January Catch-Up

Our little group normally has a break between November & February because of Summer School courses being held at Guild HQ ( our meeting place), Christmas, New Year, and members being away due to schools & workplaces taking breaks. Some of us feel that this break is too long & try to get together for a catch-up. This year there were four of us with show & tell.

Robyn had been playing with applique & FME to produce this vibrant design from her own original sketches. It will eventually be made into a skirt.

Then there was the ethnic designed crewel work on linen, inspired by the central mother of pearl bead on a vintage skirt.

Sheila had attended the "Remembering Kathleen & Constance" workshop with Dr Susan Wood at Summer School. There were design exercises, with a theme of choice, in paper. In Sheila's words, "Fun, fun, fun."

I had been playing with some drawn thread designs for larger open areas & corners. All were worked using my own hand dyed threads.

There was also this book mark made from my own created fabric, using surface stiching & a tassel to decorate.

Susan had used a quote from Julia Cameron's book "Walking In This World" to stitch on this self desighned sampler. Started as part of the Australian Quaker Tapestry Project in 2006, it is finally finished. Each leaf has used a different stich. The leaves can be seen in more detail here.

There was also this piece of canvas work by Susan. Titled "Life's Journey", it is a reflection on all areas of life, and the fact that most things in life are not black & white.

Our official first meeting for the year will happen in February, when we look foreward to welcoming a new member.

Our Tenth Birthday Celebration Project

Back in October, I mentioned the combined project that our group had been working on in 2008, to celebrate ten years of stitching together. So now is the big reveal ! Above is the front cover of the calendar that we produced. It consists of a patch-worked effect of 4 members work for our 10" square challenge that we did in 2007. It features the work of Jenny Bargh, Sheila Beer, Jessie Hosie & Robyn Johnstone.



January features "Portrait Of A Girl" by Donna Caffrey. Measuring 20cm x 26 cm, this piece is a canvas work interpretation of Donna's daughter.

February features "Jade Grid" by Jessie Hosie. 29.5cm X 21cm, this piece is surface stitchery & beading on silk.

March features "Glebe Terraces" by Elizabeth Low. Measuring 56cm x 35cm, this piece incorporates fabric manipulation & hand stitching.

April features "Fish Platter" by Sheila Beer. Measuring 28cm x 28cm, the piece uses goldwork techniques.

May features "Past Horizons" by Jenny Bargh. Measuring 33cm x 23 cm, this piece uses Jenny's own hand dyed fabrics & threads, and is made using drawn thread & reticella lace techniques.

June features "Eartha" by Robyn Johnstone. Measuring 13cm x 11cm x 8cm, this piece is beadwork & wire sculpture over stone.

July features "The Hole Piece" by Robyn Johnstone. Measuring 21cm x 30cm, this piece uses Robyn's own hand dyed threads with patchwork & reticella lace techniques .

August features "Flower Girl" by Susan Freeman. 33cm x 40cm, this piece uses applique & surface stitchery techniques.

September features "Stitch" by Sheila Beer. Measuring 40cm x 18cm, this piece features free machine embroidery in metallic threads.

October features "Landscape" by Donna Caffrey. The piece is a quilted fabric collage, using Donna's own hand dyed fabrics, and measures 20cm x 29cm.

November features "Grandma's Country Cottage" by Elizabeth Low. Using fabic manipulation, this piece measures 51cm x 34cm.

December features "Stubble" by Cathy Lean.. Using muslin shapes, wool tops, free machine embroidery & surface stitchery, this piece measures 21cm x 30cm.