Our speaker for May is Kate Findlay and her talk is entitled "Nature in Textiles".

Kate is self employed as a textile artist and teacher.  She lives with her partner and son in Berkshire, and has a studio at home on the second floor which gives her plenty of exercise up and down the stairs!

Kate taught Design Technology and Art in secondary schools for many years, before getting a job as an art teacher in a private primary school after her son was born.  It was working part time here that allowed her own art to develop.

After creating a body of work inspired by the the Large Hadron Collider she turned to the natural world for inspiration and began a series of pieces inspired by birds, which has gradually grown to encompass a great variety of wildlife, and also landscapes and woodlands on a larger scale.

Kate travels the country giving talks and workshops based on all her work - and her ongoing interest in e-textiles and the use of other media.

Making art is a complete passion and is probably the most important thing in her life right now.

 

April Practical Evening

 Our meeting on the 1st April 2026 is a practical evening  starting at 7.30 pm.

The project is shown below:

You will need scissors, needle and thread.  

March Meeting

 At our March meeting our speaker, Jane Stock, explained how Japanese Boro developed.  She was able to show us many examples and how she has evolved her own style.

Boro has a long history and its use grew in the less affluent communities from necessity.  They used and re-used textiles for clothes for warmth and economy.  It involved putting layers of fabric over thin or damaged areas and securing them with simple stitching.

Jane explained the use of indigo dyes on cotton and jute fabrics; natural fibres that could be grown locally.  She showed us fabric that she had dyed using "tie/dye" techniques to achieve different "depths" of colour and many differing patterns as well as printed areas.

Jane's work was varied and showed how she has experimented to produce her individual style.

Kathy Francis

Examples of her work

March Speaker

Our speaker for our meeting on the 4th March at 2pm is Jane Stock.  Her talk is entitled "The History, Traditions and Techniques of Japanese Boro". 

Jane enjoys working with a range of fabrics and media but she is particularly drawn to materials and textiles that have had a previous life and show signs of wear and repair.

She uses different processes including hand stitch, printing, and dyeing.  Indigo is her favourite colour and she is fascinated by the various patterns and effects that can be produced.  Her hand stitching is all about mark making rather than precision or regularity.

II enjoy working with a range of fabrics and media but I am particularly drawn to I   joy working with a range of fabrics and media but I am particularly drawn to materials and textiles that have had a previous life and show signs of wear and repair.  Different processes include hand stitch, printing and dyeing.  Indigo is a favourite and I am fascinated by the various patterns and effects that can be produced. 

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My hand stitching is all about mark making rather than precision or regularity. 

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Textile history, from samplers, to the machinery and processes of large mills their pattern and sample archives, are of d textiles that have had a previous life and show signs of wear and repair.  Different processes include hand stitch, printing and dyeing.  Indigo is a favourite and I am fascinated by the various patterns and effects that can be produced. 

​

My hand stitching is all about mark making rather than precision or regularity. 

​

Textile history, from samplers, to the machinery and processes of large mills their pattern and sample archives, are t have had a previous life and show signs of wear and repair.  Different processes include hand stitch, printing and dyeing.  Indigo is a favourite and I am fascinated by the various patterns and effects that can be produced. 

​

My hand stitching is all about mark making rather than precision or regularity. 

​

Textile history, from samplers, to the machinery and processes of large mills their pattern and sample archives, are of particular interest. enjoy working with a range of fabrics and media but I am particularly drawn to materials and textiles that have had a previous life and show signs of wear and repair.  Different processes include hand stitch, printing and dyeing.  Indigo is a favourite and I am fascinated by the various patterns and effects that can be produced. 

​

My hand stitching is all about mark making rather than precision or regularity. 

​

Textile history, from samplers, to the machinery and processes of large mills their pattern and sample archives, are of particular interest.

February Meeting

Please note a change to our planned program as our February speaker is unable to attend this meeting due to ill health. We wish Sheila well, and hope to see her at a future meeting.

The AGM will be , followed by a Members' Meeting including the following:

Members Show and Tell - We'd encourage you all to bring along a piece of work for a general show and tell;  perhaps something you've made over the last year which you'd be happy to share. 

We will launch the2026 group 6 inch square project.  

You'll see items from previous workshops where the tutors will be here again this year - to give an idea of some of our 2026 workshops, which we hope will inspire you to come along! 

We will show our Suitcase Collection -  individual items made by members 

We look forward to seeing you all on the 4th February 2026.

Programme for 2026

Please note that the pages for Speakers and workshops have been update to reflect 2026.

December Meeting

 The meeting in December is a practical in the afternoon at 2.00.  The project is pictured below.  

