Last October I went to the Knit + Stitch show in London at Alexandra Palace. It took what felt like forever to get there, but it was very much worth it! Not only are there lots of vendors for some great deals, but there were a lot of exhibiting artists.

Straight after entering was the first exhibition; a selection of works from The Quilt Collection. I was blown away by the intricacies of the works and delighted by the range of techniques.

These were my favourites! I could imagine showing this to my Textile Art students and seeing if we could perhaps create a collaborative piece. See the stitches on the Shibori work? Amazing! Or the dying with rust? The students would love this!

I booked the Dresden Delight workshop. I have made quilts before, but nothing as intricate looking as this and I thought this could be a technique I can use in my own work or it would at least look really cool on the back of a denim jacket. Everything you needed was provided and I was so pleased seeing the fabrics! I learned a lot during this workshop besides making the Dresden Delight; especially how to do Inside-Out Appliqué (were you sew your piece right sides to a backing and then turn it out before pressing and attaching it) and chain sewing (were instead of cutting your thread each time after sewing a piece, you just keep going, feeding the next piece through).

I was able to complete all the petals and made a start attaching the rosette to the backing fabric before the end of the workshop, I worked as fast as I could! Unfortunately, I made my centre piece too small. When I got home I had a piece for grey fabric left and made a centre piece with it, but I hate the look of it, the colour is wrong and so is its size. I don’t have large enough fabric pieces left, so I’ll have to piece some bits together, perhaps I can arrange them in a radial manner and that’ll go well with the rosette.

I asked the lady who ran the workshop if I could have all the scraps and she told me to come back later so she’s have more. I came home with two bags full of different scraps!

There were a lot of different workshops on offer. They had a mini exhibition at the entrance to show what you could create. I’m already excited for next year!

After my workshop I hit the vendors. It was a bit overwhelming there was so much on offer and it was pretty busy as well. A lot of vendors had excellent pieces on show from incredible quilts, to garments and works in progress such as the Shibori in image 3.

From there I meandered to the exhibition spaces. There was an incredible range of techniques and styles on display. Here are a few of my favourites.

There was so much, I was not able to visit each and once I had made my way through the gallery spaces I realised there was a whole other hall with vendors and exhibitions! By this time I was exhausted though, perhaps I should’ve taken a rest and have a cuppa tea to recharge but I was rather overstimulated. So, I headed home, inspired, satisfied and with lots of goodies for next projects and learning new things!

On my way home I continued my slow stitching and admiring my farbic scrap haul I added more bits and more stitches. I continued adding layers of stitches, mostly running stitch and blanket stitch in a rnage of orange and blue DMC embroidery thread (most split in 2-3 strands).

When I felt I was done stitching, I whip stitched the collage only some unbleached cotton and hemmed the whole thing on the machine. I love this work so much, not just the final result but also the work itself. The meditation of each stitch, the surprise of where the threads take me, the free exploration and play. I have made many more Embroidery Collages since, bit that’s for another post.

It’s safe to say that the Knit + Stitch show has brought me so much! So much more than just a shopping excursion, it was inspirational, educational and was the beginning of a new series of works!