Alex McQuade has a passion for fabrics, embroidery and haberdashery. She studied Textile Design at De Montfort University, Leicester, and worked in the textile industry and for the Laura Ashley design service before creating her own textile and art collection in 2010. Alex's inspirations range from animals and the great outdoors to steam fairs and rusty tractors. She creates her brooches from a variety of new and vintage fabrics including felt, linen, lace and ribbon as well as found and recycled materials. These are embellished with free machine and hand stitching to create Alex's unique style. Alex lives in Leicester, visit her website www.alexmcquade.co.uk