April and a catch-up with Ira.

We didn't see Ira last meeting as she has been away and catching up with her new grandchildren.Due to a misunderstanding her work had not arrived with her in the meeting previous,so we had a lot to look forward to.First were her take on ammonites,aren't they wonderful? Ira is an alchemist,she produces such magical results with such unpromising fabrics.

She only uses man-made fibres which are painted ,melted,layered and embroidered.

This picture shows the organza upper layer set aside to show the under one.

Here we have the beginnings of the embellishment which includes hand embroidery and metal leaf.

Next we saw some of her work in progress for her Slimbridge exhibition .This is inspired by looking at agates.

Lots of stitchery and 

fabric painting.

Inspiration and the task of choosing threads and ways to enrich the surface.She insisted she had nothing much to show!

 

If you want to see more 'in the  flesh' then go along to 

Ira will be exhibiting on the days highlighted in yellow.

Fabric packs

After our day on Tuesday making the packs I  looked out some I bought during our Somerset Arts Week last May.I have taken them out several times and thought how lovely they were ,only to put them away again.Deryll had mentioned the idea of using a pack each to show what they could be used for.I probably should have been doing something else but this was more tempting.

                                  

My pack contained,some black felt,some plain yellow fabric,a black and gold tie- dye fabric,tiny black beads and some threads.See photo above.

 I decided to add some wadding,scrim for backing ,black cord and two large beads.

I backed the black fabric with wadding and scrim and used the black sewing cotton to quilt it along the grid lines.Some of the tie-dye shapes were outlined in running stitch with the shiny gold thread

Next I cut the fabric into a large piece and two smaller pieces.The large one was made into a bag,lined with some of the yellow fabric.the smaller pieces were lined with felt and made into a scissors keeper and a needle case.I used the tiny black beads as accents on all three items.

                               

I used the cord to make drawstrings for the bag closure and to attach the needle case and scissors keeper to the bag.The large beads ,found for pence in Oxfam,were used as cord ends.

  The top picture actually shows what is left after making the items.The bag is large enough to hold the two smaller items and still have room for additional threads.

A very satisfying little project for the princely sum of £3.00 ,plus added extras from my stash.

Industrious !

Heather collected the most amazing range of fabrics,threads ,ribbons and beads.In her quiet ,unassuming way she used to assemble them into creative fabric packs .These were sold at exhibitions.When  she left the group we took possession of her stash.As you can see the fabric filled three tables.

Some of it looks less than useful.

When cut into usable pieces ,ironed and added to they begin to take on a different life.Several of us got together yesterday to attack the mountain of stuff.Jane did sterling service cutting and ironing.

Marilyn packed the resulting creative packs.

Debbie 'primped',adding threads,beads,sequins,ribbons

From this rather large container.We had lots of delighted squeals as she found yet another treasure.

Patricia took three or four fabrics artfully chosen to tone or clash.

Viv 

 

and Deryll did the same.

Carol cut the fabrics and has plans for these leavings,nothing was wasted.

Here are the fabrics folded and arranged awaiting 'primping'.

In the process of being 'primped'.

And finally packaged ,labelled and ready to go.

Nine of us managed to produce 130 packs in 5 hours and Heather used to manage 50 all by herself!

We want to give her a VERY BIG THANK-YOU for doing all that work over the years.

If you would like to pick up some of these packs,they really are little bags of lusciousness,then be sure to visit our exhibition.

Inspiration

Viv 's flower piece is finished ,framed and ready for exhibition.This time she brought  along her inspiration book,this contains sketches,photos,fabric,threads ,colour ways.As you can see below she is beginning to look towards a new piece based on irises.

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This is her start at fashioning a background,it may look rather unprepossessing to the unpracticed eye,but just wait and see what Viv can do with it!

Sue had been to the library and picked up a book by Susan Briscoe.She thought she would use up some of the fabrics in her stash.We thought she had been brave to begin her foray into patchwork bag making with this particular design.

Not only are each of the pieces wedge shaped but she had to fit the zip closure into the handle! It is beautifully made and the fabric choice so well matched.She has further embellished with automatic machine stitches.If this is her first attempt then what comes next?

Jenn is still finding more inspiration with fossils.These shapes are knitted from paper yarn and were inspired by sea urchins,she plans to dip some in pulp to see what results.

After looking at 'Drawn to Stitch 'by Gwen Hedley and 'Mark Making 'by Helen Parrot,she revisited her fossils drawings.

Taking a viewfinder she isolated areas of marks and played with different media to capture them.Some will definitely translate well into stich.

Laos

Sally had been away so brought us some 'eye candy' from Laos.She had bought some textiles while there,but noted they were not as fine as those she has in her Miao collection.However, there were some interesting edges.

This neck piece looks quite heavy ,but it is hollow.We speculated that the incised decoration was for the Chinese horoscopes ?

Her husband had been drawn to this woven piece which is long and thin and edged with cut silk cocoons.

Then the best treasure of all ........one of Sally's sketchbooks.These really give a flavour of her travels

with her own pen and wash sketches,notes and observations along with inclusions picked up along the way.

March meeting and a welcome .

This month we welcomed Marilyn and Patricia as full members to the group.They brought along some lovely work.Marilyn's rainbow weavings certainly brightened the rather chilly overcast day.

She had two different versions,this above with the sinuous lines and below the blocks of blue amongst the rainbow colours.

She dyes all her own threads and the colours just sing out.There were several tones to each colour used,such a lot of work before the weaving even begins.

These threads were cut from the loom and are generally discarded,what a waste.We leaped upon them and Deryll gave Marilyn strict instructions to make thread packs in future.They are really lovely quality mercerized cotton with a smooth feel and lovely sheen

Patricia brought along this piece ,below,based upon one of her paintings.It was started in a Jae Maries workshop and features some of Patricia's hand painted fabrics.There is a lot of stitch and even some pieces of photograph.

 If you look closely at this detail shot you can pick out the torn edge of the photo ,used to suggest the surf.

She had also created this felt piece to commemorate a dear friend.What is unusual is the texture,created by dipping in wax ! Instead  of being soft and yielding it is quite stiff.

The tag had been given with a present from her friend and Patricia wanted to use it in the piece.

There was some discussion as to where it would look best,some thought within the piece ,as first photo.Others suggested using the raffia from the wrapping and hanging tag from the piece.Do you have a favourite? Leave a comment and let us know.

Patricia also brought along more'neckpieces'.These really have to be seen to appreciate the variety of fabrics ,beads and stitch used.They are a cross between a scarf and necklace and would enhance any neckline and match any number of tops.

Diary date

Put this date in your diary,it seems a way in the future ,but it will creep up before you know.We are all preparing exciting new work ,some that you will have glimpses of if you follow the blog.

The fabric packs and other goodies will be available to purchase ,plus if you visit on October 4th you can meet many of us in person.