Embroidery Holiday to India October 2025

 

Here is just a taster of some of the delights you will experience if you join me on the Aahilya Embroidery of India holiday in October 2025

There are still spaces available. For more information and to book please visit www.aahilyaholidays.com

You have been framed

 

Way back in February 2023 I used my local framing shop in Sudbury to frame work for Textiles East. They liked my work and asked if I would like to be a 'guest artist'. The earliest date was November 2024 which seemed like a long time away. Well it has come around and for the whole month of November 2024 my work will be on display in Art and Framing Centre Sudbury 

I have made a new piece for the window, started on a Putting on the Glitz workshop, and several other smaller framed pieces and mounted work using this technique are on display.

The framing centre give over a corner of their shop to the guest artist each month. Those of you familiar with my work over the years will recognise many of the pieces. Prices from £40

Sweet Celtic and Sweet Cathedral (made from Quality Street wrappers) are from several years ago. Not possibe now with the change to the cellophane wrappers brought in by Nestle.

New for 2024 are a range of glass candle or tealight holders. A technique which emerged from the 'Lovely Lutradur' workshop and inspired by student Amanda Neville who made her vessel up into one of these.

Various sizes and come complete with a battery candle (although you could use a real wax one if preferred)

Prices from £15

So thank you to Graham and Emily from the Framing Centre for offering this opportunity. The first time they have had a textile artist as their exihibitor. Open Monday - Saturday. 9am - 5pm.

Indian delights from Melanie Missin

 

On Saturday 7th October I attended the region 8 Quilters' Guild regional day where the speaker was the lovely Melanie Missin giving a talk about her trips to India with Aahilya Holidays

Mel brought along some of the beautiful textiles she had purchased on her trips as well as examples of pieces made on the workshops attended as part of the holidays

This included pieces from the Gujarat region where I will be leading an Aailya Holiday in October 2024. 

This is an example of work by the Rabari people in a remote rural area near Bhuj

One of the many textile technique workshops on the trip will be mirror work taught by Rabari embroiderers.

This is a Toran door hanging using mirror work bought by Mel in Bhuj

Look how tiny these mirrors are on a girls bodice - all done by hand

I suspect my attempts on the mirror workshop will be amateur in comparison  ut really looking forward to giving it a go!

Melanie also described another workshop technique of painting with a stick onto silk. Again this will be on the trip I am leading to India too

This fine bird was purchased in Ahmedabab

Tie dyeing using the tiniest of ties on silk to create gorgeous texture

The tie dye workshop is also covered on the Indian Embroidery Holiday.

Plus we will be experiencing workshops in Phulkari embroidery, Suzani embroidery and Kantha as well as block printing.

There are still places available. If you are interested please visit www.aahilyaholidays.com

Or email me on maryelmcintosh@gmail.com amd I can send you more details.

The cost is £2990 per person if sharing a twin room or £3890 for a single

Melanie's enthusiam and the knowledge she has gained from her tours with Aailya was so inspiring.

Thank you Melanie, and for your permission to show images of your textiles. 

 

Ice Cubes

 

My exhibiting group Out of the Fold have a group challenge for our new series of work each year. The 2024 challenge is to make CUBES.

Following on from the word play of 'Moth Balls' I thought of different sorts of cubes and their associations.  Sugar Cubes and Rubik cubes were considered and rejected. 

It was whilst enjoying a gin and tonic when the clink of ice against glass brought an Eureka moment. Ice cubes! 

Ghost Nets

 Inspiration came too from a piece of work made earlier in the year for the Norfolk Makers challenge 'Under the surface'

Ghost Nets was not selected for the Norwich exhibition but I liked the technique of using recycled plastics encapsulated in laminated plastic

I experimented to get the look I wanted to represent the look, texture and reflective qualitites of ice

The multi layered plastics and cut up and reassembled using my trusty soldering iron

The simple machine stitching  using free motion zigzag is to suggest ice cracks

A pale and cool colour palette with glitzy glints to pick up the light

The cube construction was not without it's challenges. The six sides could partially be stitched together by machine but the final joins by hand were quite tough on the fingers

The challenge was to make cubes at 4", 8" and 12".

I have actually made five cubes with a 2" and 6" added into the collection

The 12" required going up to A3 laminated sheets. I would quite like to go bigger - could I make a 16"? 

