Latest samples I am working on, combining stitch, digital print and screen printing. I havent managed to digtally print on any recycled fabrics yet, which was the whole point of my residency! but aiming to do that in next few days.

Once the fabric has been printed, you have to steam in a large upright steamer for 30 mins. Then you have to wash the fabric and leave to dry - it is amazing how the design just comes to life once you have gone through all those processes.

Making craft visible

I was at the Crafts Council's annual conference last week, Assemble. where there was an interesting line up of speakers, including one of my favourites, Martin Raymond from trend forecasters Future Laboratory. Raymond was there to offer insight into the consumer market for craft, which apparently is doing quite well considering the economic recession.

However, he made a rallying cry to makers everywhere that they need to become much more visible with their skills and expertise. He noted that he had recently been to see global fashion brand Louis Vuitton, who are planning on having craftspeople working in their shop on Bond Street, making bespoke products. Craft and authenticity have been the words used to describe a new 'luxury' for a while now, but it's not enough anymore for consumers to know something has been made by hand and with great skill - they want to actually see it being made in front of them.

He made a plea to makers to try to win this territory and to see this as a unique opportunity to work with brands and retailers. As Guardian journalist Libby Brooks describes it in her review of the conference, this is where brands are 'appropriating the operative language of craft'. Of course, this is not to everyone's taste, and I sensed a note of dismay from certain makers who would never dream of getting involved with luxury brands, let alone have the marketing skills that would get them noticed.

However, I get excited about new opportunities for promoting and valuing craft skill, whatever context it may be in.

The other main theme to emerge from the day was this idea of story and narrative. Craftspeople have so many stories to tell, which they mainly communicate through their tacit knowledge of materials and techniques, but these stories were not being told loud enough, or visibly enough. This was an interesting point in light of the recent lecture that writer Richard Sennet gave on the importance of narrative in society - that without shared rituals and narratives, society has no purpose.

Maybe it is not enough anymore for a maker to just show their finished product - as a designer/maker I am interested in the other things I can offer that could run alongside my products and help to share my story - by running and facilitating workshops, and by applying my 'making' knowledge to communities and people. As our current mantra at bricolage is - " crafting products and crafting experiences...".

Getting to grips with digital designing....slowly. I have always designed using paper, collage, drawing and playing with fabric and stitching, so this feels very removed from my hands! The digital printer has been booked up by busy students so I have been desperately waiting to see some of my sample prints printed onto fabric - once I can feel and see the fabric then I can respond and continue the process. I get some initial samples back today and will then do some stitching and overprinting on them.

I was at the Quilt exhibition at the V & A last week and was awed to see the works, particularly the early 18th century pieces. It's difficult to explain the impact of these works without seeing them but their power and grace is remarkable, particularly when you consider they were created by 'amateur' women, re-using textiles from their homes.

What struck me most however, was the conversations going on around me. As I leaned in to observe the fine needlework on a 1830's silk quilt from Devon, the two women beside me discussed the quilts and techniques that they had lived with and learnt from their past. I felt the past hanging heavy in that room - there is something about women and our relationship to textiles and memory that is so hard to capture or explain but is ever present. Maybe that is what made those quilts feel so powerful to me.

I also overheard a few mentions of unfinished quilt projects, tinged with a sadness and regret for things or skills that one had wanted to achieve or learn but that time has not allowed. So, in the spirit of unfinished work, and the loss of that 'ideal' craft creation, I have decided to celebrate the unfinished.

I was lucky to have a mini design tutorial with the lovely Mel Bowles yesterday, who suggested I do a large 'sampler', with all my different experiments in print and stitch layered together. I have always loved embroidery samplers, with all those different experiments in techniques. I may even get some help and input from friends who are keen to try out some new stitch ideas.....any volunteers welcome!

Fragments

My latest experiments working on this digital project have been slow moving, to say the least, but considering I spoke a few weeks ago at the Slow Textiles conference in Stroud, as a supposed 'expert' on what a slow textiles practice is, maybe that's OK!

I have been 'archiving' and sorting through my collection of textile 'bits', and trying to identify what it is I like about them. However, all this reflection is good up to a point, but I just need to get on with making new work!

I have been scanning in some of the fabric and wallpaper remnants and have started to follow the tutorials on digital design in the book Digital Textile Design by my colleague Mel Bowles.

All the remnants I have collated have some personal meaning or memory - it still astounds me how much feeling and value you can invest in one tiny scrap of fabric.

How I translate or convey that feeling into the new designs is my challenge.