Hot off the press! AC Textile Studio featured in issue 201 of Spain´s “Country Living” (Casa y Campo) magazine
German Saiz´s stunning photographs and Monica Corredera´s text really reflect the beauty of our surroundings here in north Spain and the increasingly rare art of weaving by hand.
The great thing about magazines such as Casa y Campo and Country Living (in the UK) is that they draw attention to and value small specialist craft studios like ours which which are in rural areas, have limited production and don´t have big advertising budgets. Click here for a taste of the feature on the Casa y Campo website, if you´re not able to get hold of a copy of the magazine itself.
New designs available in the textilesnaturales online shop
The publication of the magazine feature coincides with the launch of our simple online shop where you can buy work like the beautifully-coloured silk/wool scarf featured here on the left. It came off the loom just over a week ago and its shimmering colourway makes it a particularly attractive scarf.
Scarves like this are just one of the items we make, – but our aim is the same; to make beautiful and unusual things with character to bring you pleasure both to look at and to use.
So even if you have finished your christmas shopping, do have a look at what we have so that in 2011, when you are looking for something special and different, you know where to come. 
This cheerful weld yellow scarf is also new. It is made from 50% silk, 50% woool, has a lovely soft handle, is woven in a broken twill and is also available in the shop at the time of writing this post.
New – Lanzarote cochineal and camomile dye kit
If you enjoyed reading about how cochineal is produced on the Spanish island of Lanzarote then you may like to try dyeing with the cochineal. Our new kit contains full instructions for dyeing 150g of silk-wool yarn, which is already prepared to use (copper and alum fixative has already been applied), plus high quality cochineal sourced by us directly in Lanzarote, and dyers´ camomile grown by us without chemicals. The kit costs 27.50€ or the equivalent in pounds sterling and you can pay by cheque or bank transfer. Buy natural dye kit (please mention cochineal and camomile dye kit).
It only remains for us to say thank you to all those who have followed the textilesnaturales blog during 2010 and sent us your feedback. Wishing you a very peaceful and joyous christmas and hope to see some of you here in rural Spain in 2011 for a course or holiday,
Anna and Lluis of textilesnaturales
Textile Design and Analysis Course in August 2010
Anna Champeney Estudio Textil textiles selected for 2 international textile exhibitions
Madder, logwood and onion were the dyes of choice during during the fairly intensive 2-day Introductory course with Marga, Lourdes, Tania and Eva. The deep purples and blues from logwood were gorgeous, and Tania managed to dye a single skein with no fewer than 5 colours. Working together we managed to achieve no fewer than 34 different tones from just 4 dye plants, including Marga´s experiment with Maria Luisa (lemon verbena), growing at the edge of the outdoor patio where we did some of the dyeing. And yes, it does act as a natural dye although we haven´t tried it out for fastness. If you would like to do a natural dyeing course with us in 2011 then contact us or re-visit the blog around christmas time when our 2011 course programme will be up.
Inés, Sofia and Elena from Alberguería (Luinta), were just some of the kids who came with their parents on the guided workshop visit around the craft workshops this August – and their visit included trying out a table loom for themselves. Well done girls – you did very well – and see you again soon for a willow fish making course or some felt ball making in the not-too-distant future.
The zingy, spicy colour combination of this one-of-a-kind man´s scarf in 100% natural wool is particularly pleasing. The scarf would make an ideal christmas present for a special friend, partner or family member. It measures 27cm x 170cm (excluding fringes) and has been woven in warm waffle weave. As with all the textiles from AC Textile Studio, the beauty of the colours is due to the use of natural dyes which are extracted at the studio itself. Hand-wash at 30ºC. The scarf is a one-of-a-kind, (although another similar, shorter, women´s version is currently also available) and costs 75€. 
If you have been wanting to try basketry for some time now this is an ideal opportunity to make your first basket, all ready for picking wild mushrooms later in the autumn. Some regions of Spain have already banned the use of plastic bags for collecting mushrooms and in fact baskets have always been a better option – allowing the mushroom spores to fall through the basket structure to seed next year´s mushroom harvest. Collecting mushrooms in a basket also means that they don´t get squashed. Let´s see if in Galicia we can promote better mushroom-picking habits with the adoption of baskets too!
In this intensive 5-day course you will learn to prepare a Louet table loom from scratch and weave samples and a finished piece of work. This course is ideal for beginners and for those with limited experience or confidence who wish to work on a loom project from scratch and prepare the loom.
