Finished and in consideration, the two Sues.

Since last we saw this piece Sue D. had framed it We thought the mount and wood frame did it 

justice .. A lot of work went into it from inception to completion so it is good to see a pleasing outcome.

Sue H. was delighted to have found a poem 'Penelope' by Carol Ann Duffy which referenced textiles.It is based on the  Penelope and Odysseus tale which sees him away adventuring for twenty years leaving Penelope at home ,not knowing if he is alive or dead.She read it to us before placing a variety of objects on a tray.She wondered how we might choose, separate  and what might inspire. The images show how we thought they might be grouped.

Would you have chosen differently and what might be the reasons ?

 

Prolific Fumi.....

Fumi brought along a number of new pieces she has been working on.This one above was from the  Gwen Hedley free project on Textileartist .org which was repeated from last year. We liked her choice of colour ,very bright and fresh . Fumi had enjoyed the project but was having difficulty as to how best to finish.We made some suggestions ,like a table runner as Viv did, or binding the edge and making a hanging.

She had been on a one day workshop 'Making Zen' with Janet Haigh using Kaffe Fassett fabrics .She was not sure she agreed with the way Janet wanted her to place the motifs so had discontinued finishing 

the piece.

No doubt she will find her own way after putting it to one side ......we did love the reverse .

She had also created some dimensional embroidery ,for garden ideas  .Don't you think the colour greens are inspired?

More rock weaving but this one is about the choice of the heart shaped rock . 

And an amurugami succulent ,so very tiny and precise .Made with stranded cottons so you can imagine how fiddly to execute.

Her final offering a Sashiko embroidered bag with a

 milk bottle top brooch inspired by Pippa Haynes.

Some tiny coloured  beads to finish off the handles, a lovely attention to small details .She has been very industrious.

 

Beautiful garden birds and more workshops.

Carol decided to frame her birds from the 100 day book .

She exhibited them  with Bristol Stitchers where they drew much attention.

She had cards made to sell ,printed by Print.Work.

They were excellent capturing the detail of the stitching and true to colour.

Carol 's work from the Alison Hulme workshop took a different direction.

She printed insects ,

poppies and grasses .

it shows how versatile the stencils and screens could be when used by different individuals .

At the exhibition Carol stitched a coaster devised by one of the members .

She had also taken a workshop where Rudi had shown many different ways to apply Shisha 

and some Kuchi stitching from Gujarat.Both were very intricate ,they must have been as Carol's work is always so precise.

 

Workshops.

 Debby always manages to seek out and find workshops that pass the rest of us by.This one was at Badminton School ,apparently as they are a charity they run workshops open to the public materials provided and they are hosted by the staff. ,Debby has attended others too.This was a one and half hour watercolour workshop looking at textures.Debby chose to look at pebbles and isn't it so very realistic.

The other workshop that Carol and she attended was run by Bristol Stitchers. Alison Hulme was the artist who generously provided stencils and thermofax screens to use to print on fabric.They also used Gelli plates.

 

Debby made full use of as wide a range as possible ,printing so many pieces they will keep her going some while yet.Too many to photograph and feature here .

Adding some stitch to the little bird in the above piece.

Teasels and grasses

with additions of birds and eggs !

She will have a lovely time adding her own unique touches to these 

 

Sunsets.

Jenn has had theses pieces ongoing for a little while .They are based on sunsets seen from her West facing windows at home.

She took one along to the Bristol Stitchers exhibition to work on while stewarding .

They are simply lots of small pieces of fabric laid onto a base .Then she has used variegated machine cottons and running stitch to hold them down.

She had begun to try out how she might work the tracery of trees which sit along the horizon.

Using some black net and water soluble fabric she had free machined trees.She was unsure of the result when placed on the base as the 'invisible' bobbin thread showed against the dark.She was undecided but some of the group thought it might look like highlights from the setting sun.More things to try.

New Inspirations .

Kirsten brought along a new version of a favourite felt idea -

padded wool felt cushion pads. This version uses coloured wools, as you can see  they are very decorative well as useful .The wool used is expensive and these are a trial as it may not be as hard wearing as her usual makes.

She was enthused by a course she is taking in Weston College and brought along her sketch/workbook .

She is delighted to be working in clay and enjoying the research and homework required.

It sounds a very interesting course with lots of opportunities to try out techniques and all materials provided.It is one day a week which means there is time to get really immersed .

Sometimes we need to reinvigorate our practice and step away from the usual .It will be interesting to see what results.

 

Exhibition featuring Liz Hewitt.

Liz  will be exhibiting with this mixed media group of artists .She will be showing new work inspired by her interest in natural pigments.It is on for a short time so if you are interested you'll have to be quick.