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

More monoprint magic

 

The 'Magic Monoprint' workshop at the Cosy Cabin on 21st June 2025 yielded some great results.

Using gathered foliage to print onto cotton organdie and build up layers of transparent colour with acrylic paints and inks

These lovely pieces were printed by Jane using a variety of different leaves

Bridget worked colourways of blue, green and dark red

Sarah had some metallic acrylic paint which gave a slightly different effect

All of these will be made up into semi-transparent hangings using the machine pojagi piecing method

There is another 'Monoprint Magic' workshop running at The Cosy Cabin, Risby Barns, Bury St Edmunds IP286QU on Sat 19th July 2025. 

Call 01284 811222 to book

Proud mentor moment

 

I offer a mentoring service to textile artists.

Sometimes this follows on from completing the Advanced Stitched Textiles course when students wish to have some continued guidance to establish their textile art practice.

We have an initial 2 hour session to establish what is required and to set some short term, medium term and long term goals. 

This is followed up by as many sessions are required to check progress, amend goals, and offer constructive feedback on work in progress. 

Sometimes only one session is needed. 

Meetings can be face-to-face or via zoom. 

I mentored Nicola Whayman in 2024. 

One of her goals were to change her practice to work only with sustainable materials. 

Nicola now uses natural dyeing to create all the fabrics she uses in her work.

In addition she uses gathered natural materials to weave, make cordage, and print. 

The result is a wonderfully muted and soft colour palette which reflects the natural world but full of texture and depth. 

One of the other goals we agreed upon was to create a series of work for exhibition.

With the power of a deadline in mind I proposed that Nicola book a venue! She chose The CraftHouse in Woodbridge for June 2025.

Eighteen months later the exhibition is here and looking brilliant.

Nicola has worked incredibly hard and has produced several series of work including her reflective 'Stitch Journals' and the 'Calm' work.

I am incredibly proud of what she has acheived. Nicola has now 'found her thing' and is making work with meaning and emotion which connects with the viewer.

The exhibition runs until Tuesday 24th June 2025 at The Craft House, The Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1AA

You can also see her work as part of the exhibiting group Out of the Fold in Bury St Edmunds in September 2025

Nicola is on instagram as @quiltingthreads and can be contacted by email on quiltingthreads@outlook.com

If you feel that may benefit from a mentoring session - maybe you just need some new impetus or a change of direction - then please contact me on maryelmcintosh@gmail.co. Cost is £75 for a two session. 

Group mentoring is also available. 

 

Reflections - work in progress

For the Out of the Fold 'Reflections' exhibition planned for September 2025 all twelve members are making a small 10 inch piece of work which we plan to display together at the exhibition but also make up the images into a calendar.

My chosen inspiration for 'Reflections' is the Tennyson poem "The Lady of Shalott" and it's most famous line "The mirror crack'd from side to side"

The phrase was used by Agatha Christie for one of her crime novels and in the name of background research I have been reading it for further inspiration. Published in 1962 (before I was born) it has had many editions and different covers fro which I can also take inspiration. Just have to be really careful with copyright!

We have aken on the ambitious challenge to make a large piece each measuring 16" x 60" on the theme of 'Relections' 

Watch this space to see how this progresses.......

 

 

Monoprint Magic result

 

Gwen Cogman attended the Monoprint Magic workshop held at Mellymade Designs studio and used a variety of grasses, ferns and leaves to monorprint her fabric before joining them using the machine Pojagi piecing method. 

Gwen sent me these images of her completed piece. Lovely colours and with the light shining through really shows of the plant shapes.

Handing in the doorway at The Cosy Cabin in Risby Barns. The seams become an impotant design feature of this Pojagi technique with colour mixing where the seams join.

The choice of hanging location can really change the look of the hanging.

The same work hanging against a white wall is much more subtle.

Well done Gwen, a lovely example of the Monoprint Magic technique.

