A year of not doing that much!

Tina Francis 2016

So the nest laid plans and all that! Most of what I planned to do in 2016 was put on hold whilst I recovered from an operation (I am back on track now!)so most of those plans will be used for 2017!
In 2016 I did however have my first solo exhibition "7 Stages of Grief" which will continue in galleries next year, ran Jewellery Quarter Open Studios for the second year, became "Artist in Residence" at ScrapStore Birmingham and visited many pre-school settings creating art and fun. Ran a successful workshop at RBSA (more to come in 2017) and helped Spring Hill Stitchers exhibit at one of the largest textile shows in the UK, we have got funding from Ageing Better so watch this space for more exhibitions and maybe come and join us Saturdays 12-14 in Spring Hill Library. So all in all not a bad year!

Looking ahead to 2017 I am back exhibiting at the shows and will be at the following:-
The Stitching and Sewing Show - Manchester 2-4 February, Glasgow 2-5 March
Craft 4 Crafters - Exeter 16-18th February
Fashion and Embroidery - Birmingham 16-19 March

I will then be exhibiting (27/3 - 2/4) at The Gallery, Craft Central, Clerkenwell with two fantastic makers, Suraya Hossian and Judith Watson. Our show is called "Where wool Meets" and will see us creating a collaborative piece and also exhibiting our own work. Our practices are very different but it is wool and the act of using processes associated with it that joins us. Keep up to date with the show here.

I am running workshops in my studio from February, maximum 6 people with as many different teas as I can muster! The workshops will include embroidery using Oh Sew Bootiful kits, Weaving using kits from Juko Designs, Canvas sampler designed by me, Fun stitch workshops encouraging you to "Use Your Stash", lampshade making and a few more that will involve other makers in the Jewellery Quarter. Full list and dates will be on the website by Mid January. 
Talking of workshops I will also be at IDC Redditch running a selection of the above workshops plus mono printing and mixed media.

So that's the first three months or so of 2017! Thanks for sticking with me this year I have really appreciated all your kind words and the continuing orders which have inspired me to create more printed kits and new canvas work kits which will be launching in April 2017.

Have a great festive and I hope to see you in 2017 at the early year shows or later at Ally Pally and Harrogate.

Happy Stitching!

The year is flying by!

So the year is cracking on!  I don't seem to have stopped except for last week when I went on a 5 day holiday (phew the luxury!). I went to Toulouse and enjoyed a little syringe of sunshine! But now back to it with two of the best shows of the season.

I am at Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC from 19th March until 22nd March.  This is a great show as it is really 3 shows in one!  Sewing for Pleasure is where you will find everything you need for sewing, pacthworking and quilting.  There are some great free workshops which I would love to do if only I didn't have to be on my stand!!  Try and get to take part in a Vilene Sewing Club Workshop run by the multi talented author and craft inspirer extraordinaire Laura Strutt of Made Peachy, some great ideas my favourite (as you know I like to Use Stash!) is Fabric Key Fob where you will make the most of your scraps to create a fantastic key fob.  Also in the Sewing for Pleasure area there are on stand workshops, I like West End Embroidery who will be demonstrating new stitches for canvas work.

The next area in the show is dedicated to HobbyCrafts from cake decorating to fine art to papercraft to felting it's all here.  I particuarly like wandering down the art aisles and watch people paint and draw quite relaxing in such a busy show. House of Zandra is a great stand if you love papercraft and I see that they are demonstrating felt kits too for all you owl lovers! 

