Truly Inspired

Mum and I spent a fabulous day yesterday at the NEC visiting the Sewing for Pleasure/Hobbycrafts/Fashion Embroidery & Stitch shows. There was so much to see and do!

This was my favourite entry in the 'Glimpses of the Swinging Sixties' STITCH/Madeira competition.

There's a huge amount of work on display. Seeing it all really inspired me to want to try new techniques and make time for working on my own textile creations. I was really thrilled to see one of Alice Kettle's creations in 'real life'.

I loved this piece by Helen Banzhaf. The colours and shapes are really striking.

Linda Kemshall is an amazingly talented quilter (as is her daughter, Laura). Mum and I had a lovely chat with Linda about the work she's created using an embellisher (a sewing machine with no thread, just a series of needles that take the hassle out of felting). Linda applied hand stitching to her embellished background in the piece above.

I'm always in awe of people who are talented at felting. This is one of the panels from the Scottish Heritage Standards display. There were lots of banners on show, celebrating Scotland's history and culture and the year of the Homecoming, but this was definitely my favourite.

There was so much gorgeous fabric for sale, it took all of my willpower not to buy all of them to add to my ever growing stash. This was no mean feat as I love, love, love Liberty fabric!

Five Valleys Designs had Amy Butler's newest fabric collection, Love, for sale on their stand. Water Bouquet/Midnight is my absolute favourite.

With such a fabulous choice of fabrics on offer, how on earth do you choose?!

Sumptuous threads from Stef Francis.

Indian braids and ribbons...gorgeous and glittery!

This is some of Kim Thittichai's work...she's a master of 'hot textiles' (you might have seen her book).

This is a great show to see work by students and graduates. I was really taken by the work of students from the University of Cumbria. This mood board was created by Kirsten Gilder as part of one of her first year projects.

This is the decoration on the top of one of Lindsey Atkinson's headbands (another University of Cumbria student). So quirky and eye-catching, I thought it was great!

Amanda Mercer makes the most wonderful pieces...this is her teapot and cup and saucers, with Ashleigh Smith's gorgeous printed fabric as a backdrop (again, both are students at the University of Cumbria).

Threads and Angelico, two textiles groups, worked on a collaborative project that explored the concept of 'coast'. I really liked the qualities of this hanging.

Another of the hangings from the Threads and Angelico project. It's made entirely from felt and looked so tactile, I had to stop myself from running my hands through it!

This piece made me smile. It's called Line Dancing and is by one of the members of the Meniscus group of textile artists. The birds' bodies are made from old envelopes.

This machine knitted dress caught my eye...I'd love to have one like this in my wardrobe!