November 2018

We welcomed Joyce and Lesley to our November meeting and look forward to getting to know them and their work in the future.  Our last meeting of the year was a big day with our normal activities and the added bonus of Christmas lunch.

The first activity of the day was our mini class conducted by Susan.   The exercise was based on one for border pattern - making from N.I. Cannon's "Pattern and Design" .  Inspired with nine given elements , chosen combinations were combined with continuous lines to create interesting border designs.

For the design exercise, Sheila took two of the elements and developed variations for each iteration.

Robyn's interpretation of the exercise.

The two pages below are Lesley's interpretation of the exercise.

Susan's interpretation of her own exercise below.

Show and tell occupied the remainder of the morning, and without a meeting in October, there was a lot of catching up.  ​We also talked about our personal challenges that we gave ourselves at the beginning of the year.  Because we are all different,  progress was different for all of us.  

Personal Challenges

Sheila's personal challenge for the year was to have a daily artistic practice.  The focus of the practice was changed each month so Sheila could try a number of different things that were on her 'to do' list.  There was the added bonus of using some of her supplies.  This daily practice was deemed a success and will continue to be a part of Sheila's artistic development.

The daily practice for November is collage using a 1995 Anne Geddes diary as the base for the collage.  The photo on the opposite page may, or may not, influence the collage.  The diary tells us that Sheila was doing the basic course with the Embroiderers' Guild in 1995.  Proof that her artistic journey has grown since then.

Jenny's personal challenge was to complete a specified list of ten UFO's. Only five UFO's were completed, three off the specified list, and two others that were found along the way looking for other things. Life sometimes gets in the way of our personal goals, and a new baby in the family will usually throw everything out the window. Hence, a new baby shawl was started (and nearly completed ) instead of the remaining UFO's. 

There was also an OS trip to throw a spanner in the UFO mix. Jenny always has to take something to do when she goes away, and not knowing the lighting situation, it has to be something easy to see. On this trip, Jenny took some Lincraft Sorbet cotton/acrylic blend 4 ply yarn, a crochet hook, and an old trolley mat pattern of her Mother's dated 1947, and produced some motifs that will have an end life decorating a bag. They turned out much larger than expected.

Susan's personal Challenge  was to create some works exploring chain stitch, particularly for the Bathurst group display at  the Heritage Trades weekend in May.  Developing ideas for a series of quote embroideries was added  to the agenda mid year. Susan  did finish a few pieces, all of which appear in earlier blogs, and is happy because she created quite a few more works than she has in a long time .

Gerri's personal challenge was to work on HQ tasks and UFO's.  Life does sometimes get in the way, and although Gerri may not have been stitching much , she has completed lots. The list reads :- 
24 Christmas ornaments

30 tiny teddies

30 Christmas pillow cases

8 towels

8 face washers

8 hand towels

3 quilts

16 shopping bags made from coffee bean hessian sacks lined with fabric to form a three way inside out bag

16 table runners

2 dolls

1 rabbit with dress and crocheted blanket

Two knitted beanies and scarves 

Some of Gerri's work is shown below.

Lesley may have just joined us, but she has been busy stitching. 

The stitch samples and the stitched portrait are part of the Sue Stone course.

We all contribute to our shared Christmas lunch which was delicious as usual.  It is always a lovely way to end our year.

The afternoon continued with more stitching and more socialising and too soon the day was over.  We are all anticipating another year of creativity and personal development with an emphasis on stitch.

Those of us lucky enough to stay at the Embroiderers' Guild were able to attend the artist talk by Michelle Belgiorno whose installation of sennenbari is currently on display in Gallery76.  Michelle told us about her inspiring and emotional journey to distribute and then collect the stitched sennenbari.  The installation was created to commemorate the Japanese mini submarine bombing of Sydney Harbour in 1942 . https://www.embroiderersguildnsw.org.au

2019 promises to be another exciting year, with maybe a few changes thrown in the mix. Please come back next year to see what exciting things we get up to.

February 2018

Welcome to a new year of creating with our little group.

Five of us met in our new home of the Embroiderer's Guild NSW, this time in the new Resource Center. It was wonderful to be able to sit comfortably, with room to spread, and be surrounded by such wonderful books that are housed in this new library.

Gerri led us through a quick design exercise on mandalas that made us think as well as create. After this little exercise, show and tell was combined with our 2018 challenges. It had been decided in November last year that we would all have  our own personal challenge for the year.

Annette's challenge for the year is to finish some UFO's.

First up was this blackwork robin started last year. The original inspiration was from a greeting card by Richard Spare 2005, a hand coloured dry point print. Annette has completed a series of robins worked in varying techniques, all inspired by the same greeting card.

This white work lavender sachet was also worked by Annette. It began as a kit by Jenny Adin Christie and is a white work sampler piece.

This is  'Mary' by Annette, worked on red silk with silk thread using split stitch. The crown is in gold and the coat is underside couching of gold tambour thread.

Meet 'Robert The Horse', also worked by Annette in split stitch using silk thread. Underside couching of gold has been used for the background. 'Robert The Horse' is one of Annette's projects to be finished in 2018 as part of her challenge.

Both of these pieces are from Alison Cole Summer School class 'Opus Anglicanum Triptych'

Another UFO of Annette's is this flocked  tartan  centered square, dating from the 1920's. The piece was started at a Textile Fiber Forum class in Brisbane in the past.

Jenny had finshed some more bobbin lace pieces. The first is this handkerchief edge worked in Gutermann Sulky thread. The pattern was found in an Australian Lace magazine , and what Jenny had thought to be easy, turned out to require a lot of research to figure it out.