Finally Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch is where you come to learn and take part in everything in textile design and beyond.  A highlight for me is always the Fashion Show run by Brenda Killigrew and students of the IDC Academy of Fashion and Textiles it's an opportunity to spot designers of the future and marvel in the creativity.  This area also has many exhibition stands dedicated to textile artists I am looking forward to "Dressed to Quilt" by Ineke Berlyn which will show quilts designed on a shift dress pattern, I will be interested to see how a shape can determine the design. There are so many great textile artists in one area that you could spend the whole day here, taking in (of course) workshops on the Vilene Education Stand where you can book onto a workshop run by Kim Thittichai entitled Sparkle and Twinkle, if you know Kims work you will no doubt be familiar with her use of Bondaweb but if you can get onto her workshop you will find out that there is so much knowledge behind the processes and designs, I've heard that Geckos are going to be available and also Hot Spots!!! After a workshop stay a while in this area and feast on textile art from around the world.  After being inspired by all you have seen why not take the plunge and start a new Craft?  Top of my list as usual (apart from Tapestry Needlepoint of course!) is weaving, take a look at the small kits and inspiration by my good friends Juko Designs it really is amazing what can be achieved with very little wool and texture.

So I hope to see you at the three shows in one show, what was that oh yes my stand is K20 do pop on by and see some secondhand wool stitch work!

If you can't get to Birmingham it all happens again but this time with cake(!) at Excel the following weekend.

What a lot of links! Happy Stitching!

Tina

Weaving on!

Pink Weave by Janet Elstob, Copyright Janet Elstob 2015

It's great when you receive a note from a satisfied customer and this week seems to have been my week!  My Weave design kits are counted kits and come in many different colourways, they can seem a challenge to get started but once you are into the swing they are really enjoyable to get on with.  Each kit comes with a separate chart for each colour and you follow them in order to get a fantastic weave result. It's amazing how so few colours can make such a pleasing result.  The above image came in from Janet who when we met at Knitting and Stitching Show described how she wanted a special cushion for a rattan chair in a light place.  Well here is the result using my Pink Weave Kit.  The stitching on this is just perfect and I love how the basket weave of the chair is echoed in the finished piece.
This kit uses Appletons Wools and can be provided as a bespoke item in your own favourite colourways (prices from £70 to £90), you receive a bespoke set of colourblock charts and before I make up the kit you get to see a mock up of the finished colourway, I can even send you some wool colours.  As you know I am always encouraging people to Use Your Stash and so this design is available as a colour chart only which enables you to use the wool you have got rather than me providing it in the kit.
Continuing with all this weave and Stash I spent a really great day with Solihull Embroiderers Guild on Tuesday talking about my favourite subject, me! Ha ha not completely I talked about how I got into this tapestry needlepoint world and also showed examples of my work where I had used other peoples stash to create unique weave pieces.

Photo courtesy Martin Christie

What I find amazing about talking to Guild members is not just how interested they are in quality work but also how a simple idea like my weave design can spark a whole list of possibilities and discussion.  We roamed from stitch control, to emotional control, to maths, to physics, to memories of their moms pattern boxes.  It was a fantastic day and I have definitely come away with more ideas than I went in with!

The trade and stitch shows are nearly with us, I am exhibiting at Craft, Hobby and Stitch International next weekend and then on to Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch in March where I will be exhibiting a lot of my weave pieces and also demonstrating the processes.

I'm off now to look create another bespoke weave chart ready to send out after the weekend!

Until next time, happy stitching!

Tina

What's cooking?

Tina Francis Tapestry copyright - Pavilion Tops

At this time of year we all look back and then forward so I thought I'd head the blog with an image of my first ever kit Pavilion Tops, still popular in the UK and worldwide it makes me smile when I see it thinking of all the places this design has taken me.

But hey lets not dwell on the past one design does not make a Spring (!) it's time to concentrate on the first few months of the year and look at what i will be doing when and where (yes it's all about me this time!!).

As you will know I moved back to Birmingham in 2014 and met with some great new people, a special mention to Birmingham Embroiderers Guild who have been a great inspiration and have accepted me into the fold!  We had a great time in November making stitched brooches and I am happy to see some members using the pattern for their own work.  Keeping it Guild (!) my first talk of the year will be at Solihull Embroiderers Guild on 3rd February, I will be talking about how I got into the tapestry needlepoint world and also encouraging people to "Use their Stash" as it's great to have a project that does not cost too much at the start of the year. 

