What Katie Did

How to lift the January Blues!

Wet, cold, dark outside. But there is fabric inside! On May 13th 2006 we last did this. Why so long to do it again? Our village hall - twenty or so women - SO much fabric - mat frames - simple tools and imagination!

(this is the back of the work! scrumptious or what?)

the little sparkly bits are the packets of her son's favourite snack!

Valentine's day round the corner - Ali getting ready. I love what printed cotton fabric looks like when hooked like this.

Elmo - born in 2007 - this is about two feet square

this stuff makes my mouth water.
If you have checked out the last time we did this, there was food today too

All good - very very good.

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this...

Here it is as far as I can do it until I get more instructions - remember - it's YOU who will determine what happens next. Check the link on the top left called 'Design my mat!'. If you need any clarification, just comment or email. For the edge colours - choose locations and three colour choices please. And Martha - be a poppet and choose your outline colour as I can't put the other two colours in without it. It's not very green is it? Maybe as I didn't give enough choice! If anyone feels I have left out yellow - the original has a dollop of yellow - just request it - I only have that one shade of yellow in my stash and I'll use that. 
I have taken a couple of design liberties - Zoe, I reversed your colour choice to prevent there being two similar purpley backgrounds together, and Mum, I had to choose another shape as the 'tulip' one was so popular.
So - two more big squares waiting for design choices and all the edges.
I await your instructions.

Progress so far

Here is the work so far. Top right is also taken - that's Julie's and bottom left is about to be worked as soon as I know what colour green Martha wants for her outline. (the blue and pinky strips are Martha's choices for her shape) I have posted three new greens and a fab orange in the side bar 'Design my mat!' which should be on the top left - seems to have vanished - oops - no there it is! One more large square is taken - that's for my Mum. That leaves two large squares still to be chosen and all the outside edges. 18 more decisions, including four very tiny ones!
I'll have another chance to work on this tomorrow - so give me your instructions!

Off to see this little treasure now - and they call this work!

An Invitation To Design

Now then... here is the idea I've been brewing for a while. If you read here from time to time you will know that I like making hooky and proggy mats. Look at Ali's link under 'inspiration' (on the right) if you want to know what I'm talking about.
Last year, I made this mat

I would like to make another along the same lines, but different. Using my wonderful new mat frame, I have marked out and worked a black edged grid the same size as this. It's about 42 cm overall - each small square is about 12 cm.

Then I have numbered 30 of my jumble sale scraps. Finally, I have sketched 12 possible designs for each of the squares.
All of this is over in the link 'Design My Mat!' up there on the left.
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to choose the colour, shape and position of something to fill each of the squares, including the edge sections. As I get suggestions, I will mat them and post progress here. The end result will be a mat that will sit beside my first one as a pair, but will be completely different.
If you are up for this, my dear blog friends and family, go and look at the 'Design My Mat!' then either email (k@tejackson.fslife.co.uk) or leave a comment. This is how I would like the information
1. select a position - Grid number 1 to 25
(if you have chosen an edge location, skip the next step)
2. select a shape - Shape a to l
3. select a colour - Colour 1 to 30
4. tell me which colour is to be the shape, the background and the outline colour
send me this information and I'll get matting.

If more than one person chooses the same things, I will use a bit of judgment and make one of the suggestions, post the result and invite you to choose again.

I hope I haven't made that sound too complicated. Let me know if you need clarification. Or just run with it and get choosing! I can't wait!!

I've just had a look at the colours. I have given you too many reds and pinks. I will add more colours when I get the camera back from Owen! But there is enough to get us started.

So what are you waiting for?

Material History

Tonight was the opening of Ali Rhind and Rachel Phillimore's exhibition - Material History at the gallery in Northumberland Fe Fi Fo Fum (which I can't find a link to)
They are my dear friends and two wonderful mat makers. If you read here from time to time you will know that I am 'hooked' on matting. (This is the oldest matting joke there is)

This is the view as you walk in - and is Ali's work.

Rachel here and here (up and down)

This one was inspired by a piece of vintage fabric from the 50's and is my personal favourite from the collection - but I am a sucker for things edged in colour like that - I was talking to Geoff on the way home about it and I worked out that enclosed shapes like these remind me of cell structures from my Human Biology days, maybe thats what I love about them? Cell membranes and vacuoles, nucleii and cytoplasm!

Ali was a furniture maker when I first knew her - here are her sculptural cones - very huggable - despite the sign asking me not to - and her stool and chair in the background.

and here are the remnants of all the blankets she has found in charity shops each with its own label! I enjoyed hearing about how this one came into being. It could tell a tale far better than any I might!

This is just a few of the wonderful things on show. The exhibition runs to the end of September for those of you lucky enough to live in Northumberland. And that is very lucky indeed.

Ali Rhind, Matting Goddess

Ali's new website will explain to you all why I am so enamoured with mat making and why she is my inspiration.

Taking Matters Further

Today was one of those heavenly days that only come along once in a while. For a start, it was raining, so there was no guilt about having to be in the garden. And then, I didn't have to drive for miles for the fun, because the fun came to me! Ali and Rachel contacted all the people who have been on courses with them and invited them to spend the day making mats together. This post is going to be very pictorial!

First Maureen showed us the rugs she has collected over the years this one is a stair rug - the red bits at each side show where the stair rods would  have been - a real labour of love!

I love this tiger.

and this sheep!

Maureen collects rugs from all over - auction sales and antique shops an the like.

Ali and Rachel work at a variety of things including some work at the hospital in Newcastle in the waiting room of the Caner Treatment Clinics. Here they make mats with people waiting for treatments - like this one - a part of a panel that will be in one of the corridors. All sorts of people join in, or just sit and remember the stories of the mats their mothers used to make.  This one is really beautiful - fishes that will have another panel alongside it in paler colours.

We had food, like you do at these lovely events.

and many different styles of mats. I love that about crafts of all sorts - give people a form and they take the basics and interpret it in so many amazing ways.

This one (below) is Hayley's first ever mat! her second is well on it's way - a joint project with her whole family including 90 year old aunt.

The one below is from Tania. her mats represent the daily struggle of creating meals and clean clothing for her family. This may sound grim, but Tania is far from grim. I think that she likes to represent this stuff in mats so she can stop worrying about it and get on with enjoying life! This is another wonderful things about days like this one - you get to meet all sorts of lovely people!

Tania's washing line in progress - those are socks on the folded over bit at the top.

Alison's mat is going to be fantastic - inspired by her recent trip to Morocco - it is going to be so colourful

These three are very beautiful - stones that are a set of three - here Ali is trimming them and they will sit in the frames and hang in some very lucky person's house! Very subtle - you can just see the edge of my mat frame - very unsubtle.

so I might as well show you mine now - as a complete contrast to Ali's

These  are more of my obsession with colour - small squares inspired by Keith Haring and Tania, I found Fiona Rutherford on Google and I see what you mean about her work - though I think I am a long way from that kind of style!

and finally, but by no means leastly - Ann, who is making a cover for her footstool. This is going to look lovely - I especially like things edged in black like that, though I wouldn't be able to resist using wilder colours!

So - a lots of photos tonight.

Not too many I hope - are you still with me?
I have such lovely matting friends!

Tomorrow is Mat Day!

Looking forward to Saturday, we have a mat making day in the offing, with Ali and Rachel and many other people who love to make hooky and proggy mats.
There will be photos!

Today it has rained and the garden looks well for it. My lovely Martha found me some dishcloth cotton so I can make more of these lovely cloths for presents. I hope you all noticed that this is my first attempt at linking - if it works (and it was very easy) I'll be linking to all sorts.

I'm off to get ready for Matting!