If you would like to book this workshop for your group please email: maryelmcintosh@gmail.com

White cotton organdie for monoprinting, and coloured organdie for piecing can be supplied for £15

New website for Out of the Fold

 

Out of the Fold has a brand new website outofthefold.com/designed by member Jenny Lam and a fresh new logo designed by Penny Evans

Every member has a profile page and you can find mine herehttps://outofthefold.com/

All twelve members have a profile page

Plus information about our forthcoming exhibitions and a news section which will replace our old blog

Out of the Fold are working on a new series of work' Reflections' which will be exhibited at The Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds in September 2025

Out of the Fold will b taking our 'Reflections' to the ArtConTex event in Colchester in October 2025

Out of the blue - there came blue

 

When teaching the 'Life's a bleach!' workshop and using black cotton fabric I have come to expect the cloth to discharge to a lovely range of grey and copper colours. 

HOWEVER. Not all black fabrics are the same, even if purchased from the same retailer who has used the same supplier. 

Teaching this technique to a lovely group in Lincolnshire recently we did not get copper, we got.........

Blue! 

Happily it was quite a nice steely blue and combines well with silver and grey. 

I will progress this piece into work for exhibition

Jane Starling, one of the students on the day, has used her practice piece to make up into lovely container

Thanks for sending the photos Jane. Cannot wait to see what you do with your large piece of discharged fabric. 

If you would like to book the 'Life's a bleach!' one or two day workshop for your group then please email maryelmcintosh@gmail.com

£225 per day for groups up to a maximum of 12

I just can't confirm what colours may emerge

Zoom workshop for Scottish Contemporary

Members of the Scottish Contemporary group live all over Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands to the Borders, and meet mostly on zoom for talks and workshops.

They kindly invited me to teach a zoom workshop on the Putting on the Glitz technique and it worked very well.

For zoom workshops I send out packs, by post, in advance with a choice of different colourways. The packs include all the fabric, foils, bonded sheers, and glitter film needed for the workshop. The pack also has instructions.

The zoom session is a combination of a powerpoint showing the detail of each technique and live demonstration. The powerpoint is made available to all participants after the workshop too.

Getting the pace right on zoom can be tricky as people work at different speeds. So I make my own demonstration piece alongside the students whilst keeping the zoom link open at all times to be able to offer advice.

This is my blue shards piece from the Scottish Contemporary workshop which I will progress to show at exhibition

If you would like to book a zoom workshop* please email maryelmcintosh@gmail.com

£195 for the day. No mileage!  10am - 4pm or evening sessions available on request

*Layered Landscapes, Thread bowls, Playing with Pojagi, Precious Pojagi and Texture Adventures workshops also available on zoom
 

ArtConTex event in Colchester

 

I will be exhibiting work as part of the 'E.A.S.T. @ 30' exhibition which will be unveilved at the ArtConTex event to be held at The Minories in Colchester CO1 1UE this October

The gallery on the first floor will incude work by members of the group, past and present, from all 30 years from 1995 until 2025.

As a new member my work has not yet been made! But it will be work from my current research and explorations from my little clogs

Out of the Fold will also be exhibiting at the ArtConTex event in the ballroom at The Minories.

We will show the 'Reflections' series being made now for the exhibition at The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds in September.

My work for this exhibition also has not been made! But it will be inspired by mirrors.

 

Precious Pojagi results

 

Thank you to Belinda Perkins who sent me an image of her 'Precious Pojagi' piece created on a wokshop with Cambridge Quilters.

The delicate lace collar and whitework embroidery is shown off to great effect hanging in the window.

Thank you also to Julie Welch who completed her 'Precious Pojagi' after a workshop with Lincolnshire Textiles

If you would like to try the 'Precious Pojagi' technique there are some workshops coming up to book.

Wed 28th May 2025 at Sew and So's in Bungay

sewsos.co.uk/workshops 

You can book through the website or telephone 01986 896147

Wed 30th July 2025 at Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham

https://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/

You can book through the website

Or why not book me for your textile group? £225 per day. Maximum of 12. maryelmcintosh@gmail.com