November Meeting

 At our November meeting we were introduced to Alyssa Robinson’s method and source of ideas for her textile art.  With many detailed samples, she explained the development of an original idea isolating and analysing separate colours in a picture or natural object.

Like many of us she had always sewn from childhood but embroidery inspiration came later and she did City and Guilds embroidery.

Alyssa now does bespoke items as well as teaching and has her own studio on Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border.

Examples of her work

Work in progress - Design being coloured in with stitch

Final design printed on cushion

November Speaker

 Our speaker for November  is Alyssa Robinson and her talk is entitled "One thing leads to another" The meeting is in the afternoon at 2 pm.

Alyssa and her mother enjoyed getting the new edition of Golden Hands Magazine each month and she loved all the different techniques and remembers making a smocked dress for a little girl in the seventies.

She made clothes for dolls from her mothers dressmaking offcuts and then things for herself. She learnt sewing all through school, and made stage costumes and copies of high street fashion for herself.

She qualified and worked as a cartographer and geologist but always spent spare time making clothes, eventually setting up a bespoke dressmaking business.

After some amazing years as a full time mum, she enrolled in a City & Guilds Embroidery course and hasn't looked back.  By the time of her Diploma Show, She had completed her Post Compulsory Education Certificate and was teaching the beginners' class at the same college.  After 7 years teaching there, she set up her own studio on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border and set about teaching City & Guilds courses and day workshops.   

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We had a very enjoyable evening when Vendulka Battais talked to us about her “Journey with Oliven”.  She was born in the Czech Republic and moved to the United Kingdom in her mid-twenties.  Her mother had sewn many of her and her two sisters’ clothes and her eldest sister trained to be a tailoress.  She felt the need to craft with her hands and initially tried upholstery, then millinery and finally attended a patchwork class and fell in love with both the patchwork and the quilting.  Around this time, she met her husband Olivier and the first quilt she made was for him in blue and white.  They travelled to Australia and the next quilt we were shown included Australian fabric and fabric printed with photos from their travels. 

They settled in the Isle of Wight and created a fabric shop with workshop room above and also a café.  The first workshops were table runners. Very often it was the fabric that inspired the design. Eventually they relocated to Suffolk and opened another shop with workshop however now the shop is closed and this enables her to concentrate on teaching and give talks.

Over the years she has been inspired by specific techniques such as log cabin, bargello, cathedral window and been on workshops to improve her skills enabling her to pass on her expertise to her students.  Her next inspiration was using mandala as the basis for designs and she made a number of small quilts using patchwork but also embellishing the work with embroidery, beads and paint.

Her work was being notice by the quilting fraternity and she was winning prizes at quilt shows.  Some of these were in co-operation with her husband as he also is very artistic and has given up his career as a trained pastry chef to become a textile artist.  They won best in show with the quilt “Our Ladies” at the NEC in 2021.

She has trained to become a quilt judge and now understands how difficult that can be.

Her latest venture is into quilted garments using the fabric for inspiration.

It was fabulous to look at all the different projects and to find out how they had been created.  A few are shown below.

October Speaker

Our speaker for October is Vendulka Battais and her talk is entitled 'Journey with Oliven'. The meeting starts at 2pm.

Vendulka is a textile artist, tutor, speaker, long arm quilter and qualified quilt judge.

Vendulka started sewing and dress making with her mother as a young girl back in the Czech Republic but it was at spring 2008 when attending beginners patchwork class in Aberdeenshire her passion for quilting was born. Vendulka is now a prolific quilt maker, she loves a challenge and her interest comprises from Cathedral window techniques, free motion quilting and machine embroidery, hand embroidery to some surface design techniques with varying fabric paints. Her biggest passion is to make textile  hangings inspired by yoga, sacred geometry, buddhism, symbolism and often carrying interesting messages.

She will also be leading a workshop on the 30th September at Ashby Village Hall.  The workshop is chenille see picture below.  There are still places available.

September Meeting

 We were lucky that Jackie Durber was able to come and talk to the group when the booked speaker was unable to come.  Her collection of bags was very impressive, but did not cover her hand bags.

The pictures below show her favourite bags which she uses on a regular basis for sewing.

Bag open to show all the compartments

Bag zipped up

And then inserted into larger bad with pockets for yet more sewing notions

Then inserted into larger bag and can also hold current project

Bag zipped up and ready to go

Breaking News

We regret that Olivia Wilson is unable to make the meeting on Wednesday.

Fortunately Jackie Durber is able to take her place.  Her talk is entitled "Bag Lady".

Speaker for September

Our speaker for September is Olivia Wilson and her talk is entitled "Eco Textile Practices".

