Deryll,Kirsten and Liz.

Deryll and Kirsten having a moment about the "shrinking"properties of felt....

"That"piece of felt began life the same size as the paper below before being put into a 60 degree wash! It had a lovely texture but that wasn't what was expected.

Deryll had sketched out a rough idea of something to do with seashore.The paper with holes was a watercolour by her husband,hopefully discarded.She had used the punched paper with the Flower Stitcher foot to create the"beads" you see below.

This shows the editioning of possible fabrics along with buttonhole rings made by Deryll with a couronne  stick.A piece to look out for methinks.

Kirsten is The felt expert  of the group.She will be teaching at Nature In Art in the New Year.She brought along these wonderful little chaps.Sally was in raptures as she loves penguins....We suggested they might collaborate on a piece "au Anthony Gormley"

Following on from her success at the Guild she has repackaged the brooches,don't they look fine?

The Guild are now stocking these so pop in for a last 

 minute gift.

Here are Liz's creative contributions,Lino printed cloths and some rust dyed and stitched.

She has a box of treasures picked up while beach combing in and around St Ives.Are they too precious to part with and use in this piece?

The lino blocks with their accompanying fabric print.the leaf is maple........honest!

Ira,Heather and Carol.

Ira creates magical pieces with the most unlikely of fabrics.She has trapped lots of snippets in organza then begun to free machine and hand stitch into the surface.The stitches are so fine and exquisite.

She had also brought along some photographs of rocks taken on Welsh beaches,the colours were extraordinary.We wait to see how these are taken into embroidery, as Ira loves rock formations as inspiration.

Carol and Liz had attended a lino printing course in "Heartspace".They had used pigment dyes and some personal images to print onto fabrics.

These quirky little birds show the white line method and the dark line method of cutting Lino.The white line is when you carve the drawn line once a bit like a pencil line,this means the surface is left mainly intact.In the dark line a small area is left standing above the surface and the rest of the surface is carved away.You can see the Lino block below,white line on left,dark line on right.

Carol also brought a split stitch sample using thicker wool threads.She had some very fine thread ones on sale in the Guild exhibition.She  was inspired to stitch them after watching the programme on BBC a little while ago on OPUS ANGLICANUM.She has ideas for using it in her work for the next exhibition.

Heather had finished her book based on the Lewis Chessmen.This was begun on Frances Pickering course she attended in the Summer.

She has used a variety of techniques and materials in making it.The attention to detail is so good,with lots of stitching,drawing and printing put to use.

You can follow her blog www.raggedoldblogger.blogspot.co.uk to see more of her lovely work.We shall miss her at our monthly meetings.We'll have to keep visiting her blog to see what she gets up to.

Sally,Sue and Jenn.

Sally brought along some cards being sold in Waterstones.They are of embroideries made by her niece,talent obviously runs in the family.Keep an eye out for them as they are really striking and not at all expensive.

Sally's contribution this month was her article published in this compilation magazine by Workbox,it's available now.If you came to the Nature in Art exhibition ,in February of this year ,you would have seen the work she talks about. 

This is what Sue produces when she just has to do something "stitchy"!These are eyelet stitch very expertly produced,note the one area of zingy orange!

Sue uses such vibrant colours and what she showed next did not disappoint.

Lots of embellished fabrics cut into strips,ready to be turned into something stunning.

Then there was this,we thought it looked like a skyline but we'll all have to wait and see.

I am still playing around with fossils,but ammonites in particular ,well for the moment.

This was sari ribbon free machined and cable stitch on silk.I will add more to it.I may even cut it up and play around with the fragments.

The other little motifs were hand stitched on silk with various silk threads.I have an idea for a larger piece so they are pinned to silk organza for the moment.

Debby,Jane,Viv

Discussing the colours of Debby's batik.She was saying it was unusual to include orange as it's not a favourite but it had crept into this piece of St Ives.There is a way to go before it is complete.

Jane talked about her ideas for our next exhibition in Sidcot School next October.As usual it sounds very technically exacting  but also very exciting.Knowing Jane,it will not disappoint.

She introduced us to FANCYPRINTS  and Viv had brought along their fabric samples.They are a locally based company who print your designs on a choice of fabrics.You can find them here www.fancyprints.co.uk 

Viv brought along some reworked pieces.Reverse appliqué I think,with added stitch.

These have a stained glass feel to them,all exquisitely  finished.

Stunning colours but that was the quandary ....how to frame them? 

December comes but once a year....

As last year each of us made a card that would be chosen at random by each member.The brief "to create a card that included an ornament for the tree".I am sure you will agree that has been fulfilled in a variety of ways.

At this meeting we welcomed past members (tags) to join us for a Seasonal lunch ,all prepared by our own fair hands.I completely forgot to photograph the wonderful selection of dishes.By the time I thought of it we had only remnants left.

Sadly for us Bobby and Heather have decided it is time for them to step back from exhibiting,so they are leaving the group.They will be very much missed.