Russell Barratt

  There’s been a bit less quilting action here over the past year as I’ve been doing a foundation textiles course at Morley College, London. The course covers various techniques in textile making and manipulation and focuses on developing research skills and critical thinking. I was very interested in furthering my sewing skills and taking my creative practice in new directions and also keen to meet some new like-minded textiley type folks. This course is exactly what I was looking for! I’ve been very happy to delve into all the classes including screen printing, machine knitting and conceptual headwear. I’m looking forward to transferring much of the techniques I’ve learned back into my quilts and see what happens. We are currently working on our final projects, I’ve been researching quilts as sculpture. The work will be exhibited in the college gallery at the end of June. I’ll post an update near the time. These are a few images of what I’ve been up to…..      ...

  I’m delighted to say I’ll be teaching a Wonky Dots mini patchwork workshop over on Craftymonkies.com on on Saturday 20th May 4pm BST. I always get asked about the dots in my work, so I figured it’s a good place to start for my first online class! There’s the blurb, ”In this 3 hour workshop we’ll make a mini patchwork and learn to appliqué wonky dots to build layers and add interest. These mini quilt tops are fantastic as inspiration for larger works – perfect for an “ unblock” creative project or can be finished off later as a mini quilt in its own right. We’ll work together and cut up some scraps, build our patchwork then cut out our dots and attach them using simple stitches. We will look at three easy ways to appliqué and a forth slightly less wonky way. I’ll be touching on the inspirations for my own work and discussing my process in creating quilt collages with used fabrics.” I really hope you’ll join me. Do let me know if you have any questions! To find out more and book yo...