2024 Classes

I'm a textile artist based in Wellington New Zealand and I teach a range of dyeing, printing, quilting and bookmaking classes. The first classes for the year are usually the indigo dyeing classes as they are much more fun if we can hold them outside!

This is a list of my current bookings

Indigo Dyeing and shibori - Tawa College, Tawa, Wellington. There are still spaces in this class.

Saturday 9th March 10-4pm.

Karori Art and Craft Rooms, Karori, Wellington.

Printing on Fabric - 24th February 10-4pm

 This class can be booked online here.

Inspired by Boro (quilts/patches) - 25th May

Crazy Piecing - 30th June

Sashiko - 27th July

Quilt As You Go bags/placemats/table runners. - 10th November

Hutt Art Society Rooms, Lower Hutt

Indigo Dyeing and Shibori - 3rd March 10-4 (Class Full - waiting list available)

Komebukuro Bag - 2 classes - 7th April 1-4pm, 12th May 1-4pm.

Inspired by Boro (jacket). 4 sessions - 16th June 10-4pm,  (Class Full, waiting list available)

21 July, 4 august, 25 August, 1-4pm.

New Zealand Quilt Symposium

I have been invited to teach at the New Zealand Quilt Symposium 2024. This is to be held in Cambridge in the North Island of New Zealand. 

The classes are not confirmed yet but I hope to be able to tell people soon.

Textile Classes in Lower Hutt , New Zealand.

 

Hi everyone

I'm teaching multiple classes at the Hutt Art Society rooms in Lower Hutt. There are very few places which offer evening and weekend classes in the Wellington area since a previous government removed subsidies for adult education. So Sue Swann (Embroidery) and I (surface design, quilting, bookmaking)  started offering classes at the Hutt Art Society Rooms. Each year we have expanded and this year have brought in a number of new tutors. Here is a copy of our newsletter.

Welcome to 2023

We have a variety of classes and new tutors for you this year.  Whether you're a beginner or whether you want to take the next step in your stitching journey there are classes we hope will interest you.

Classes for the first half of the year are on the Hutt Art website already.  More classes will be added over the next few months for classes to be held later in the year.  I'll send out an email as new classes are added.

 As well as ourselves we have classes planned with the following tutors;

• Mary Self - Mary is teaching a beginners stitch class as well as a couple of classes that will develop your creativity and teach you new techniques, 
• Cherie Gurney - Cherie is teaching a piece that gives you the opportunity to use those precious scraps in your collection and create something memorable,
• Katherine Pepperall - Katherine has created a wonderful doorstop incorporating native New Zealand clematis flowers in reticella,

Coming Up later in the year

• Anna Hicks - Anna is preparing some classes from her "Mending and Design" series and
• Marilyn Moran - For those of you who requested a class in needle felting, Marilyn is designing a small creature to tempt you to 'have a go'. 

Heads up - there are a couple of groups starting at the end of February and a shibori dyeing class in early March, so don't delay in getting enrolled for these classes: 

• A monthly stitching group on the 4th Sunday of each month  - this group is for those who need a bit of help getting an old project restarted, want help with a new project or just want to stitch with a group of like minded people - it's a great way to keep a project moving.
  
• Design your own "Kutch" Dowry bag.  This group will also meet monthly and by the end of the year you will have learnt a bit about the design process, some new stitching techniques and have a handy little bag.
  
• Clare is holding an indigo / shibori dyeing  day in early March, so be quick to enrol for this popular class and create some interesting fabrics for other projects.

Class Samples

If you'd like an opportunity to see the class samples for the classes already scheduled, the class samples will be on display in the Huia Gallery (Hutt Art) from Tuesday 31st January - Sunday 12th February.

Exhibition - Indonesian Textiles

There is an exhibition of Indonesian textiles at Hutt Art from Tuesday 31st January - Sunday 12th February.  The textiles are ikats and batiks and they all use natural dyes for most of the colours.  On Saturday 4th Feb at 2pm there will be a talk about the dyeing processes as well as looking at the rituals associated with their production and the meanings of some of the patterns. If you're interested in textiles this is not to be missed.

Attached is a poster for the upcoming classes, and a poster for the upcoming Indonesian textile exhibition.  Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think may be interested in the classes or the exhibition.

Enrolments are via the Hutt Art website

https://www.huttart.co.nz/copy-of-classes-3

Regards

Sue and Clare

www.huttart.co.nz

textile.hutt.art@gmail.com

A New Venture - new textile classes in Wellington.

 I've been teaching textile classes at Nancy's Stitch Studio in Wellington for quite a few years but the shop has recently changed hands and at this stage the owners are not ready to run a big list of classes. So three of us are starting to run classes at the Hutt Arts Society Rooms in Lower Hutt (New Zealand).

You can have a look at the classes in more detail by going to the Hutt Arts website.

My classes are 

Boro - making a layered, stitched fabric panel.

31st July 10-4pm.

Monoprinting.

Monoprinting on fabric or paper to make fabric for quilting or papers for bookmaking.

Saturday May 29th

10-4

Machine Quilting

Learn how to prepare a quilt for machine quilting then draw with a sewing machine. After machine quilting a sample, you can then colour the design in , using fabric pens if you wish.

Sunday July 18 10-4

Bookmaking

Learn how to make at least 5 different styles of sewn books.

Catching up with paperwork and future classes

Every now and then I feel overwhelmed with paperwork. I feel like I get less and less made and spend more and more time sending off CV's, sending photos, sending needs lists and arranging dates for classes. Today I am catching up with all that stuff at once rather than spreading it out. So in all likelihood I will send the needs lists for Quilter Lane in Masterton to Christchurch and the needs list for Kapiti Quilters to the lawyer, while the lawyer will get an article on the Aotearoa Quilters show in Rotorua instead of the tax return from my mothers estate.

