Monday 16 June 2008

Creative Textiles - as we near "the end"

Today we finished off looking at the design work we'd started last week and spent ages admiring some rather spectacular pieces which included a rather cool length of fabric printed with blocks and fabric paint which sort of looked good enough to come out of a production line!

We looked also at crocheting circular pieces and our tutor brought in some examples to inspire such as a cushion cover which looked rather yummy and some felted bowl/vases that are a bit like the FSL machine embroidered bowls that were all the craze a couple of years ago and you either love them or you don't! (I quite liked the tip of putting a jam jar inside and filling with something, I'd probably be inclined to put buttons in mine rather than flowers as anything like that doesn't usually make it past 2 days before wilting and turning black and slimey!

I must get my hook out again and plunge it into a ball of yarn and do something yummy soon!

We've two sessions left before "the end" and next week we're setting up for the finale which will be our masterclass on water solubles!

Now its nearly here, I can't quite believe it IS here! the end, I mean!
And I have to make a difficult decision about whether to sign for a 2nd year enrolling later in the September ..

At the moment I am inclined to feel it less likely I will, mostly due to time constraints and the amount of time that IS inevitably taken up with a varied course like this I feel stretched to capacity in keeping up with sampling and recording each aspect which leaves little time left over for larger crafting projects.
What I'd like to do NOW, is use some of these new techniques and ideas and incorporate them into some practical project rather than launch straight into yet more sampling and techniques. What would be ideal would be an option where one could work on a piece of their choice alongside the class, but there isn't the scope within the way that they are set up and run to allow for this.
I'd like, for example, to explore knitting - with colour! with fairisle and with cable and definitely finish my lace project and work further on that aspect too! I'd like to work further with felting, make or knit a felted bag and embellish it. Look, too, at furthering my enjoyment of hand stitching and maybe expand into quilting with some more crazy patch and embroidery!!

I'd like to work on what I enjoy most and suits the type of project I'm most likely to appreciate and use rather than the more arty type that I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing others' examples of and trying out my own more limited interpretation and I suppose, really, its more of a "club" that would suit my needs now which the system doesn't cater for!

On the other hand, I would really miss my new crafty-pals and definitely miss the excitement of seeing new projects and ideas - ho-hum! what to DO!?

No comments: