Glorious Reflections

 

When Out of the Fold were invited to take part in the artcontex event at The Minories Gallery in Colchester I went along to look at the venue and was delighted with the space we were allocated by the organiser Lorraine Traer-Clark.

Out of the Fold were given a long wall in the first floor ballroom with white walls, high ceilings and natural light streaming in through the large windows. A perfect space to show off our series of 'Reflections'

The 'Reflections' work was unveiled a week earlier in an equally beautiful space, also a ballroom, at Bury St Edmunds Guildhall. Also with high ceilings and large white display boards. The light levels are a little different here with the traditional chandeliers.

With these two venues in mind members of Out of the Fold decided to make large pieces of work 40cm x 150cm and all to be displayed in portrait format. 

This way of working is unusual for the group and the size and uniform method of  presentation on stretcher bars proved quite challenging. 

But it was worth the effort. The end result is a spectacular series of ten works of textile art. 

You can see the 'Reflections' exhibition as part of ArtConTex at the Minories Colchester from 2nd - 5th October 2025

Read more about the inspiration behind the work on the Out of the Fold website outofthefold.com/blogsand don't forget to subscribe to receive our regular updates

There will be work on show from many East Anglian Textile groups and individual makers at ArtConTex - a real celebration of textiles in our region 

The Mirror Crack'd

 

When Out of the Fold selected the theme of 'Reflections' for our 2025 exhibition I spent some time thinking about how I might interpret the subject.

Literature, art and musical inspirations were considere; as well as self-reflection, introspection and even Plato's cave. However it was the poem by Tennyson "The Lady Of Shalott" which fired my imaginationwith the tragic tale of the lady cursed and trapped in a tower, only able to view the world through a mirror and passing her time weaving

She is content, but when the beautiful Sir Lancelot  rides by on his way to Camelot she is tempted to gaze upon him and all is lost.

"Out flew the web and floated wide;

The mirror crack'd from side to side;

"The curse has come upon me" cried

The Lady of Shalott"

The choice of materials for "The Mirror Crack'd" was key to the whole work. Reflective shiny fabrics, glitzy sheers, metallic silk, and laminated plastics were all selected to suggest the mirrored surface.

Words from the Tennyson poem were made into fabric using the paper lamination technique. Colours were restricted to a cool palette of blues, greys and purples., with a hint of silver.

"The Mirror Crack'd" will be exhibited alongside work on the same theme by members of Out of the Fold. These are large pieces measuring 16" x 60" so when displayed together will make a real statement.

The 'Reflections' exhibition will be on show at the Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds from 23rd - 28th September 2025

There will be a second opportunity to see the series as part of the ArtConTex event at The Minories, Colchester from 2nd - 5th October 2025

Also on show as part of the 'Reflections' exhibition will be our previous series of work from 2024 entitled 'A Splash of Colour' which was seen first at Snape Maltings in October 2024

This includes a whole series of Cubes made by all members of the group

There will be 19 groups and individual artists from all over East Anglia taking part in the ArtConTex event - a real celebration of textile art in our region

Out of the Fold will be in the first floor ballroom.

On the catwalk at Festival of Quilts 2025

 

'A Coat for Elizabeth' got an outing to the Festival of Quilts 2025 as part of the wearable art fashion show

The coat was made for the E.A.S.T. exhibition 'Bridging the Gap' at The Minories, Colchester, in 2025.

Inspired by early women herbalists and in particular by Elizabeth Blackwell who wrote "The Curious Herbal" book in 1737

The coat features a leaf design to suggest the plants gathered by herbalists for medicinal purposes

The surface design is produced using discharging and bleaching techniques as well as markal oil sticks and applique with many different materials.

The plant names, as well as some of the diseases of the time, with the help of paper lamination, are concealed within the stitching

A commercial vogue pattern was used

The hem is weighted to help it hang (and swing!)

Appearing on the catwalk was slightly nervewracking; modelling was never in my job description. But the coat was well received and much photographed throughout the show.

Thanks to Wendy Gardiner and the team at Immediate Live for mounting the fashion show, and the whole Festival of Quilts event.

It was a very busy five days in Birmingham. I taught whole day workshop on the day before the show opened.