I have updated my booked classes list (see the right hand side of my blog) to show some new classes. It seems that Sashiko is the new black. Everyone wants Sashiko so I'm teaching it in three places around the Wellington region this year. Some groups may have spaces for non-members. Its a good class to take because you don't have to lug a sewing machine around if you don't want to.

The first class is  Wellington Quilters Solstice Weekend in Karori Arts and Crafts society rooms.
26th June. I also have a machine quilting class (Quilt Doodling) on the 25th. I know there are a few spaces so let me know and I will pass on the details of the organiser. It costs $20 for members and $40 for non-members.

Coastal Quilters has booked a sashiko class for 2nd July

Kapiti Quilters for the 6th of August.

I might have to make more class samples as they need to be in three places at once. In these classes you can stitch by hand or machine depending on what you prefer.

 
In January I've been invited to teach Indigo Dyeing and Shibori at the Lower Hutt Arts Society Summer School.

Indigo dyed fabrics from my class at Quilt Symposium 2015

This should be fun as indigo and warm weather go nicely together. More information and enrolment forms should go up on the website in the next few weeks.

I have also been invited to teach bookmaking at the Embroiderers Great Escape in Auckland from 24-26th of March next year. Since I'm going to be up in Auckland anyway,  I could move on to teach somewhere else in the North and make a bit of a holiday of it in between 'gigs'. Any suggestions? Its still lovely and warm in March for organic indigo dyeing.

Indigo turning from green to blue

Indigo fabrics changing to blue

Ta da!

Classes

Wellington Quilters Guild has asked me to teach a Sashiko class and a machine quilting class at their winter solstice quilting weekend in June. I am ashamed to say that my website is now so out of date that those classes aren't even on it. My husband constructed my website so long ago that we have long forgotten how to change anything and it wasn't ever at all easy. I was one of the first quilters in New Zealand to get a website but now I'm one of the people with the most out of date website in New Zealand.

Here is the information for the Wellington Quilt Guild classes.

One day classes

Quilt-doodling and colouring-in for machine quilters

Spend a day honing your machine quilting skills by doodling using the sewing machine then  colour in your patterns using fabric markers. Colouring-in is optional! 

Black thread on white fabric

Sashiko

Sashiko is a traditional Japanese way of patching and strengthening old fabrics using running stitch in decorative patterns.  In this class students will look at photographic examples of Japanese boro (patched) textiles as well as examples of more modern styles of sashiko stitching. Students will then learn how to mark out a grid on fabric and then stitch Japanese Sashiko patterns either by hand or by machine. 

Sashiko is traditionally done using cream or white thread on a navy (indigo) background but students are encouraged to try different colour combinations or create their own stitching patterns for a different look. 

Machine stitched sashiko patterns on a bag

2 placemats.  Left -  sashiko by machine. Right - sashiko by hand

Sashiko stitching over recycled indigo fabrics to make a placemat

Japan trip 2010 - day 1 Tokyo

Hi everyone
We are back from Japan but I am going to write up the journey now , day by day. I wasn't able to load photos while I was away so this seems the best way to do it.

6th April we flew to Tokyo after a really early flight from Wellington. We had to be at the airport at 5.15am. Above is a picture of ice that formed on the window,  looked like a bullet hole! This trip t Japan, I  travelled with my 17 year old son.

7th April we spent in Tokyo. In the morning we went to Asakusa Senso-ji temple. Chris and I were in competition to see who could get the most classic shot of cherry blossom. Chris won this round!

Above are some photos from the Amuse Gallery in Asakusa. I went there last year but was only allowed to see a small section of the museum because it is closed on a Monday. This time I was able to see the whole museum which included a collection of Boro clothing, Kogin clothing (sashiko stitched) a temporary exhibition of wool embroidered aprons and these amazing salmon skin boots (see above). There was also a young girl demonstrating 'sakiori' weaving which is done by ripping up old clothing and using the strips to weave new cloth.

The museum also has a collection of sashiko embroidered clothing. It has a really nice shop and a few publications available for sale. It is worth a visit and easy to find.

Instructions
From Asakusa Senso-ji temple. Face the front of the main building of the temple. Turn right (East) and go to the side street. On one side is a duty free shop and on the other is Amuse Gallery.

Drum Museum
My son plays the drums and the Drum museum is also in the Asakusa area. He was able to try out the steel drums, Japanese Taiko drums and all sorts of percussion instruments from around the world. The curators close themselves into their office and just let visitors 'go for it' on different drums.
Instructions
Face the main gate of Asakusa Senso-ji temple. The gate is called Kaminarimon. Ahead of you is Nakamise Dori, a long shopping street filled with tourist souvenirs and strange food items. To get to the Drum museum turn left and walk till you get to the next really major street. The Drum Museum is straight across the road in front of you.

In the afternoon we went to Studio Ghibli Museum. I went there last year but wanted to take my son there as he and I really like the Ghibli Movies, such as 'My Neighbour Totoro', 'Nausicaa', 'Spirited Away'.
Instructions
You need to book this via the internet before you get to Tokyo. I booked my tickets through JTB in Auckland when I bought our JR Rail passes.

Here is a picture of a single room at Hotel New Koyo in Tokyo. Minami Senju area (up near Asakusa, Yanaka area.)  This is a 2 mat room. I could lie across it and it was exactly my length so 1.6metres wide. My son had to lie across the room diagonally or sleep with his feet either out the door or in the microwave. His room was the gold painted 'Samurai room' with swords decorating the walls. Mine was a much more boring colour! It was nice to have a single room rather than sharing with 7 other backpackers :-)