Cushions and creatures.

Kirsten had made these cushions for a friend .We saw the photographs as they had already been given over. Lovely appliqué you might be thinking but no........they are foundation pieced so much more work.

She was assisted or hampered by her assistant !

She also showed some felted vessels and some examples of place mats in progress  for a course she is teaching.

Another diversion from felting this Booby is entirely crochet. Is there nothing beyond her expertise?

 

Thoughts on sampling.

Sue has a lot of  knowledge and useful tips on  ways of working.One she suggested this month was creating a sampler of the various stitches found on your personal sewing machine.

She also has a book in which she records techniques ,and samples of work she has created .This can be a 'go to ' source which can save time if something needs to be replicated.

One such sample shows how different automatic stitches can be used to get a drawn thread effect without all the work of withdrawing threads by hand ! This particular sample was done on bookbinding muslin.

If you can get into the habit of keeping records it is a very good resource.

 

Cornucopia.

As usual Debby provided us with an interesting great abundance of work , courses she had attended and things of interest .First was a bag she had made from leftover fabrics for her young grandson.They have moved back to Bristol and he is delighted to see urban foxes ,hence the inclusion in his bag.

Next was her 'Mixed Media on Fabric' Course taken with Sue Brown at theyardartspace.com

Techniques included using Koh-i-Noor ,stencils ,mono print 

and Paper Lithography ,also known as Gum Arabic printing.It took her out of her usual colour palette using the shocking pink but sometimes we need to be more experimental to learn new things.

Above and below her Paper  lithography on paper and fabric.Such a versatile technique allowing the use of personal imagery.....note the bird.

Another venture into new techniques was a Summer school at UWE with Stephen Fowles learning how to do tetrapak printmaking.A way of using what is often discarded .Debby is going to pass on what she has learned in a workshop for the group.

She brought along some cards created by artist Ellie Hipkin elliahipkinart.com

Some hearts made and hand stitched in spare moments.

Finally a birthday gift of Coliro pearl handmade paints coliro.de from her husband 

a Seawhite sketchbook and some fabric she found in a charity shop.As always something to interest everyone.

 

WOT !.......... no JULY ?

The July meeting was due to take place on the HOTTEST day of our Summer so we thought it prudent to put it off until it cooled down.Even so the August meeting took place on the first day of our second heatwave! We are hoping it doesn't come in threes and land next in our September meet.

Jenn has a window which faces West  and gets the most glorious Sunsets especially in the Winter when the trees are leafless. She had thought the 'Running with Stitch ' done with the Kemshalls could be adapted. Instead of using blocks of fabric she used pieces cut to different sizes and pinned them before adding running stitch in machine cottons.The one above is done apart from maybe adding the trees .

The one below is in progress.....very slow progress.

Deryll continues to sort through things she wants to offload.This piece was a sample given to her by Jean Littlejohn in 1997 when attending a workshop using tyke and xpandaprint. It portrays lichens and is extremely lifelike.

Another item was this book on how to create Zentangles .Both found a home.

Jane ,meanwhile has been continuing her journey with weaving and using the fabric to create a garment for herself.

A close up of the different weave pattern used in this tencel,lyocell yarn.

She has offcuts left which could be joined  to make something else.