"Use Your Stash" is gaining momentum and I am always following others that like to use what they already have.  "My Make do and Mend Year" was an experiment and has now become a lifestyle choice for Jen, take a look at the blog I am really interested in this years challenge to make a piece of clothing per month, lot's of ideas and inspiration on this blog.

Talking about using what we have already got my new design for Spring is based on an old wall where the wallpaper has been stripped, I found it in Vittoria Works in The Jewellery Quarter a building which is being brought back to life by The Ruskin Mill Trust and will be a great place for young people to learn skills and become part of the community in the later half of this year.

Tina Francis Tapestry Copyright - What lies beneath

It's no good having new designs if you are not going to be showing them, I am exhibiting again at Craft, Hobby and Stitch International this is trade fair only so not open to the general public but will feature new designs from me and also the first trade outing for my trays.  It's a great show to gauge interest in all crafts and I am really looking forward to meeting up with Juko Designs who will be at the NEC for the first time and also saying a big hello to Hawthorn Handmade who I met last time and who have followed me and boosted me up throughout the year.

My next show is at Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch to say that I am over excited about being given the opportunity to exhibit here would be the understatement of the year (yes I know it's only a few days old), I will have a stand displaying gallery work from my woven series and will also be exhibiting two small pieces which are the start of a new exhibition for 2016 called "Interrupted" and of course "Use Your Stash" will be making an appearance! I will be running a daily one hour workshop called "On your Mono Marks" which will use Freudenburg Vilene products and mono printing techniques, I really enjoyed running last years workshop "The Start of Something (thanks Kim Thittichai for trusting and letting me loose on the general public!) which is where I met Birmingham Embroiderers Guild, so my blog has come full circle and that really is a great start to the year!

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Tina  

  

Weaving along the queue

Tina Francis Tapestry copyright 2014

Over the past few blogs I have been looking at the blogs and work of other makers that will be either exhibiting alongside me at The Handmade Fair or whose blogs I go to time and again for an inspirational tea break.  I will be writing a blog soon regarding all the fantastic exhibitors who will be in the Textile Gallery at the Knitting and Stitching Show Alexandra Palace rows c and d! But this time I want to tell you about a little adventure that I had at the weekend.

Saturday 30th August was Liberty Call 2014, where Libertys flings open their doors to makers and designers and gives them the opportunity to meet the head buyers for their particular products.  It is a long old day with queues of designers and makers snaking around Libertys from the early morning.  In order to take part you have to apply and register and then turn up on the day, this is meant to keep numbers to a manageable amount but I met quite a few people who had just turned up on the day.  Not really cricket because it just makes more work for everyone involved.

When you are a small business and working closely with your designs it is always good to come up for air and really review the products and designs you have been working so hard on.  I took a range of tapestry kits for printed canvases and also for counted canvases. You have 3 minutes to discuss your work and listen to the advice, so it is pretty intense!  I received some great advice and feedback about my designs and a lot of food for thought about the direction my work could take. I would really recommend it.

As you know I really want people to "Use their Stash" and my weave pattern for this is very popular with many of you having stitched unique designs with your stash of wools. The weave kits are popular at shows and can be tailored for your own homes, I love creating a bespoke weave design probably best of all!

You'll see an example at the top of the page of my Rainbow Weave kit which looks even brighter in "the flesh" and which will be coming along with me to The Handmade Fair and returning to The Knitting and Stitching Shows later in the year where it always brightens up the dark Autumn days!

I met some great people in the queue at the Liberty call and will be following them on their next ventures. It really is fantastic to see so many people following their hearts and making beautiful products, there is so much talent out there.  The whole event was filmed and so maybe you will see a clip of me on the next Libertys TV series, if I only make it to the cutting room floor then do please come and visit me in the Autumn at the retail shows.

Oh yes and if you are in Cumbria please do go and visit Farfield Mill in Sedbergh where my work is being exhibited next to some fantastic makers who all use good old wool! (More next time about this exhibition)

Happy Stitching!

Tina