Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair . . .

I can't believe its been over a week since the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair up in Manchester.  Since I got back from the show I've been back and forth between Hereford College of Arts for teaching and the studio.  I'm weaving my socks off at the moment to make up for lost time when the loom was out of action this summer. But I can't complain because its great to be back at the loom, I've missed it so much. I'm also really pleased to be sending work out to new stockists and I still have two fairs before Christmas, the first being Hereford Contemporary Craft Fair in November.

I had an absolute blast up in Manchester at the GNCCF though.  It was great to be part of the Hothouse Alumni area and have a jolly good catch up with my pals, especially as it had been six months since I had seen most of them.  I also got to do some lovely swaps as well, so I'm now the proud owner of one of Zoe Lloyd's fabulous plates and a beautiful bangle from Jane Dzisiewski.

The Hothouse alumni area included (from top left to right):

Eleanor Bolton, Emma Bradbury, Zoe Lloyd, Claire Baker, Aimee Betts, Ros Millar, Hannah Felicity Dunne, Amy Bear, myself, Jane Dzisiewski, Carly Petitt-Taylor, Anna Collette Hunt and Rose Sharp Jones.

Aimee Betts & Anna Collette Hunt merging their work on a shared wall.

I was also joined at the show by Kirsty Slater who interned with me over the summer.  She was an absolute star helping me out on the weekend and sticking around for all the packing away at the end.  Here she is with me modelling new Festival colourway 'Newcastle' . . .

I also have to give my thanks to my big brother Richard who came up with me to set up and take down, as well as take lots of lovely pictures.  All in all GNCCF was a really great show and I hope I will be back up there again at it next year . . .

One Day Designers Sale at Craft Central . . .

Not long to go now until the One Day Designers Sale at Craft Central.  I've got lots of lovely new cushions and lavender bags that I will be taking down to London with me for the event, all of which will be available with 20% off! Not bad hey . . .

Hope to see you on the 17th between 12 noon and 7pm!!

Summer Interns . . .

I'm back to working solo for the first time in 9 weeks and sitting here in the studio on this quiet Monday morning I though it only fair to say a massive thank you to all the girls who have been in to help me over the course of the summer.  Cheryl and Nona were the only two who got to see the loom working but despite that set back we have managed to achieve a lot.  Helen Foot Design now has loads of lovely lavender bags, needle books and new cushions which will be available to buy at the Autumn shows I am doing and through my online shop.

Unfortunately I didn't get a snap of Hereford student Cheryl working, but she was an absolute star at open studios and my desk has never looked tidier!

Nona, Nottingham Trent graduate and Helen, student at DeMontford University.

Francesca, University of Derby graduate and Kirtsy, Manchester Metropolitan graduate.

Charlotte, Brighton graduate and Alyson, Hereford graduate.

Julia, student at University of Derby

So thank you girls for doing such a sterling job of warp making, sewing, stuffing and stitching.  I wish you all the best of luck on your hunt for jobs or with the rest of college. H x

Loom of Doom . . . .

My poor old loom is feeling very sorry for himself at the moment.  His home-made computer has conked out on me and consequently so has my summer production timetable.  To quash my feelings of impending loom doom I've been busying myself with funding applications to help me buy a new one.  All fingers and toes are crossed the bid gets approved so I can order a spanking new AVL from the USA with super duper features like 24 shafts and a sectional warper.

However that won't arrive until December, so I better reserve one set of crossed fingers that the RCA technician who built the old computer comes back from his holidays very soon, as he is quite possible the only man who knows how to fix it!

If you are a circuit board genius, please get in touch if you think you may be able to help.  Or alternatively if you have a 16 shaft floor loom I can borrow I'd be very grateful for your help.  At least all my paper work will be up to date and I have some time to start designing the Millbank & Foot tweed!

Twenty Twenty, Much Wenlock . . .

Last week I dropped off some stock at the lovely Twenty Twenty Gallery in Much Wenlock, Shropshire.  Mary Elliott took over the gallery in 2004 and has since developed Twenty Twenty as a premier destination for rural art and craft in the West Midlands.  More recently her furniture designer husband Hugh has taken on development of Twenty Twenty's online business as well as exhibiting some of his own products in the gallery.  The gallery has regular exhibitions throughout the year and there is a permanent selection of jewellery, ceramics, glass, furniture, sculpture, painting and prints by some of the best British artists and makers. Twenty Twenty is currently showing an exhibition of contemporary art medals which has been curated by Ron Dutton.

