Why I am glad to be leaving my job

I have been signed off sick from work with depression and stress since November last year. It was patchwork and quilting as well as my friends from City and Guilds that helped me to recover. However once I started to feel better I also realised that I had to do something to fulfil my ambition to be a full time artist. I have applied to a number of colleges to do a fine art degree and on 2 March I resigned from my job. I have to give 3 months notice. Having sent in my letter I sat back and waited for a response from our HR department confirming my last day, annual leave and expenses payment etc as well as requesting me to return things like phone, blackberry and company credit card. For 4 weeks there was silence and then, on Friday I received my P45 in the post backdated to 27 February!!!!! Isn't it good to feel valued? Oh yes that reminds me - here are 3 of my ex employers 6 core values:

• Teamwork - We work together in
  dynamic teams and partnerships.
• Diversity - We value people for who
  they are and their contributions.
• Integrity - We build trust by acting with
  honesty, openness and fairness

They all feel kind of hollow right now. I am still trying to decide whether or not to go to an employment tribunal for unfair and wrongful dismissal but struggling really as back to feeling very stressed and depressed.

Module 1 - Line Secret Garden

This was possibly the most hated piece of patchwork ever. The instructions given by our tutor involved tacking and handstitching and hours of time spent in preparing to make this. Then I discovered Lynne Edwards method of machining the pieces and i managed to get the sample done with much less swearing than before. The photos are of the Italian Garden at Heligan

Module 1 - Line Strip piecing

Even easier than rail fence. We had to cut a series of strips all different widths and then sew back together. the photo is one I took at Heligan in the vegetable garden.

Module 1 - Line Rail Fence

This was our first piece of homework. Following a brief demonstration of rotary cutting we were left to produce this block. The fabrics I have used are batik and hand dyed fabrics from South Africa that I had bought at the Festival of Quilts the previous month. Another example of standing at a stall, stroking fabrics until they had to come home with me. I know it is a sad thing to do and I do realise I shouldn't buy fabric if I have no idea what I am going to make with it but then again you never know when it might come in useful.

Module 1 - Line English paper piecing

Here we were asked to paperweave some coloured paper with a photo and then use this to create an english paper pieced block. What the tutor failed to tell me was the pieced block needed to be either an exact copy or in exact proportion to the paperweaving sample. How I wished I hadn't chopped everything up quite so small!!! The photo is one I took in the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town when I was on holiday there in 2006.

Module 1 - Line Art work

This was the very first art work we were required to do. Nothing too hard, a chance to play and get to chat to our neighbours. So 3 items one using flowing curved lines, another using asymetric shapes and layout and a third using straight lines. If this was City and Guilds then I could do it. It just seemed a long way away from some of the art quilts I had seen at the NEC in Birmingham the month before.

module 1 - Line

In many respects this was the most daunting module. It was the first piece of work we had to to do but none of us knew how we were to be assessed, what our tutor expected of us nor how good , bad or indifferent each of us was. But first, let me describe that first Saturday in September 2007. It got off to a really bad start. Despite having looked forward to starting the course for at least the previous two months and despite checking all the paperwork at least three times every day I still managed to get the start time wrong. I ended up racing down the road to the railway sation hoping that I would be able to catch the train and then a taxi at Skipton station and be barely 15 minutes late. But that would have been far too simple. The trains were not running and I had just missed the replacement bus. I nearly gave up at that point but my friend Christine talked some sense into me and I finally arrived about 90 minutes late. This didn't seem to matter as everything was in chaos at the college and I don't think
I missed anything at all. So the motto for this course is Don't panic and all deadlines are flexible!!

City and Guilds - Introduction

Well it has taken a while but I have finally managed to find the time to photograph my City and Guilds work from last year so I shall start adding the pictures and descriptions to the blog. It feels strange seeing the pieces after so long. One of the things that amazed me but also cheered me up was how much progress I could see in the quality of my work. Not that I think my work is particularly good but it is much neater than when I started!!!

The first pieces I shall put up are from year one of the City and Guilds Certificate in Patchwork and Quilting and form the basis of a sample library covering five key modules: Line, Colour, Texture, Shape and Form. For each of the modules we had to produce approximately 8 different patchwork or quilting samples together with some related art work. At the end of each module we would be given a design brief from which we had to create a number of pieces of art work and sometimes an evaluation of the module.

I have to say I really enjoyed the first year as I was given the chance to learn and play with a number of different craft techniques. These included fabric dyeing, paper making and felt making. I also learnt a great number of time saving techniques to produce high quality patchwork however this course is not for the faint hearted or the hard up. You are expected to know quilting and patchwork basics and you do need to have a good stock of both fabrics and art materials. Certainly at Craven College I found I was spending £200 per month on these items for about the first 3 to 4 months and then maybe £25 - 30 every month thereafter. This is over and above the £400+ tuition fees. All of that said it is a great deal of fun and you can meet and make some great quilting buddies.


Do look at my other posts if you want to see and comment on my efforts so far.