This book mark, also by Jenny, is a pattern from Pamela Nottingham's book on Bedfordshire lace. It has been worked in DMC Special Dentelles thread

Jenny has made this baby quilt called 'Umbrella Hills' . Made from a piece of fabric in her stash, it has been quilted along some of the lines  in the fabric print. The quilt has been made for a new member of the family born earlier this month.

Jenny's personal challenge for the year is to finish some UFO's. This piece of unfinished blackwork/drawn thread work is one that started as an on-line challenge for "A year In Stitches" a FaceBook group.  Jenny hopes to complete this piece into a finished article by our March meeting

This blue pulled and drawn work is just a snippet of Jenny's sampler. Begun way back in October 2011, Jenny hopes to have it completely finished by the end of the year, along with another eight UFO's .

Robyn is continuing to stitch on her hand dyed country piece stitching through tea bags.

This bear is Gerri's and has been made from a purchased pattern and fabric from her stash.

Above are four of Gerri's 'Bottomless Cups'using recycled items. Gerri has played with hessian, paint,wool left overs, threads, super tacky glue, beads, ribbon and her imagination.

These squares are Wendy's 'Stitching On The Go'. Wendy carries squares of linen (left-overs from old printed tablecloths and serviettes)when she travels, and uses left over threads with any stitch that comes into her head. She finds it very calming.

Wendy had attended Summer School, participating in Mirjam Aigner's class 'A Splash A Dash', which was all about printing on fabric. The above three photos are just some of Wendy's pieces that she will embroider later.

So what is our aim for 2018? We have all decided that we will each have a personal goal to achieve throughout the year. Below is a list of what some of our members wish to achieve.

Annette

Complete Allison Cole 'Opus Anglicanum Triptych' pieces

Complete a UFO for the Vlinders project.

Have a meaningful piece of work ready to go that is simple and easy to see.

Work a pulled thread peacock feather piece

Gerri

Work something for all HQ tasks

Work on UFO"s

Wendy

Complete Barbara Mullins Central Asian Bag.

Work exercises from Richard Box 'Colour And Design for Embroidery".

Work on textured stitches samples

Robyn

Project 1 'Country' - her mud/coffee dyed cloth with tea bags.

Project 2 Wearable art - Embroidered blouse

Project 3 - Painted and embroidered canvas - Hundertwasser

Jenny

Complete 10 UFO's as listed below

Tenneriffe squares - turn into something

Blue drawn thread sampler- finish ready to hang

Blue knitted bobble bag- needs a lining to be able to use

Pink and green counted thread sampler - needs to be turned into something

Bag with digitised scallop trim - needs to be made up

Allison Snepp Hussif- needs a lining

Pansy textile transfer- needs to turn into something

Fillet piece from the last challenge - needs to be worked

A year In Stitches blackwork/drawn piece- turn into something

Black beaded digitised lace piece - turn into something else

As you can all see, we have all set ourselves some work for the year, so please come back next moth to see what we have achieved.

February 2015

Welcome to another year of show & tell by Stitcher's Plus. We are a creative group of the Embroiderer's Guild NSW and play with all kinds of art. This year is the year of the personal challenge. 

Congratulations go out to our member Susan, who applied for, and received, the position of Guild Secretary at our headquarters in Concord West. 

Last Saturday was our first official meeting for the year, with seven of us in attendance. Show and tell is a major part of our day, and as our last official meeting was way back in November,  there was some great show and tell to be feasted on.

Robyn had finished stitching her lady, who will eventually adorn the lid of a work box.

Robyn had also finished her needle case featuring Afghanistan reversible stitch.

Donna had been playing with running stitch, exploring what could be done with it. The little bird at the top of this set was inspired by a Mexican ceramic tile, while the remainder were inspired from doodles. Exploring running stitch is Donna's personal challenge for 2015.

Jenny's personal challenge for 2015 is to explore the technique of filet lace. In this sample, Jenny has made her own mesh by withdrawing threads from fabric, bound them into a mesh formation, then worked a dragonfly in linen stitch. The dragonfly was first drawn, then charted into a graph which was then used to chart the linen stitch working order. The working order of the linen stitch has to be precise for the under/over sequence of the linen stitch to happen.

Jenny had also been adding to her sampler with a band of Wessex stitching. The sampler began eight years ago, and Jenny has decided that 2015 is the year to finish it. The whole back story can be found here, and by following the links within the post on Jenny's personal blog.

 This table mat is being worked by Jenny  from a Christine Bishop workshop that she had attended back in September 2014. The piece is inspired by Dresden Embroidery, and features both pulled work and surface stitching.

Annette had been busy making her daughter's wedding dress. The hand beading on the sleeve and bodice echoed the pattern in the lace.

Sheila had made a new plaque for a young relative, using constructions by Jenny Cochran Lee in the September/October 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors

Sheila's personal commitment for the year is to draw every day. At the moment she is drawing in a day book/calender.

This is Susan's sample of "Cross Plus Two Stitch", worked on Aida cloth. The piece is for the Embroiderer's Guild installation at the Craft and Quilt Fair, later this year in June.

Robyn was beginning to stitch on this Aboriginal panel, purchased from the Black Arts Markets. The fabric has been screen printed and will be made into a bag. This is one of four personal challenges that Robyn has listed for herself.

This bag was made by a talented Guild member and raffled as a second prize at the Guild's Summer School. It was won by Sheila.

Such a great start to 2015 by all our talented members. Come back for another visit in March to see how we are all progressing on our personal challenges.