Sashiko ,mindful mending and North Bristol Arts trail.

Debby had been trying her hand at Sashiko having chanced upon some books about the subject and tuned in to an online workshop 'Zen Stitching, The Art of Mindful Mending' An interesting fact is although running stitch is used 'Yokogusi',in Sashiko it is not pulled tight so that it lays flat whereas the same stitch in Kantha creates ripples in the fabric because of the tension created.Many of the stitches are given descriptive names such as  'rice stitch' and' falling rain'

Following on from the success of her  embroidered  beret she has been working on a few more to have on sale for the www.North Bristol Arts Trail.org.You can find her at Venue 46 from Saturday 27th -Sunday 28th November. It looks like being a super event as they are celebrating 20 years!

 

November comes around again.

Viv brought another finished painted canvas piece from last month.She felt it is a much better finish than just printing the sketch .It is a river in Oslo near where her son lives.She has kept to purely straight stitch for the whole series which has proved very effective.Now she is going to deliberate how to display them.

Deryll also brought along her Madder piece from last time.She had added a stronger colour stitching which had lifted the embroidery from the background.There is more to complete but it is going in the right direction.Much discussion ensued about how she might display it ,not wanting to put it behind glass.

 

Continuing the foiling.

Following on from the workshop Debby led for the new Bristol Stitchers she brought along a great variety of samples.They include gold transfoil ,Caramac chocolate papers ,foiling thread, hot dots and imitation shisha. Invention really is the name of the game , if it works use it.

She had been creating a piece using a variety of collage ,hand and machine stitch.She exhibited at Court House Farm and has been invited back to deliver some workshops for them before Christmas .If you want to treat yourself consult their website www.courthousefarm.com

She had also been embroidering a beret for herself, such a very pretty selection of colours and stitches against the cream.

 

Sorting through.

Sally had been taking a look at  work and samples she had made over the years it included some fabrics dyed with Omega dyes exploring colour contrasts.

Playing around with rust, which resulted from a trip to the Antarctic and  in her producing a book.

Then her beloved sketchbooks of which she has many, including concertina ones.The pages below have been reproduced on fabric to create personal imagery in her work.It is sometimes interesting to revisit work in order to mull over exactly what is your favourite thing to do, in Sally's case producing books is very high on the list! Very often a period of reflection and review  can spark new ideas and directions.

 

Workshops.

Carol brought along a selection of work produced on various workshops she had taken.The first was a Nikki Parmenter one 'Plastic Entrapment'.They had been given a choice of image ,Carol chose the butterfly .it was drawn onto the plastic with a sharpie pen and then various pieces were trapped by free machining .It is very attractive and we wonder if it might be durable enough to sit outside? 

Carol signed up for the first run of Stitch Club.She has a book of meticulous notes detailing every workshop they gave.She admitted she could not keep up and do every one but has the notes should she wish to go back to them.The one she did below was stitching on leaves ,some questioned why 

would you want to !

This was one run by Debby for Bristol Stitchers and involved a background of painted  Bondaweb with a small appliqued  lace butterfly with fly stitch .

At the same workshop they experimented with foiling on fabric, cutting out shapes and using  embroidery to foil over .They give some lovely effects.

 

Time to sketch and having a need to stitch.

Viv had spent some time on the Gower this summer .

She had taken a sketchbook and some colours ,recording some of the beautiful beaches encountered on her walks.

Back at home and she felt the need to stitch.She decided to add another straight stitch piece to those already completed.This time she chose a view of Norway and painted the canvas in preparation.Her colours of thread selected she is ready to go ahead.

 

Resurrect and rework.

Sue also brought previously worked pieces for some suggestions as how to move them forward.

She had mounted the above piece on an old wool garment piece but found the black had sucked the life out of the colours.She had begun to add swirls of the oranges and pinks to come out of the middle to edge into the black which we felt was a good idea.However ,we felt that the black piece and it's uneven edge would give her further problems as to how to work around it to finish the piece.

The other piece  was almost there but needed  the addition of some stronger shaped beads .We also deliberated as to what colour backing might best show it off .

Seeing finished work at an exhibition often doesn't portray the many stages it goes through to get there.