Friday 19th April, 11 till 3 pm
Louise is a textile artist based in 36 Lime Street, Newcastle, making unique pieces, working with traditional northeast techniques such as patchwork and quilting, hooky and proggy matting, as well as spinning, embroidery, felting, batik along with upholstery, printing and community yarnbombing. She has collaborated on and co-coordinated many collaborative projects, including designing the quilt, teaching over 100 people to English Paper Piece (EPP), and making the Shipley Art Gallery’s Centenary Quilt. More recently, she worked with people from across the northeast to make three collaborative quilts to commemorate the lives of family and friends. These three quilts are currently on tour across the northeast.
During the workshop, you will first learn about the history of patchwork, from the earliest documentation in illustrations of the joining of small pieces of fabric together by the Egyptians to the layering of fabric to create amour; the heritage and traditions of EPP passionately embraced in North America; to modern designs and techniques; then almost coming full circle in how it is used at the forefront of the environmental with the movement towards more sustainable living.
The key aim of the workshop is for you to learn how to use the traditional technique called EPP and how to design and produce your collaborative patchwork quilt over time. To learn EPP, I will make up the paper templates in advance and cut out the fabric pieces so that you can practice pinning, placing, and stitching them together to make a small patchwork square. I will demonstrate each stage with supportive worksheets and examples available. Once you all feel comfortable with the technique, I will discuss and show you how to design your collaborative quilt using large sheets of paper, graph paper, and cards to create templates for the backing papers and the fabric. Patchworking using English Paper Piecing is a very methodical way of working. Its beauty is created through its simplicity; it can be very meditative and is suitable for all sewing abilities.
Materials and equipment will be provided for the workshop. Participants may bring their own materials for developing the collaborative project.
Materials provided: needle, threads, patterns, tracing paper, templates, two fabric pieces, paper for pages, cover paper, ‘take-home’ instructions and ideas sheet.
Cost: £15 for Friends, £20 for non-members
If you are interested in attending this workshop, contact josephinecousin@googlemail.com
Friends of the Hatton 