Townscapes course by Gillian Travis

Last month I attended an amazing course at The Bramble Patch.  (I'm sorry for only getting around to blogging about it now.)  It was quite a journey for me and my friend Rachel.  Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am a home bird.  I like being at home and in Sheffield and I don't like travelling.  I love to visit different places but I find long journeys off-putting, so Rachel did a good job of convincing me that the two and a half hours on the motorway would be worth it.

Rachel was so right!  The course was inspiring and I learned lots.  Gillian's work is like nothing else and it was clear to see why she has won awards and why she tutors around the world.  My favourite piece she showed us was of Yorkshire, so this was literally "right up my street."  Please check out Gillian's other work here.



She really encouraged us to have a go and taught us how to break down a townscape.  I felt exhausted at the end of it.

One of my most favourite places in the world is Whitby in North Yorkshire.  It's about three hours to get there, but that's one journey that never bothers me because I know what awaits me when I get there is nothing but bliss.  I went there in October with my husband and had as good a time as ever, so it was clear that I would work on a Whitby landscape on this course.

I tried to capture the Abbey, the Georgian houses (which I adore) and the fishermen's cottages on the cliffs.  My work looks nothing like Gillian's (wow is she talented!) but I think it's an acceptable first attempt and she did manage to get me to do some free motion embroidery (never an easy task!)

This is no where near finished but I am going to have to put it on the back burner for the time-being as I have lots of other sewing commitments at the moment.  It's definitely something I want to come back to, but I will need to have a day to myself and be in the "zone".

As for The Bramble Patch, it on its own was well worth the journey.  It is such an inspiring place - great teaching facilities, amazing fabrics, long arm quilters on the go and helpful staff.  It is clearly a destination shop and one I will be visiting again.  Inevitably I bought some bits and pieces and found some backing fabrics in the sale section.  I came home tired but inspired on lots of levels.

Thanks for stopping by.