At the weekend and just in time I heard of Stitch Camp with Gwen Hadley and TextileArtist.org. I found the Facebook group, and was inspired. It started on Monday of this week. If you are quick you should still be able to access this free Stitch Camp.
First task was to choose fabrics, threads and mark making equipment. I was governed by the acrylic paints I have , and plumped for blue and silver.
Next task , get going and have some fun.

The silver looks like grey on fabric which was a disappointment and my idea to roll a marble bottom right was wrecked when I dropped it and it didn’t roll. This piece was supposed to be heavily marked. It is.
Second piece is to be marked much less. By now I had abandoned my mark making objects in favour of a thin paint brush and swirls.

Give me scrap fabric and I will enjoy myself no end.
That was day one. Day two is cut your fabric into squares, choose one from the first piece and one from the second, one of one colour one of the other find two squares where the marks flow into each other and tack together.
Mine had of course stuck to the newspaper I had covered the table with. I just yanked them off. Facebook assured me I wasn’t the only one, who’d done this. The less gung-ho amongst the group got in a right old tizzwaz, and no end of precise instructions were suggested.

Now people got in a muddle here. We’d been told we would need a prodigious amount of fabric, but the accompanying video only showed a much smaller piece. I had opted to use similar sized pieces of fabric to the video. Bear in mind this was supposed to take about half an hour a day. More Facebook fretting eventually prompted Admin to step in and explain we only need to have four squares to work on!
I had 12. The video had seemed to imply that you joined them in a big long line. Here’s mine pined in a big long line.

Fortunately I had decided at this point that a big long line was a daft idea, and had opted for three rows if four squares. A sensible person would have accessed her rotary cutter and mat, but I was enjoying myself far too much to be a..sed.

Day three using threads to make marks and blur the boundaries so that paint marks merge. Day four is add applique to do more of the blurring.
I had used a scrap of white cotton fabric which felt quite flimsy. I found some curtain lining fabric to back it with. I have started stitching, and I have to say it’s quite relaxing, but you can’t do that much in the half hour you are supposed to need.
Tomorrow is day five when we will be shown what we can do with our fabric. So far I am just enjoying playing. I may well repeat the exercise with some nicer fabric scraps, and more swirls, because it is pretty darned fun!
Love to know what you last did that was just fun.
I think you’ve done very well so far, and am laughing at all the people in the FB group getting in a bit of a muddle with instructions.
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It’s surprising how much people can panic without strict instructions even though they have been told there is no right and wrong. Sad as well.
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Haha, all sounds so familiar. 🙂 I’ve followed to workshop too, being aware from the start that 30 minutes would never be enough time. I will surely repeat the painting part and have collected a couple of ideas for uncut pieces of cloth.
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I think that I will choose some better fabric and start again, but also use what I have now for slow stitching.
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Me too.
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I’ve enjoyed the week, just as a way to try something different, out of my comfort zone! There has certainly been a few stressy people on facebook though! I like your blue and silver squares, you’ll have fun slow stitching those 🙂
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I don’t think I will be making anything with them but I can certainly use them as pure relaxation.
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It’s great how you enter whole-heartedly into fun playful projects. Your ‘instructions’ are so clear – I might ahve a go myself! I look forward to seeing where you get with it.
Me? I have been on a fun abstract painting course this week – oh I did have fun. Like being a kid again – only better! 🙂
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Sounds a bit like me let loose with some old fabric and paint. Look forward to hearing more about what you have been up too.
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So far so good. I think I may try again, now I have seen all the videos. I may dye some of the pieces I have. I could have done with less of the guys and more of the instructer. LOL
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