My friend, Margaret, and I had an enjoyable trip to Farfield Mill in Sedbergh today. Many thanks to another friend, Babette, who mentioned it to me following her own visit!
The Mill is about five miles off the M6 at Junction 37, and has plenty of parking on site. There was a road closure in the town centre today, so we had a bit of a diversion, but made it there eventually!
The entrance cost is £4.05 per person, or you can visit Level 3 and the cafe for free.
There are many, many things to see over the four Levels, including:-
Then we made our way to the top level and worked down from there. Here are some of the items on display. Click on any image to see a larger version.
What a wonderful project for the children, and the person who put the whole thing together was a genius! It reminded me of the cardboard looms that my Mum used to make for me as a child to weave on. (And, indeed, there were some of those available to 'have a go' on).
Tapestry Weaving by Rita Quick
Cabinet of beautiful woven fabrics from The Shetland Islands
One of the many working looms on site
Then it was on to the two galleries of art quilts that formed the International Textile Exhibition, which runs until 27 February 2019. The theme was the four seasons. This is a small sample of those on display.
This lovely quilt make me think of traditional Japanese woodcuts and I loved the plum tree with the added surprise of the little green bird in it, and Mount Fuji (I think!) in the background.
This was such an unusual subject for a quilt, that it caught my eye, and then the brilliance of the three-dimensionality of it struck me, together with the great fabric choices.
This quilt vibrated with colourful machine stitch and applied rhinestones and made me think of nerves tingling and brain cells being activated.
This stunning quilt glowed and shimmered like a subtle kaleidoscope pattern. The three dimensional insect was beautifully realised and there was also a layer of hand stitch in places that only became apparent close up. I think that this was made with silk fabrics.
This quilt was a beautiful representation of a snowy woodland, with many textures and details to discover.
I think that this had to be my favourite piece out of a very strong exhibition. The individual units making up the quilt, looked like ploughed autumn fields. These were interspersed with suspended, marbled, felted wool balls to represent the gourds. We wondered if the green and orange fabric had been hand dyed specially. A really amazing and surprising piece of work that certainly represented autumn in its subject matter and colour palette.
This is a view of one small section of the exhibition, showing mainly autumn-themed art works.
If you are visiting the Mill, it is well worth while paying a visit to Sedbergh town centre, with its many independent shops selling books, arts, crafts, food, clothing, hardware, kitchen utensils and more. We had a delicious lunch of soup (made with beetroot and red wine!) and sandwich in the Three Hares Cafe and Bakery. We also bought some cake slices to take away. They have vegetarian and gluten free options available, and they aim to use high quality and local produce.
A final point of interest was the local community charity shop, where I foraged out some wool fabrics, yarn and a new top, all very reasonably priced. They had drawers of ribbons, tapestry wools, fabric remnants, and jars of buttons, so for anyone interested in textile crafts, there were plenty of bargains to find.
The Mill is about five miles off the M6 at Junction 37, and has plenty of parking on site. There was a road closure in the town centre today, so we had a bit of a diversion, but made it there eventually!
The entrance cost is £4.05 per person, or you can visit Level 3 and the cafe for free.
There are many, many things to see over the four Levels, including:-
- demonstrations and 'have a go' areas
- 2 second hand book shops - including a huge variety of craft books, other topics and fiction
- Artists' studios - there were a number of artists and makers 'in residence' and hard at work
- gift shop (of course!)
- heritage displays
- 2 galleries with a changing programme of exhibitions
- a cafe
Then we made our way to the top level and worked down from there. Here are some of the items on display. Click on any image to see a larger version.
Then it was on to the two galleries of art quilts that formed the International Textile Exhibition, which runs until 27 February 2019. The theme was the four seasons. This is a small sample of those on display.
This was such an unusual subject for a quilt, that it caught my eye, and then the brilliance of the three-dimensionality of it struck me, together with the great fabric choices.
This quilt vibrated with colourful machine stitch and applied rhinestones and made me think of nerves tingling and brain cells being activated.
This stunning quilt glowed and shimmered like a subtle kaleidoscope pattern. The three dimensional insect was beautifully realised and there was also a layer of hand stitch in places that only became apparent close up. I think that this was made with silk fabrics.
If you are visiting the Mill, it is well worth while paying a visit to Sedbergh town centre, with its many independent shops selling books, arts, crafts, food, clothing, hardware, kitchen utensils and more. We had a delicious lunch of soup (made with beetroot and red wine!) and sandwich in the Three Hares Cafe and Bakery. We also bought some cake slices to take away. They have vegetarian and gluten free options available, and they aim to use high quality and local produce.
A final point of interest was the local community charity shop, where I foraged out some wool fabrics, yarn and a new top, all very reasonably priced. They had drawers of ribbons, tapestry wools, fabric remnants, and jars of buttons, so for anyone interested in textile crafts, there were plenty of bargains to find.
