Dear friends,
We hope this little newsletter finds you well and looking forward to the absurd times we have been living through.Before I give you our usual “look inside” Flax Mill’s activities and a few bits of news from the world of textile – making:
All are fine and well here – in our circle of friends and fellow textile-workers that seems to be the case as well.
Flax Mill wasn’t closed for even one day – we don’t see any sense in not working when the work is there. A number of people have been asking about our judgement of the situation out in “the bad world”– we will gladly give it (we are certainly not “mainstream” in our opinions) but not in this little letter, this is about good things.
– New Irish Linen blankets
I have made a (very limited) number of pure linen “throw overs” in pink over natural and orange over natural. Machine – woven cloth with a “touch of Bauhaus” is the raw material. The yarn we used for weaving is old stock, spun in Tandragee by the world-famous Thomas Sinton.
– New Navy
We have just had our new (medium weight) navy coloured linen finished – touch wood our finishers weren’t idle either – it turned out a real gem and is on the shelf from now on.
– A one-off quilt
Patch work quilts are normally not part of our range – we would pass this kind of work to Sinead Black (Bricolage Quilts) who uses our linen to create the most amazing quilts in the world. In this case though, a customer from Germany insisted in the whole thing being made here while she was present. The 2,2 m by 2,2 m piece (all linen, no wool used to suit the vegan buyer) turned out well and I made one (only) twin sister. It’s done in 8 colours and 8 different fabrics, all woven by Flax Mill. The dominant one is probably our hand-woven “Flax field” linen.
– Deborah’s Rainbow
The ever-active Deborah Toner (Belfast) has used her ingenious embroidery skills to create a “rainbow on Irish Linen”. Inspired by the drawings children put in their windows to appreciate the NHS workers, the pieces of art are so popular that she had to limit the numbers she can make. We just received a picture, see above.So much for now – I hope to meet up with you as soon as possible. One of the most asked questions in recent weeks has been “is the Yard Fest and Open Day on September the 12th happening?”
You would know our answer: Of course!
Until long before then
Love over Gold
Marion