Ok so it has been a while but I am going to try and catch you up with the project so far.

It is a fair assessment that I have been ambitious with this unit from the start and have continued to set myself some pretty crazy goals.

Since I last posted I have been a pretty busy bee. I started December by creating a scaled up drawing of my design, as I drew out this vast plan I was very happy with the outcome but it also left me quite terrified about what I was really going to be taking on over the Festive season. However, I wanted this project finale to be fitting tribute to Felbrigg Hall so I realised I was just going to have to work really hard!

The piece is a 12ft by 3ft rug come wall hanging, which starts of as a print and builds up layers to complete in a fully tufted rug on the floor.

Before the University closed for the holidays I started the piece by sublimation printing on the upper part of the fabric, the intention is that I will inject colour in by hand once the colour palette from the tufted segment is established. After this I relocated to my studio and have been as busy as one of Santa’s Elves. Firstly, I drew out the design completely in reverse on the backing cloth. This is the first time I have approached this stage of the process with such precision and it felt like a massive step forward in my professional practice.

However, all this planning and order, does not allow us to predict how well the tufting gun will behave when put under pressure of time and scale. Again, its fair to stay that at times I have felt as if I am battling the mechanics and idiosyncrasies of the machine that is my crafts tool.

So my  holidays have been full of creativity but also some pretty testing moments, but as always I have been supported by Mum and Dad who continue to absorb themselves in my tufters world, providing words of comfort, working as sounding boards and providing lovely cups of tea when its been bitterly cold in the studio.

Hope your Christmas was great and you have a wonderful New Year!

Anna xx

P.S I will post some pictures in a bit