Shelagh's Courses: Shelagh offers a range of patchwork, appliqué and quilting classes, suitable for all abilities. She is a skilled and well respected teacher of textiles who has been teaching throughout the county for over 30 years from all levels of City and Guilds courses, creative techniques to casual sit and sew sessions. She teaches patchwork & quilting classes from beginner to improver & to advanced levels. Her classes are popular and we recommend early booking to avoid disappointment.
About Shelagh: Since her teenage years, Shelagh has been a proficient tailor and dressmaker, fuelled from the need to create clothes for taller women! She first became interested in and started making quilts in 1978. As her children grew up she delivered many successful and popular courses in soft furnishings alongside a soft furnishings business. When her children were at Primary school she designed and coordinated a school quilt, that the pupils made, which won second place in the National Patchwork Championships. With the growth of adult education Shelagh taught several levels of City and Guilds certificated courses in Patchwork and Quilting, Machine Embroidery, and Soft Furnishings at several further and higher education institutions. These courses were very popular and culminated in delightful exhibitions at the end of each year, some of which made the local newspaper and were frequented by the mayor. Through these courses Shelagh excelled at inspiring students to express their creativity, and equipping them with the tools and skills to design and execute their creative potential.
Shelagh's own creations vary from highly textured machine embroidery pieces showing a high level of abstract expressionism to traditional quilt blocks and patterns. Her inspiration comes from the beauty and wonder of natural forms, and she has a particular fondness of the complexity of shells, leaves and flowers. She is also interested in the processes of nature, such as the eroding force of the sea and the intricacy of rusting. She often uses these interests and her love of texture to make cards for friends and family, as she is also a skilled card maker. Her work has been exhibited in many places including the Northamptonshire Open Studios network She is a member & former Chairman of the local Embroiderers Guild and has given talks & workshops at many guilds. She was the first joint coordinator of Northamptonshire branch of Project Linus. She has served on the regional committee of The Quilters Guild.
Shelagh's creative madness has been recognised internationally, as she has been published in magazines in the UK, Europe and the USA, and she has also worked as a quilt and pattern designer for a leading patchwork fabric manufacturer. She holds many City and Guilds Certificates and recently completed an A level in Photography in her spare time. She frequents many patchwork, quilting and creative exhibitions in the UK and Europe and has arranged many well received trips to National Patchwork festivals. This awareness of quilting trends and techniques is echoed in her classes and her own work, and allows her to stock the most cutting edge of fabrics in her online shop.
Since the closure of adult education, Shelagh has been delivering courses privately and has developed her internet presence, offering workshops and patterns online as well as in person. She has a popular and successful blog and facebook page which has many followers from across the world.
Shelagh enjoys progressing the face of textile art and welcomes people of all abilities to her classes, which are known for their calm, friendly and supportive ethos.