Workshop and talk for the Quilters' Guild

Last weekend was exceptionally busy. It was the annual conference of the Quilters' Guild in Dundee and I had been asked to run a workshop and give a talk. So on Friday afternoon, I spent a delightful three hours helping a group of ladies 'experiment with design'.

I had a lot of fun and I think they did too. We did lots of drawing, which I assured them were not going to be good and perhaps freed from the expectations of having to be able draw well, they just enjoyed it. Which for me is the whole point and some of the resulting drawings were surprisingly good.

We then translated the ideas from the drawings into fabric and there were some really interesting outcomes. I should have taken some images to share with you, but it was all rather frantic trying to pack it into three hours.

I'm running a similar workshop but over a full day at this summer's Festival of Quilts and there are still a few places available.

My talk was about how I had made the work Unsung Muses. When I wrote the blurb for the conference programme, I had called it a rollercoaster ride. This was written long before the work was completed and I had no idea how prophetic it was to be! The talk seemed well received and many people commented on how honest it was. I'm in two minds about this because I think a bit of mystic about my artistry may be more beneficial. But on the other hand, I am a fundamentally honest person and as someone said afterwards the talk was very me.

What do you think? Is it better to be honest and give a warts and all view or do you prefer to have a bit held back to make you or the artist more interesting?