She is a mixed media artist and educator with 17 years of experience in art education and a Master’s in Fine Art. Her practice explores the intersection of nature, material, and storytelling, with a strong focus on sustainability. She grows and forages for natural pigments, using them to create eco-conscious textiles that honour the earth’s vibrancy.

Beyond her studio work, she is passionate about fostering a connection to nature through community-based art projects in natural spaces. She collaborates with people of all ages to create art that deepens relationships with the environment, blending ritual, self-care, and material exploration. Her work is influenced by eco-feminism and esoteric themes, challenging traditional narratives and advocating for harmony between the self and the natural world. Through art, She seeks to inspire connection, reflection, and a renewed sense of belonging to the earth.

July Meeting

There was much beautiful work to be admired at our meeting on July 2nd.  Textile artist Jane Caven travelled from Coventry and explained the development of her style in pictures and very many examples of her work which could be closely examined.

Jane told us how her interest in textiles developed from early sewing with her grandmother, but not straight away.  She gained art qualifications, finding a love for working with fabric much later in her career.

It was amazing to see so much hand sewing.  What we initially thought was applique, was actually the main fabric, brought to life with intricate, vibrantly coloured stitches for the 'background'.  Designs and compositions are first planned on paper using coloured pencils/pastels before  the sewing on black drill fabric can begin. Thus the spaces become as important as the rest of the design.

Many of us were inspired to sign up for her workshop in September. 

Kathy Francis

July Speaker

 Our July speaker is Jane Caven and her talk is entitled "A Journey into Making Embroidery Art".

Jane Caven's textile pieces have evolved from drawings made on pastel paper with soluble crayons.  The hand stitched embroideries are 'drawn' with running stitch, which is used in a variety of ways.  Some of Jane's work combines felting, collage and stitch.  Themes depicted are largely of nature, trees and birds, done in a stylised way.  She likes to use strong contrasts, juxtaposing the black fabric with vividly coloured embroidery threads.

An example of her work

Jane will be running a workshop for us on the 27th September at Ashby Magna Village Hall.

June Meeting

The subject of "Gee's Bend Quilts" chosen by our speaker on  June 4^th was unfamiliar to many of us.  Quilter, Andrea Lechner, had become fascinated by their history and done a great deal of research into their origins and development. Gee's Bend is a horseshoe bend in the Alabama River and refers to the quilts developed there in an isolated hamlet of Boykin.  The original community of 17 enslaved people worked on a cotton plantation established by Joseph Gee in 1816.

Their quilting grew out of necessity: living in poor quality, unheated homes and the need to keep warm in winter.  Just surviving was hard and they used any fabric they could acquire.  This was parts of old clothes and household fabrics.  Muted colours, shapes and patterns emerged depending on what was available.  They had little or no knowledge of other communities and their designs and skills were handed down from generation to generation.

With the aid of many slides Andrea was able to show and explain many of the early ones and answered a number of questions from our members.    Government support allowed them to sell quilts from 1930's and they became popular. Now there is international recognition for the artistry and skills and they are displayed in many museums.

Kathy Francis

June Speaker

Our June Speaker is Andrea Lechner and she will be talking about the quilts of Gee's Bend.

The quilts of Gee's Bend are quilts created by a group of women and their ancestors who live or have lived in the isolated African-American hamlet of Gee's Bend, Alabama along the Alabama River.

The quilting tradition can be dated back to the nineteenth century and endures to this day. The residents of Gee's Bend, Alabama, are direct descendants of the enslaved people who worked the cotton plantation established in 1816 by Joseph Gee.

The quilts of Gee's Bend are among the most important African-American visual and cultural contributions to the history of art within the United States. The women of Gee's Bend have gained international attention and acclaim for their artistry, with exhibitions of Gee's Bend quilts held in museums and galleries across the United States and beyond. This recognition has, in turn, brought increased economic opportunities to the community.

May Meeting

Our May meeting is a practical evening.  You will need your sewing kit.  Lace bobbins will be provided as well as fabric etc, but you can bring your own if you wish. See below for examples of the project to be made.

April Meeting

"Collage just got bigger" was the title of Sarah Hibbert's presentation on the first evening meeting of 2025.  

We certainly saw some large quilts with large designs.  Originally Sarah had produced some more traditional work and hand quilting.  Later she found an interest in more abstract designs.

I personally, not being particularly proficient at art and design, was fascinated with her process of producing modern abstract designs.  As a starting point she cuts/tears paper before arranging them as a stepping stone to her quilts using mainly solid colours, often with a limited palette.

Sarah was an interesting speaker, often sharing humorous details of producing quilts even if they illustrated problems she faced, including a grandchild dyed blue by a non-colourfast fabric.

Kathy Francis