Kate Findlay Workshop - by Freddi

‘A brilliant day,’ ‘A wonderful time,’ ‘Such great fun,’ ‘Absolutely absorbing,’ are just some of the comments following a brilliant workshop led by Kate Findlay. Expertly tutored by Kate we journeyed ‘From Textiles into Art’ and created individual woodland scenes with fabric. The time just flew by! 

Our adventure started with us admiring and studying some of Kate’s amazing woodland art work. This gave us inspiration for our creations. Kate provided clear instructions and taught us specific methods to help us at each stage of the process. She guided us towards appropriate fabric choices, frequently encouraging us to look at the wrong side of the fabric. We kept a season in mind and once our basic background was in place she demonstrated how to add features such as bushes, boulders, grassy banks, a pathway etc. by cutting the fabric in ‘eye’ shapes. Slowly a scene was emerging. 

Next we created trees of varying sizes, shapes and colour: pattern and texture were important along with perspective and placement. Now for the really exciting part!! We produced suitably shaped and coloured fabric confetti, cut from layers of material and under Kate’s expert eye scattered it wisely onto our woodland scene. Our creation was coming to life! We covered it with tulle and stitched around the edge.

And now, onto the final stage: Kate showed examples of using effective stitching, especially free motion stitching, to add depth and detail into the scene. We were once again inspired but …… sadly, 4 p.m. was fast approaching: time to tidy up BUT not before we had a very joyous ‘Show and Tell.’ Fifteen unique woodland scenes were displayed featuring autumn trails, spring walks, blue bell woods and even a daffodil scene. 

We were amazed with the variety of pictures and delighted with our outcomes.

THANK YOU to everyone who made our day so memorable: Eileen and her team who organised the event and arranged the hall so well, everyone who joined in with such enthusiasm and most importantly, massive thanks to the highly talented, inspirational Kate who took us so skilfully on this exciting and rewarding journey.