And to add to their display they now have the Millbank & Foot 'Wenlock' scarf in their window.  Well worth a visit!

Selvedge magazine . . .

Millbank & Foot almost but didn't quite get a mention in the July/August copy of Selvedge magazine.  We entered the magazines 'Celebrate 2012' scarf competition with our 'Wenlock' design.  Unfortunately we didn't make it into the top three but they did write this:

"Scarves have been used to mark historic moments for decades and your 'Celebrate 2012' competition entries showed us why.  Although our three winners chose to commemorate the years biggest events, some of you chose to record local occasions including the Wenlock Games in Shropshire event and 'Flora Day' in Helston, Cornwall.  We had a wonderful response from our talented readers and would like to thank everyone who entered."

Craft in the Bay Summer Show . . .

Last Friday was the opening of the Summer Show at Craft in the Bay in Cardiff.  The exhibition runs from the 14th July until the 2nd September and includes work by Daniel Boyle, Carys Davies, Gin Durham, Jin Eui Kim, Gabrielle Jessica Frazer, Anna Collette Hunt, Saya McNairn-Yanagi, Charlotte Morrison, Ross Perton, Corinne Eira Evans, Charlie High, Jo Lavelle, Louise Lovell, Alys Power, Claire Cawte, Mary Flynn, Helen Foroughi, Ruth Harries, Heidi Mehta, Penny Seume, Sophie Buckingham, Mark Cooke, Elizabeth Forrest, Catherine Lewis, Ruth Shelley and myself.  I went down to have a look  . . .

Image from here

image from here

my work next to Carys Davies bowls

Shrewsbury Open Studios

This weekend  we opened the doors of The Creative Studio to the public as part of Shrewsbury Open Studios. Over the course of the weekend we had around 150 visitors which was absolutely fantastic! If you missed it this weekend, fear not! We will be open again this coming weekend ( 14th & 15th July ) between 11am-5pm. Take a look at the two new collections of scarves, hot off the loom. Also exhibiting in The Creative Studio is Footprint photography, R&A Collaborations, Millbank & Foot, Matt Sewell and Jacqui Dodds. Kate Millbank and Jacqui Dodds will be on hand to answer any questions you might have. 

The Regal Collection . . .

"Charlemagne"

"Francois"

We'd like to introduce you to the first two colourways of the Regal collection! These new additions to the Helen Foot Design range are made from 100% cotton and will be on show as part of the Craft in the Bay summer show. The scarves will also be available to buy through Helen's new website very soon.

new scarf collection . . .

I've been a bit quite on the blogging front of late but that's because I have been busy making a new collection of cotton scarves.  This new collection will be launched at the Craft in the Bay Summer Show in Cardiff, which runs from the 14th of July to the 2nd September.  Here's a look at production taking place in the studio . . .

warp windings

warp yarns

spinning warp

warp on loom

weaving the green colourway

woven cloth

Living Crafts . . .

On Wednesday I'm heading off to Hertfordshire to be part of the Emerging Makers Tent at Living Crafts in the grounds of Hatfield House.  I'm one of ten new designers selected to show in the tent, so I feel really excited to have been given this opportunity.  The tent is sponsored by Craft & Design magazine and here is an article they wrote about the show . . .

The show is open from Thursday the 10th to Sunday the 13th. If you can make it I'd love to see you there!

patterns from the past . . .

Some people may find the following images ugly but I got rather excited when I first saw them. One of my cousins has just bought a house which was in need of serious renovation. It looked like the property had been stuck in a time warp but what it did have was a great array textiles design from the last 60 years.  Having unpicked the layers of carpet, lino and wallpaper the house has now been stripped back to its bare bones but here are the patterns that were removed . . .

PLOT 9 opening . . .

PLOT 9 of ALLOTMENT is now officially open! Here are some snaps from Saturdays opening . . .

Myself with exhibitors Christophe Dillinger, Pam Newall, Ella Ruth Cowperthwaite, Richard Foot and Arron Fowler

with my team of helpers Richard Foot, Jane Collyer, Lucy Wright and Arron Fowler

The finished PLOT

PLOT 9 catalogue

With the help of Arron Fowler I've created an issuu catalogue for the exhibition in PLOT 9.  Please take a look . . .

installing PLOT 9 . . .

On Tuesday I went over to mac Birmingham with my team to install PLOT 9 - SHOWCASE SHROPSHIRE.  Here are a few images taken by Lucy Wright of the install . . .