Last Weekend I held a two day workshop in the historic town of Berry on the South Coast of NSW. There was a buzz in the air surrounding all of us who came along—some even coming from interstate.
We all had such a wonderful time playing and creating. The Friday was all about screen printing our own fabric and on Saturday we were busy using our self made designs.
First I helped to develop their ideas into a motive. Playing with scale and adding to the complexity of their designs. They then decided on their colour schemes and how the motive was to be printed onto their cloth to create a repeat—most ladies were designing fabric for the very first time. There is a thrill in creating unique fabrics, which we all felt.
A kid's drawing turns into fabric
Doilies on upcycled shirts
Hand-drawn chevrons with multi coloured ink.
On Saturday, day two, we met up in the wonderful Berry Patchwork shop. We started the day discussing designs and I explained how I could see their fabrics being used in a product. Cushions, quilts and bags were designed. The unique screen printed fabrics were fussy cut, appliquéd, and naturally turned into quilts. It was great to be in the Berry Patchwork shop so that everyone could purchase fabric and supplies to complete their various projects, Liz was kept very busy.
Detail of Sharon Thompsons' quilt. Vintage inspired prints and upcycled shirts. Isn't it genius?
Sara created a Dachshund screen print, using both a negative and positive design for her screen. Her fabric was fussy cut and pieced together with a spot she printed by dipping her fingers into the paint. She then turned her fabulous design into a cushion. I encouraged her to use blue for the first time. I thought the blue and the mustard made the design sing. I loved what Sara created.
Big congratulations to Liz for turning her drawing into a paper cut screen and printing both the positive and the negative design. Later with a bit of bossing from me she let go of one of her precious fabric motives and cut the design out and then sewed it into a bag. We shared many smiles of excitement in the group over the two days as we all enjoyed watching the designs evolve into fabrics and then into something special for a loved one. A few ladies made something for themselves for the first time in a while.
I loved this piece of printed fabric so much that we discussed using it as the center of a quilt instead of cutting it up. Using the complementary opposite colours we chose a border and created a quilt in one day. We even basted the quilt before the end of the day. This one will be embroidered and quilted with Pearl threads. It's so pretty don't you think?
This print of blue wrens was turned into a cushion and fluttered out of the building before I took the final picture. But imagine vintage buttons and pearle embroidery.
Cathy printing outside in the sunshine.
On a personal note, I loved teaching this workshop. It was a fantastic group of ladies who all had a great time and really helped and supported each other. Berry put on the most spectacular weather imaginable with the sun shining in a perfect autumn blue sky. I am incredibly grateful to Liz for organising the workshop and for stocking so many of my fabrics in her shop. We did discuss another workshop later in the year.
If you are interested please give Liz a call and we will organise some dates (02) 4464 3387.