You wil be able to see all the finished cubes, plus those of the eleven other members of Out of The Fold at our exhibition coming up at The Quay Gallery, Snape Maltings from 18th - 23rd October 2024

Aahilya Indian Embroidery Holiday Oct 2025

 

This time next year I will be getting ready to lead this fantastic textile holiday to India with Aahilya Holidays.

To find out more please visit their website https://www.aahilyaholidays.com/tour/0716/an-indian-embroidery-holiday with mary-mcintosh-2025

It is a BIG trip visiting lots of places with a mix of sight seeing, visits to museums, hands on embrodery workshops and staying in some really lovely hotels with delicious food. Here is the outline of the itinerary.

2nd Oct 2025 Depart UK and fly to Delhi

3rd Oct Stay in the Grand Hotel, New Delhi and visit the Craft Museum Delhi

4th Oct Phulkari Embroidery Workshop in Delhi

5th October Flight to Patna and then drive to Muzaffarpur and stay at the Royal Phullar Hotel. Afternoon workshop Madhuani painting workshop

6th Oct Suzani embroidery workshp

7th Oct drive to Patna and then a sightseeing tour of the city visiting Golghar, Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya museum, Patna Museum of Indian artefacts and Buddha Smriti Park

Stay at the Hotel Maurya in Patna

8th October Flight to Kolkata and stay at the Hotel Elgin Fairlawn. Visit to local market

9th Oct  Kantha workshop

10th Oct Tour of Kolkata to see the Victorial Memorial, Howrah Bridge, Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Indian Museum and St Paul's Anglican Cathedral

Block printing workshop

11th Oct Flight to Ahemdabab and stay at the Hotel House of MG. City tour including the Shreyas Museum of Textiles

12th Oct  Drive to Bhuj and stay in Hotel The Fern

13th Oct Tie-dye wokshop then drive to Bhujodi to see shawl weaving and Rabari embroidery

14th Oct Mirror embroidery workshop

15th Oct Drive to Ahmendabab

16th Oct Flight home to UK

The cost of the holiday is £2990 if sharing a twin room or £3890 for a single room. 

This includes all the accomodation for 13 nights, breakfast, dinner and some lunches. All the internal flights and transfers. Entry into museums etc.

It does not include the return flights from UK to India. Aahilya will be able to book these and can advise on the cost

Talking to people who have been on an Aahilya holiday and to textile artists who have led tours everyone has very positive feedback. The tours are very well organised with knowledgeable local guides. The hotels are top class with excellent food. Everyone felt very safe and well looked after. And in the company of like-minded people with an interest in textiles. Mostly women. Many travelling solo.

I will be researching more into the places, hotels, embroidery techniques and culture over the next few weeks and will share my discoveries here. A whole new world of adventure for me - and maybe you too?

Object and Memory - more inspiration for a new series

 

These little old shoes were discovered at the back of a wardrobe when clearing out my Mother's house when she moved into residential care.

They are what were known as 'clogs' made with wooden soles, leather uppers, and metal horseshoe like grips on the bottom.

Clogs were commonly worn by working people in the 19th and early 20th century. Often shared between siblings and certainly passed down as valuable objects with multiple wearers.

So who wore these little shoes? 

Unfortunately my Mother's memory has gone and she cannot provide the answer.

Here she is, Jean Kennedy aged about three, and wearing a pair of clogs. But not the same design as the ones found.
 

The clogs are stuffed with newspaper so I hoped that might provide a date. But the paper is a copy of the Newcastle Journal from 1971  (the Sports section) so is a much later addition.

So might they have belonged to my Dad? I found an old photograph of him, Ian Famelton, aged about three, and again wearing clogs.

But not the same design.

So how can I find out? The generation of clogs wearers is disappearing fast. Who can I talk to?  

More research required but there is a story, or maybe more than one, to be told here. 

Inspiration for a new series?

 

A fantastic discovery on a recent trip to Dorset - the chained library at Wimborne Minster

I need to do lots of research and maybe more visits to other chained libraries in the UK. I know there are other chained libraries in Wells Cathedral and Hereford Cathedral.

I am sure there are stories to discover about the books, the authors, the scribes, the collectors and the buildings.

I look forward to finding out more.

Will it result in a new series of textile work?

Too early to tell. But I shall enjoy the research and hopefully something exciting will emerge.