Some lovely 'Precious Pojagi' pieces were constructed with students from all around the UK, Denmark and our furthest travelled - Australia. 

I love teaching at the Festival of Quilts because of the mix of  international guests

Plus my usual Quilting in Action stand at the show with a display of my work.

To help cover the cost of the stand I offered project packs and other materials relating to the techniques on display.

I always demonstrate on my stand - the zone is called Quiting in ACTION - and this year I showed the Monoprinting Magic technique printing with gathered foliage. 

Monoprinted cotton organdie pieces ready to be made up into packs

I also demonstated this technique in the Creative Textiles Studio on Sunday morning. This wet studio with different textile artists sharing their skills and showing their techniques, completely free of charge, is a great asset to the show.

Many thanks to Hazel and Terry from In Stitches and to Leah Higgins for giving their time for free to organise the studio. 

Great to see so many friends, past students, workshop participants and hearers of talks at the show. And the biggest thankyou goes to Jayne Emsden who covered my stand on Sunday. Thanks Jayne. 

Shiny, shiny stuff

 

These very shiny, sparkly fabrics arrived in the post today..........they will be joining.......

......these semi-transparent fabrics.......

Quite a different colour way for me

Work in progress for  the "Reflections" exhibition with Out of the Fold in September 2025

Very early stages. 

Venue: The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1PR

Dates: 23rd - 28th Sept 2025

Times: 10am - 4pm each day

FREE entry

Precious Pojagi and Festival of Quilts

 

On Wednesday 30th July (the day before the Festival of Quilts opens) I am offering a full day Academy Masterclass on the Precious Pojagi technique.

Participants will bring along pieces of their precious old lace, embroidery or textiles and we will combine these with white cotton organdie to create an unique wallhanging.

It is the perfect way to show off those special pieces rather than leaving to lie in a drawer for nother year.

There are still spaces on the workshop. The cost is £105.00 which includes lunch and refreshments.

To book please go onto the Festival of Quilts website thefestivalofquilts.seetickets.com/workshops/the-festival-of-quilts-quilt-academy-workshops and search for my workshop which is number 310

India Trip - back to plan A

 

My Embroidery Tour of India with Aahilya Holidays has been confirmed as going ahead! 

So I am off to India from 2nd - 16th October 2025

We will visit Delhi, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bhuj to see lots of cultural sites and witness traditional embroidery in the making.

It will be the trip of a lifetime! There are still spaces available so if you would like to come along please book through www.aahilyaholidays.com/tour/0716/an-indian-embroidery-holiday-with-mary-mcintosh-2025 

Two Blue Days planned for Eau Brink Studio

 

I love teaching at Eau Brink Studio with it's large and light workroom, set in a peaceful rural location. 

Having two days gives us the chance to explore and enjoy learning new techniques and completing a piece of textile art.

Eau Brink is also a place where I have tried out new workshops with feedback sought from the participating students. This year is no exception with a brand new two-day workshop planned. 

Two Blue Days. 8th and 9th August 2025

For the past couple of years I have been exploring the properties of cotton organdie fabric with various surface design techniques - dyeing, printing, painting, rusting, eco printing etc - and then stitching with the created fabric to make up into light semi-transparent hangings.

Indigo dyeing works really well on cotton organdie and this is the technique we will use on the two day workshop in August

Day One - we will set up an indigo vat and use shibori resist techniques to pattern many pieces of cloth. 

We will also set up a wax pot and use stencils and other mark making tools for resist patterning before dyeing. At the end of the day everyone will have a pile of lovely blue fabrics (and probably blue nails too!)
 

Day Two - we clear away all the wet messy stuff and get out our sewing machines. Using the contemporary machine piecing Pojagi technique we will stitch our patterned indigo dyed cloth into a double-sided, semi transparent wallhanging.

I will take along lots of other colours of cotton organdie which could be incorporated into the finished work.

To book onto the workshop please contact Anita at Eau Brink Studio

www.eaubrinkstudio or telephone 01553 611009

Eau Brink Studio, Pullover Road, Tilney All Saints, Kings Lynn PE34 4SG

Materials provided for £15