Another chance to see.

Liz will be exhibiting some textile work here soon.

Diversity.

Patricia had brought along some different examples of stitch to consider.The first was a piece bought from someone selling on the street.It was the exuberance and energy of the stitching that appealed.

Next were bags bought while on a trip to India,they show skill and creativity.First the embroidery of the fabric,the added decorative touches and finally the construction to make usable artefacts.All for a few pence!

Sue was also interested in surface stitch but more for how different they look when held to the light.

                                               And this fine fellow,reminder of times past.

Things with wings.

Kirsten,like Debby ,tutors at Heartspace.They are all taking part in an exhibition of the tutors' interpretation of 'Things with wings'.Kirsten had created this .

It will contain'bugs ' and sit under a glass dome.A cabinet of curiosities.She also came with a request for ideas as to what to do with her lino printed fabrics.Debby modelled one idea,an apron.Any suggestions out there? As Kirsten said it's great to play with the lino but what to do with the resulting fabrics.

Marilyn brought along this hanging,she's been busy with other things.We'll not see her next time as she will be away.

Sally had recovered from her jet lag having just come back from California for our April meeting.She had had a wonderful time watching blue whales and dolphins.As usual she had created a book of the trip,filled with notes,photos and observations,but best of all her watercolour sketches.She is now playing with drawing on a tablet and maybe using ideas to create handmade books and scrolls.

Viv showed us her finished flower piece,photo in a previous post.She had also been so taken with the 'Boro' exhibition that she purchased her own piece of fabric from the internet.You can just see the start of an added patch at the bottom of the photo,this is machined.It would have undergone a complete metamorphosis in its lifetime,had it still been worn, it puts another slant on the current trend for recycling.

Productivity.

Liz has had a 'purple patch' ,pieces just kept coming from her bag this month.

This is a reworked piece,she originally made it as a wrap and comforter when she felt unwell.Further  stitching and small flashes of colour have been added.

This photo ,below,doesn't really pick up on the contrast between the silk velvet patches and the  matte strip cloth.It zings in life, a real blast of colour.

A complete contrast are these monochrome marks.They were created on a Gelli plate and record the marks seen on Liz's daily walks around urban streets.

The piece in the middle is another quilt made from Musa 's fabrics.Maggie Relph's African fabric shop is the source.It was meant to partner the quilt put up for auction.However, as the fabrics are entirely hand produced Liz found that the colours were slightly different,and it took her a while to put it together.It still looks great.Remember she'll be having a solo show in Midsomer  Quilters in June from 12-17th.

New and old.

Jane brought along her tablet and an animation created for part of her C&G Diploma.She has plans to use this technology to recreate a piece for Sidcot,who says textile art is so last century!

Jenn had had a lean time since returning from Sian's masterclass,nothing much to report .She brought this poppy worked with silk hankies,machine and hand stitch.

Why is Jane holding such an enormous ball of yarn?Come to our exhibition in Sidcot and you'll be 

enlightened.

In the merry,merry month of May!

First an apology for some rather odd views of the work.My photos were not like this ......I uploaded them to my computer as usual,and deleted them from the camera at same time .When I came to look I found almost all had been corrupted by my 'on the  blink' computer.It left bands across them and strange colours,so what you see are the usable parts I could salvage.

Deryll had completed her second piece,and lovely it is too.We suggested a third might join them.....

She also brought along some C&G work found in the loft.It shows development from initial drawings of a cabbage,pattern work and different treatments to paper.Just shows how they never date.

Ira came along with some'seaweed' made from sheer black tights.It is destined to be used with the 'pebble'you can see below.This will be gathered and fashioned into shape and displayed with other 'sea objects' in har Slimbridge exhibition.

Other work in progress are some painted backgrounds,on left over fabric from her daughter's wedding dress.There were four but I 'm afraid you'll have to wait and see them.They are sea -scapes inspired by Kurt Jackson's work.

May meeting.

We all made it this month at Viv's and we had plenty to see and celebrate.

Carol is making progress with her piece and was able to show us how she has started to 'write' on her DNA piece.Progress  has been slower than she hoped as she found that on one piece she had 'written' in the wrong place.We said no one would know ,but Carol the perfectionist she is,said she would.It 's being unpicked,not an easy task with machine stitching!

She had also framed her'bugs',above you can see her butterfly and lavender.It is just such fine hand sewing and meticulous .So very realistic.

Debby came along with some exciting news,she 'll be teaching at Stoke Lodge from September.A treat for anyone joining her class as she has such a fund of ideas and expertise.

She brought these pieces,above and below.Some mixed media pieces she had taught to a group at Heartspace,makes you want to try yourself,it looks like a lot of fun.

She had padded and stitched the batik and mixed media piece below.Do you recognize the local landmark?

Look out for the Westbury Park trail where you'll be able to see Debby's work.It takes place on 6-7 th June.

Stroud

Liz and I spent the day in Stroud visiting the textile festival .A highlight was Alice Fox's "Tidelines" at the Lansdown Hall.She had used objects collected on beaches to rust,weave,print and emboss on paper and fabric.The results were beautiful,quiet and gentle.We were there in time to hear her speak and were impressed with her generosity in sharing what she did .Here are a few glimpses........

We also visited the Museum in the Park to see "Shadow and Line.

An enamelled bowl by Elizabeth Turrell.

A piece by Hilary Bower,difficult to see and photograph because of the reflections on the glass.

A hanging by Joy Merron

A piece by Jilly Morris incorporating hundreds of pierced holes!

Another enamelled piece by Elizabeth Turrell.

Most of the work was in a variety of media,not much textile but interesting nonetheless less.

We visited some of the shops displaying student work from Hereford,but felt the way it was displayed did not do the work justice.We saw paper work by Sticky Fingers,and went along to Matthew Harris and Liz Brooke Ward.we completed our tour with artists exhibiting at Frogmarsh Mill.Below is a photo I took as the flowers used and the coordinated way the artists had displayed their work struck us as exceptionally good .A pleasing end to a very enjoyable day!

Some more pics from the Kaffe Fassett exhibition