October 2020

Our group met via Zoom again this month, with seven of us in attendance. There was much discussion of our current exhibition as well as show and tell.

Lesley has nearly finished her cushion in Tuscan Lace

Sheila has been preparing for Christmas making her annual tree decoration to give to family and friends.  She has also created her own cards.  Unfortunately, these are all under wraps until they have been received by the family and friends.  She has also started working on a major embroidery for the Embroiderers' Guild biennial Margaret Oppen prize.  Another work that can't be shown.

With so much work needing to be kept from the public eye, Sheila has pulled out some old work.  Following a course with Dorothy Caldwell, Sheila began exploring stitch on paper.  Using a discarded piece of craft paper, she added basic stitches to each page and then created a small book.  She has since gone on to create a number of major works involving stitch on craft paper.

After discovering how to make books using a single sheet of paper, Sheila went on to create a stitched fabric book.  A large piece of calico was covered in scraps of organza with a grid of machine stitching to stabilise them.  She then added a stamped design and stitched lines and shapes using her hand dyed threads.  When the stitching was finished, she folded the book and machined a cord of heavy thread around the page edges.

Jenny had been experimenting with some drawn thread. Cutting 6 and leaving 8 threads. Exposed threads had been wrapped and the larger holes were filled in with woven wheels. A Crochet thread was used for the woven wheels, so consequently they all have a mind of their own .

Jenny had also been internet surfing and landed on  this page  After reading, Jenny had discovered that pulled thread stitches could be worked over a background with threads removed in only one direction. here we see an experiment in wave stitch. In the top half wave stitch has been worked in one direction leaving one thread between the stitches. On the bottom half, wave stitch has been worked in the opposite direction leaving no threads between the stitches. 

Jenny had also made herself a new little Christmas decoration. Using a photograph from the internet as inspiration, Jenny charted the design and worked it in Perle thread on Belfast linen.

Annette's Dorset Feather stitch sampler. Her sister found the 1957 Olivia Pass Dorset Feather Stitchery book. She thought Annette needed it to accompany her journey with Dorset Buttons.

 

A little Summer Cardigan knitted by Annette in a  Bendigo Woollen Mills pattern. Worked with 8ply cotton, it still needs to be stitched together and buttons

This month is Inktober and Sheila has been participating using the prompts as her guides for each drawing.  The drawings are of a 30 cm mannequin and drawn with a small variety of coloured pens.  The drawings are in a craft paper accordion book with each page around 10 cm square.  The full set of drawings can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/

This is the 1st in what Annette  hopes will be an embroidered series of her travel photos. Watercolour pencil, applique and stitch with silk thread. Annette Loves the contrast of her daughter's blonde hair in the moving sea of Japanese people visiting a shrine in Tokyo.

Annette has been looking at photos from when we were able to travel. Years of work ahead and great memories.

COVID 19 is still circulating around, though restrictions have been lifted and contact tracers are working overtime. It is with great excitement that our group hoped to meet in reality next month.

 

August 2020

As we in Sydney continued on a second wave of hot spots from Covid 19, our group decided that once again we would meet via Zoom. Two meetings were scheduled, with a small break in between for drinks and snacks. Seven of us attended, some for a short time, some for the whole time. It was good to catch up with show and tell.

Jenny was finishing of samples that she had done for a major piece, and was turning them into pin cushions. The first one featured a square of reticella, and was finished off with a needle lace edge.

Jenny had also finished off this work bag that was started over nine years ago. Born out of a Counted Thread Round Robin that went around the world, The piece had come back home with holes and broken threads in the fabric. Jenny mended the fabric, fixed up holes, completed the stitching, and turned the piece into a work bag. The piece had travelled to USA, Canada, England, and parts of Australia, and features many forms of counted thread techniques such as Hardanger, cross stitch, blackwork, Wessex Stitchery and Drawn Thread.

Suganthi had finished one stork and had one still in progress. 

They have been worked in stranded cotton, long and short stitch on pale green silk and 

will eventually be cushions for her sister.

Following the completion of her quilt, Sheila used the leftover fabrics and wadding to create three shopping bags.  The cut lengths were joined together somewhat randomly and then she used a quilt-as-you-go method to make the bag sides.  Two of the bags used the leftover fabric for the gussets and a furnishing fabric was used to complete the third bag.  The fabrics are from the 'Thimbleberries' line that Sheila won in 2002.

The above  is Jo's sample using ‘Shosenshi’, a  translucent paper yarn, made with linen. Jo also, added a single strand of silver metallic thread with the yarn to do the stitching.

Jenny had used scrap yarns from her stash to finish this blanket. Her son has christened it 'The Homeless Blanket', though has claimed it for himself.

Sheila's daily practice for August is to stitch on paper.  Years ago, she had marked a large heavy weight paper with india ink.  It was torn it into double page spreads and each day of the month, a simple stitched design is added to one side of the spread.  The pages will be made into a book at the completion of the project.  Sheila's further explorations can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/.

We as a nation are still waiting and watching as this second wave of Covid 19 keeps raising it's ugly head. In the mean time we still keep stitching at home, and are planning our upcoming exhibit. 

 

As the world continued with a pandemic of COVID 19, Australia was beginning to come out of lock down, and our group was looking forward to meeting in reality once again. However, a second wave of the virus spread from a southern state back to Sydney, and we were all on notice again. We decided it was better to forgo our reality meeting, and to continue via Zoom for the time being. Six of us attended, with much show and tell. 

