Distractions.

Books seemed to be the theme to Carol's 'show and tell 'this month.

Some interesting finds at local charity shops.

However ,this one, below ,is one of a kind.

Lovingly stitched by Carol 

with page after page 

of delights for small fingers .She gives such attention to detail.

However ,she admits these have been distractions from getting down to the business of producing work for Newark.Time is rapidly diminishing ,so we look forward to what she brings in March.

Clocks and carpets.

Ira had been considering her clock piece and was dissatisfied that it was not coming together as she wanted.She had auditioned some pieces to go either side of the clock face ,cutting some in two.

She had three other pieces she is considering mounting in box frames.

We thought she was worrying unnecessarily, we'd like the problem of lots of pieces to choose from!

Viv had worked on her carpet piece and had decided on a dark blue background with a fringed edge.

The use of matte and shiny threads give a good contrast of textures 

and the colours are particularly rich especially against the blue....good choice.

Blue

Debby has been preoccupied with Blue.She has been endeavouring to get to grips with producing her pieces, however,having done her research and thinking she knew what she was doing ......

Spike intervened and muscled his way into her thoughts!

She has created  a Blue book,

and has been doing a drawing a day

but still he persisted.

So she has abandoned all other plans and is going to create her own version of Spike.She will use various techniques such as Trapunto to create Japanese type clouds and will make him as 3d as she can.

She brought along some free machine samples she had done to teach her students how to use dissolvable fabric.

Apotropaic -to turn away.

First the hoops that Sally is creating from her garden book drawings.

Her drawings are really delightful and a lovely record of her garden through the seasons.Turning them into individual embroideries is such a good idea.She aims to present them to hang in the hoops.

Her kitchen piece is all but complete, she thinks she will finish the edge with machine made ribbons

She has incorporated the witches marks found at Newark,believed to be made between 1550-1700.They are known as APOTROPAIC,from the Greek "to turn away"

Could you turn these little fellas away?

Kirsten has worked her felt magic again and produced these adorable family of mice.

It is not only the little details in each one but her very clever staging, and

use of props that brings them to life.

We don't think they'll be around very long.

All about Newark ........well nearly !

Jenn had been working on a second piece using some of the same coloured silk as in her other piece, and using some hexagons for the centre of the daisy.

She had taken some photos of the yellow daisies (Inula?)in Newark park garden last Summer and had managed to capture  bees on some.There will be lots more stitch, couched threads ,beads and sequins ........and a bee when she figures out how to do it.

Her other piece is almost there just some more beads to add and a hanging device.

She had found some indigo dyed scraps of fabric in an Etsy shop,'GLITZ and PIECES ',that had taken her fancy.

In the evenings she had been piecing them together with simple running stitch and where the thread ran out adding a bead.

She had pinned this transfer printed bee to the fabric but with no real idea if it will morph into something.She had just enjoyed the joy of thread and fabric.

Do they work together?

Ira had continued to motor along on her clock

producing several pieces that she is going to assemble to create one larger piece.

She had been looking through some older work and had happened across this.She wondered whether it might be feasible to upcycle it to add more to do with the clocks .We thought it would go well with what she has already produced.

Jenn had been playing about with transfer papers.She had taken bees  from the teapot at the house and manipulated them on the computer, playing with the size and orientation.

They were ironed to silk organza before being cut out. The finish was rather too shiny and plastic so she experimented and found by putting this side down on the silk the bee could still be seen but it was more matte.On the advice of Deryll ,she has partially attached them to the silk, allowing the wings to lift.The patchwork part has been quilted and mounted on calico and is now ready for the addition of some  beading to catch the light .

All that then remains is to add a hanging device and to sign the piece.

Decisions,decisions.

Carol has been having trouble making a choice as to what she will base her work on for Newark.She likes the window and we thought she might use the skills learned in a workshop with Wendy,last year.

She was also drawn to the relief pattern on this white jug. Lots of suggestions were put forward as to how she might progress, these included stencilling with gesso, or even more exciting Xpandaprint.

Then there was the lovely Jacobean crewel work housed in a drawer in the bedroom.With her exquisite hand stitching skills she could produce something spectacular!

While she has been debating she has been continuing to produce her lovely ,quirky bird portraits