happy that they accepted my invitation to teach in my studio.

Stitched samples by Helen Parrott

Helen will be teaching a new five day workshop that combines creative personal development with individual coaching sessions. The title of her workshop is Northern Landscapes and Hand Stitch and you can find more here. It is a two part workshop running from 7th to 9th May and 12th to 13th June 2021. Students will explore new visual and stitch ideas drawn from northern landscapes. At the end of the first weekend students will go home with ideas to explore and reflect on before coming back into the studio. I had the pleasure of working alongside Helen last autumn and have seen, at first hand, how good she is at tailoring a workshop to fit individual students needs and aspirations.You can find more about Helen on her website here.

And what can I say about Rosie James? Well I absolutely love her work. Her use of a sewing machine to stitch drawn lines creates deceptively simple but powerful, evocative pieces of art. During her five day workshop, entitled Drawing With Your Sewing Machine (4th to 8th October 2021), you will learn to use your sewing machine for free machine quilting and will experiment with stitch on different surfaces including paper and cloth. You’ll learn to add colour using applique and simple monoprinting. By the end of the workshop you will have a series of experimental samples and one or more completed pieces. You can find out more about the workshop here. And you can find out more about Rosie and see more of her art on her website here.

I’m taking bookings on both workshops from today via my online shop. Both cost £450 including a £150 deposit.

Still 3 (Rest)

I have a few things to share. All of them warm my heart.

Firstly, I am delighted to tell you that I have a virtual gallery, called From There to Now, at Beyond the Festival of Quilts from Thursday 30th July to Sunday 2nd August. Because we can’t all meet in person the organisers have put together a collection of online workshops and lectures, virtual galleries and an online shopping hub to entertain us when we would normally be enjoying the biggest quilt show in Europe. The links aren’t live yet but you can check out the workshops and other offerings here.

The gallery features some of my favourite quilts from the last seven years, including Still 3 (Rest) shown above. Some pieces you will have seen before, but some may be new to you. I even recorded an audio track that should play as you look at the quilts. Which was rather terrifying.

Secondly, if you live in Manchester, you can see a few of my smaller pieces at The Oystercatcher restaurant in Chorlton. They contacted me at the beginning of the year to ask if I could lend them some art as they like to show (and hopefully sell) interesting pieces by local artists. I was really rather chuffed … but then lockdown happened. Thankfully things are better and the restaurant is open again. The photo below shows three of my smaller ‘Kilns’ pieces, each displayed in shadow box frames. I miss having them on show in my studio but it is kind of cool to think that lots of people will get to seem them.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone that has brought one of my charity bookmarks. And to Ruth Brown for donating some books to the cause. We have raised another £90 which I have just transferred to The Trussell Trust. Their work is so important. Nobody should go hungry in the UK but sadly many do. Please have a look at their website if you want to know more about their work. Or maybe buy on of my bookmarks. There are still some left. £5 each and I pay the postage. .