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 !