Yesterday I took my annual trip to the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitching Show. This is a huge craft show that takes over much of Ally Pally, one of my favourite buildings. It’s a great venue with plenty of space for the textile exhibition, stands and workshops.
The main entrance hall featured the work of The Subversive Stitcher and the Subverted Vintage Tea Towel series, featuring vintage tea towels with her subverted message stitched on each one. They made for a great display, even if some of the ‘offensive’ ones had been removed for the more sensitive visitors.
This year I signed up for three workshops. The first workshop was to make a Foundation Paper Pieced Liberty Heart. I’ve tried foundation paper piecing before and it is tricky! Perhaps this wasn’t the best class to take first thing in the morning but I eventually grasped the concept and ended up with a foundation paper pieced heart to hang.
I then had half an hour to look round the stands before my next workshop, hand quilting for beginners. I’ve hand quilted some quilt tops before but I thought this would be a fun class. We were given a piece of quilting fabric and perle thread and spent an hour perfecting our stitches. I learned how to hide my knots in the fabric which was good to know.
Again, I had time before my final workshop to browse the stalls, pick up some items I had seen and stop for lunch. The whole place was heaving with people so I was glad I was able to escape to the calm workshops rooms.
I signed up for Stitch, Patch and Play with Jessie Chorley. I previously took one of her workshops when she had her shop on Columbia Road and I really enjoyed it. She gave us a screen printed piece of fabric to stitch and showed us examples of her work to inspire us. I only had time to stitch the two layers together so this will be something I carry on working with at home.
I purchased some extra screen printed templates from Jessie, as well as a David Bowie tea towel for my sister. I didn’t buy anything else as I tend to buy things I don’t have time to make! The workshops are a much better investment for me and a fun way to learn new skills.
Every year I blog about my purchases to shame me into making them. Here are my previous posts:
Knitting and Stitching Show 2023
Knitting and Stitching Show 2017
Knitting and Stitching Show 2015
Knitting and Stitching Show 2014
Knitting and Stitching Show 2012
Knitting and Stitching Show 2011
Knitting and Stitching Show 2010
Knitting and Stitching Show 2009
Knitting and Stitching Show 2007
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