YOUR PHOTOGRAPH IS YOUR TEACHER One of my favourite things to encourage students to do is to work from their own photographs. Don't worry about whether you can draw the image. Instead, ask yourself: What do I actually see? Look at the shapes. Image 1 (Left) SECRETARTY BIRD FACIAL EXPRESSION | Image 2 (Right) MY INTERPRETATION Look at the light. Image 1 (Left) SLIGHT AND SHADOWS | Image 2 (Right) LIGHT and SHADOWS USING COLOUR Look at the shadows. Look at the colours. Look at

‘I can’t draw.’ It’s probably one of the most common things I hear from people who admire textile art but don’t believe they could ever create it themselves. They see a realistic bird, a flower, a landscape or a beautiful portrait made from fabric and thread and immediately think, ‘There’s no way I could do that. I can’t even draw a straight line!’ Here’s the secret: You don’t need to be able to draw to create beautiful textile art. You need to learn how to look. SEEING INSTE

A while back I tidied up my studio and one of the things that I did was to sort through my scraps. Those pieces that I know I’ll never use, I gave to a friend. What a pleasant surprise every time when I spot a piece of my work mixed into hers! This got me thinking more about using scraps in my work. Most fabric scraps begin their lives with very little status. They’re the pieces trimmed from a curve, leftovers from a border and the odd shape that feels too pretty to throw awa

Free motion quilted feathers may be one of quilting’s most admired designs, yet they seem to intimidate quilters more than almost any other motif. Beginners worry they’re too difficult, while experienced quilters often become frustrated trying to make every feather perfect. Personally, I think feathers are slightly overrated in the quilting world but they are still beautiful when stitched with confidence and flow. Image 1 (left): FANCY FEATHERS & Image 2 (right): FEATHERS WIT

IT STARTS BEFORE THE FIRST STITCH When I teach free-motion quilting, I don’t start with patterns—I start with you and your sewing machine. Before we stitch a single line, we look at posture. How are you sitting? Are your shoulders up around your ears? Where are your hands? It sounds like such a small thing but it makes a huge difference. The moment you relax your body, your stitching starts to relax too. That’s where it all begins. KEEPING IT SIMPLE (On purpose!) From there,

Inspiration for textile art often comes from the smallest corners of nature. South Africa’s tidal pools are teeming with fascinating little creatures that are so easily overlooked! These cuties are wonderful inspiration for me but of course, being an artist, I have the freedom to recreate them in any medium or colour. Being a fibre artist makes it even better! I can use fabric to create colourful crabs. That is exactly what I did. COLOURFUL CRAB I have a fabric stash that is

When creating an art quilt, fabric choice becomes far more than a design decision — it becomes part of the message. The theme calls on us, as quilters, to show awareness of our endangered environment and fabric is one of the most powerful tools we have to do exactly that. Art quilts allow us to step outside the rules of traditional quilting and embrace texture, contrast and unexpected materials. They invite us to experiment, to repurpose and to tell stories — not only with im

WHY ENTERING YOUR QUILT MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK. Every second year, as the South African National Quilt Festival approaches, I start hearing the same quiet concerns from students and fellow quilters: ‘My quilt isn’t good enough.’ ‘I can’t compete against master quilters.’‘ The judges terrify me.’ Every year, I want to gently shake you and say: you’re missing the point of quilt competitions entirely! I am not only talking about the South African quilters! Many of you are f