Last offering of 2014.

Debby is working with irridescence and brought this little beauty.

The matt fabric he is stitched to creates a lovely foil for the shiny body.You'll see more of these at Easter in  Nature in Art.

Kirsten wore her work this time.She had taken a three day workshop ,but I can't remember who taught it, and she had made this stunning jacket we all covet.She had hand cut all the feathers from silk before nuno felting them into the fabric.She said her hand ached for days!

 

With such a result it was worth it.

Carol meanwhile has been spending time organizing people to crochet 'blue finger' gloves.

If you are intrigued and interested in finding out why go here:-

www.bluefingeralliance.org.uk. and  all will become clear!

Finally here's wishing our readers Best Wishes for 2015 and here's hoping you will continue to follow us.We love reading comments so please consider leaving one.

Similar colours.

As well as similar themes this month there were similar colours noticed.

Liz has gone from strength to strength with her 'Eco' dyeing .These are some Acer leaves on Khadi paper,which have been made into a little book with additional stitch.

Deryll, meanwhile has been using dissolvable fabric to stitch into using remarkably similar colours.

Some is hand worked buttonhole,and some machine stitch.

Developing theme.

It is quite surprising but independently of each other several of us are working on a  similar theme for our Nature in Art exhibition next year.Viv brought along two pieces which explore the colours observed in the sea.

 She had cut this little strip off one of the pieces to make them both the same dimensions.

She was going to discard it but we thought it would make a precious piece mounted in its own frame.

This is what is good about being part of this group,there is diversity of technique and interest,plenty of individual views but above all support and encouragements or what we are trying to achieve.

Sue lives overlooking the Bristol Channel so can observe changes in the sky and sea daily.She has recorded some of these in a sketch book which she can visit over and over for reference.

Using her first hand observations she has turned her thoughts to a new piece.Using transfer painted fabrics and paper she has torn strips and begun to layer them to interpret the changing colours.

This has such atmosphere already,without a single stitch!

Jenn has also taken the coast as something to explore in fabric and stitch.She had been exploring pebbles using wool tops,scrim,and scraps of fabric and stitch.

She also brought along her piece from the Cas Holmes workshop.She had added some further papers and stitched into it.

Ethiopia.

Sally had just returned from a trip to Ethiopia,and had brought back some mementoes.This looks as if it is made from leather but is in fact woven from grass.

It is used to carry milk when visiting relatives.though we said it would most probably be butter or fermented by the time they arrive!

It looked as if it had been highly embellished and decorated to begin life.There were a couple of keys in the fringing.We speculated whether they were utilitarian or purely there for decoration.Sally also had this little book.

It was no more than 10cm square but contained the most beautiful little paintings and text.

It looks like a devotional or story book .The text has very interesting letter foms,not sure what the language is,or whether Ethiopia has a written language.

Her final memento was a traditional bag displaying a traditional embroidery motifs of flowers.

We can always depend on Sally to furnish some interesting objects to talk about.

Christmas meeting and lunch.

This is the time of year we all bring something for a lunch buffet and a home made Christmas card.We have a short show and tell then get down to the serious business of lunch!

We each take a card made by one of the others.

These are this year's offerings,all original and hand made.

You can see Viv's festive table centre behind and the table ready prepared for lunch.I forgot to photo the food,but rest assured there was plenty and a wonderful variety !

Final offerings.

There are not so many photos as usual,partly because I sat through the show and tell ,and partly because there were not so many present.

Liz had a stand at South West Quilt show at UWE.She had a really wonderful display ,it showed her colourful side with the vibrantly dyed strip cloth.

Above are some examples.She had added more stitch to these.In addition she had some neutral works which offered a real contrast,but nonetheless beautiful .No pics,I forgot to take my camera along to the show.

Ira,meanwhile had a very successful exhibition up at Slimbridge.She sold many pieces.One of her offerings this month was this piece of embroidery in progress.It displays her painted fabric

Embellished with machine and hand stitch and beads.

I forgot to post Jane's little brooches,she has used the stitch present on the Bayeux tapestry.

Such a lot of work but very desirable.

New machine.

Jane has a new embroidery machine that she has been exploring.She is an absolute wizz at creating designs to stitch out .She has an Etsy shop 'jane at number 13' where she sells some of her creations,especially badges and accessories for Irish dancing.

 However ,it is using the machine creatively where she shines.

This is a flower design partially stitched.She is also working on designs based on Thornbury  castle.

She has to size and fit them to the hoop,often moving it very many times.It is precision work that requires a tidy mind.The machine may do the stitching but it is Jane's eye that creates the designs.

These are by no means finished,she will tweak and experiment until they are just right.we await the outcome with interest.

Workshop.

Several of us attended the Embroiderers Guild workshop with Cas Holmes in October.This month Carol and Debby remembered to bring what they had done.

These are some details of Carol's ,she does not like what she did one little bit.I can see possibilities if she stitched into the leaf shapes,and the dark blues remind me of birds.

       We had to take along some objects ,papers etc. for a theme. Cas then got us to set the objects up and draw,only we passed the drawing along to the next person who drew into it and so on around our table.Then we chose an area from our drawing to develop into a collograph. We printed onto teabag paper and used our papers etc. to create a piece which would be stitched into and further developed. Another' little spanner in the works  'was  we had to give something of our work which we disliked to someone in the group.This had to be incorporated into our piece.If you weren't happy with what you were doing this only made things worse!

This is a little of Debby's.

Carol also brought along this.     

An original appliqué and stitch panel ,she could use these delightful designs of hers to have some cards printed.

Debby ,as usual, had been working on a variety of projects.One was using these to dye blankets.

She brought them home from America,they are drinks but can be used to dye.As they are foodstuffs they are safe in a microwave,the background shows some of her results.They can be found here if you google ' Kool-Aid'

She also brought along this sweet little bird,

lino  printed then stitched.

We liked the back as much as the front

Sian Martin said the same at her talk at EG last Friday.

World textiles.

Viv and Sally are well known for their illustrated talks about the Miao.Several of us had gone along to World Textile day in Saltford a few Saturdays ago. This prompted a showing of some of the collection they still have.

Viv brought out this thread keeper.It is hand made in paper and decorated by the needleworker.

It has an ingenious folding box system.The threads and sewing notions can then be kept safe.

It folds quite neatly into a book shape.

There were other items but they were put away before they could be photographed.

Sally,meanwhile is continuing her river journey.

These will be shown in Nature in Art next Easter.

 

November.

Jenn had spent the weekend at Ammerdown with Stitch Textile Artists.This time they were working individually ,preparing for next Summer's exhibition at Ilminster arts centre.Jenn's work is looking at the patterns found in man made barriers.

She has started to put the various samples together to create resolved pieces.

These will then have more stitch added ,be attached to a better ground than this old blanket,and be worked into two final pieces.

Patricia had been revisiting some of her watercolour paintings with a view to using them to create some pieces for Nature In Art at Easter.

These have been torn then dipped in wax,and will have some stitch added.They are lovely fragments in their own right.

As she works she tries out her colours on some waste strips of paper,above,they are reminiscent of the glass she brought last time.These also led to some more experimentation with transfer dyes

Present ideas ?

These two books were brought along this month.

A feast of textile loveliness to drool over and offer inspiration .

And a  'how to' for those who like making books.

Maybe some new techniques to try.