Jo had been playing with machine stitching on silk and tulle to produce this 7cm x 7cm sculptural object which looks remarkably like a flower.

Jenny had pulled out another UFO of Ukranian Whitework to finish. The piece is being worked on denim coloured linen in a variety of coloured threads.

Suganthi's work in progress is sampling for the metal threads module of the Contemporary Stitch and Design course that she is doing with Sharyn Hutchens at the Embroiderers Guild NSW.

The last two months has seen Sheila working on a queen sized bed quilt.  The design is a variation of the Wild Goose Chase block which came from 'Enduring Grace, Quilts from the Shelburne Museum Collection'.  Sheila converted the pattern into a foundation pieced block.  She used fabrics from the Thimbleberry range which she won in 2002.

Sheila's on-going covid19 project is growing larger.  Every day, she marks each death on the graph printed in the daily newspaper.  The paper is trapped between the base fabric and the organza and then the french knots are stitched.  The blocks are sewn together into weeks and then joined with the previous weeks.  She started this project as a way to make sense of the growing numbers by comparing one day to the next or one week to the next.  Sadly, the numbers continue to rise.

Sheila's daily practice for July has been to continue creating an Index Card A Day, ICAD. Her structured card designs have used limitations on concepts and mark making but yet have allowed for a wide variety of creations.  It has been a challenging yet fun process.  Sheila's further work can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/

Lesley's 15+ year old jacket that has been deconstructed and re-knitted. The Jacket had been washed in a washing machine after a camping trip, instead of being washed by hand. It shrunk, and the wool looked very matted. Lesley was about to donate it to the charity shop, but decided to pull it apart and re-knit it, using the same pattern, and is very happy with the outcome. The wool has regained its texture and elasticity and looks smart enough to wear around town.

Rhonda has been knitting for family and friends using Bendigo Woollen Mill yarn

Jenny has also been knitting squares form her scrap yarn. At present there are 64 squares of varying yarn. Some wool, some acrylic, some textured, some plain. When joined together it should make an interesting knee rug. 

As Australia watches and waits to see how this pandemic will play out, our group continues to create at home. Please come back for another visit next moth to see what we have been up to. 

June 2020

Our group met via Zoom again this month because of low numbers and the COVID virus . Our normal meeting space was open with restrictions, though quite a few of us had other plans for the day, and with only four of us attending, we made the call to continue with Zoom. We held two Zoom meetings with a small break between, which let us do show and tell really well.

Jenny had finished her pulled back stitch eyelet exercise from February and turned it into a needle case. The spaces between the eyelets had been filled with a variegated thread using an uneven 4 sided stitch. Cassalguidi inspired work was stitched over the background formed by the eyelets to add more interest, and a four sided pulled work hem with added tassel finished it off.

Jo was having a love affair with French knots. They are being stitched  with DMC Etoile and a rayon variegated thread. 

Susan had in worked a butterfly in a 10cm hoop. It has all been worked in DMC stranded cotton from her collection.  The butterfly in satin stitch, the background in long and short stitch, outlines in whipped back stitch. The words are:  joie de vivre, joie de faire - joy of living, joy of making.  It was made for her friend's 70th birthday, and she is a maker of all sorts of things, so she appreciated the gift.

Suganthi's work in progress - What she thinks of housework! Inspired by the Laterals Yellow Envelope Challenge - use a tangram; and Anne Kelly's six-week challenge for Textile artist.org.,  use found material in your home during this time of COVID-19 to create some folk art.

Suganthi used  used old tea towels. The family has hidden the rest of the tea towels!

Annette had found, in a cupboard, an almost complete  flap for a bag started with Jennifer Kime in 2008. Everything needed was in the bag ready to start.  It was a joy to find it and Annette  will now complete it.

Jenny had called her blanket finished after seven years. There was enough yarn to add a border, then a second border of more granny squares, then a third border similar to the first. The blanket is big enough to sit on top of a queen sized bed.  Yarn is still left over, and Jenny is yet to decide what to do with it.

Sheila is currently stitching a continuing work based on covid19 graphs published daily in the newspaper.  She is marking each death from the virus with a french knot. The individual blocks are stitched into weeks then joined to the preceding weeks. The work is growing longer and the plan is to continue while the graphs are in the paper.

Sheila is also participating in the annual Index Card A Day, ICAD, for her daily practice over the next 2 months. She is exploring simple mark making using markers and watercolour. Her cards can be found at : @thingstitcher.  The work of other participants can be found at: @dyicad.

Annette had  knitted a cardigan  for herself using Bendigo Classic 8ply wool.  Early in the COVID 19 isolation she decided to not go out to shops to find buttons but make 9 Dorset buttons. The  rings were found in her stash along with  a thread that would match. Finally buttons are ready to stitch on and the cardigan can be worn.

Annette also found in boxes and cupboards many framed pieces. The photo shows the majority on the wall in her work room. Some date from the early 1990s, and it is lovely to see them out on show.

Rhonda had made a three quarter length coat with  fabric from her Mother's stash. It is unclear how old the fabric is. The beautiful antique buttons and lining is also from the last century.

The Covid crisis is still on-going, though restrictions are slowly being lifted. Next month we may be back in our normal meeting space. Until then, creativity is going strong at home.