March 2018 - Fifth Saturday Fun Day

Our inaugural Fifth Saturday Fun Day was held in late March.  Unfortunately, the Easter weekend prevented some members from attending.  Sheila hosted the event and was joined by Annette and Robyn. 

The aim of the day was to do mono printing, and we concentrated on using the Gelli plate.

Annette played with printing and overprinting producing  a variety of interesting prints on a range of papers and fabric.

Robyn had seen the Brigit Koopsen resist printing video found at:   http://gelliarts.blogspot.com.au/  and was keen to try the technique.  Robyn had a number of magazine images and first did some successful prints on paper.

Then Robyn did a number of prints on fabric with equally good results.

Sheila worked with the round plate and attempted to print on reusable shopping bags.  More printing days are needed to completely cover the bags.

The weather was perfect and we were able to work outside and spread ourselves around on several tables.  Insert mono print 4.

Our first Fifth Saturday Fun Day was a success and we are looking forward to our next day in June.  Will it be another messy day or a home visit or a gallery visit?

June 2014

Our meeting this month brought nine of us, and as usual there was show & tell a plenty.

Robyn was continuing on her piece from last month, adding some petals and more spirals  to her corn pad flower.

Sheila had made this fabric post card, inspired by a sketch of  the Miner's Memorial in Broken Hill. The postcard is hand panted, then free machine embroidered.

Wendy was continuing on this piece, using threads from an impulse buy. The piece used stitches that she enjoys working and is time well spent.

Sheila had been making bags, using up some of her fabric. The blue one above has been hand printed, then stitched in running stitch. The red gingham check one features recycled English Pieced hexagons with added stitching.

Gerri's "Love Life" beaded cross stitch piece. The piece features a neighbourhood scene and has given Gerri hours of enjoyment.

Next we have a variety of winter warmers, especially for the chilly weather of this week, and the weeks ahead.

Susan's granny square blanket is being worked in Payton's Gem, a 100% cotton yarn. Nine years ago, Susan was given 21 balls in 5 colours. What to do with it? The granny squares are joined together with a double crochet in white.

Annette had been knitting socks in a 4-ply yarn from Turkey. The socks are very comfortable & very warm.

This cloche hat is also by Annette. Knitted in 12 ply wool on circular needles, then felted in the washing machine. A very quick knit and very warm.

These gloves were made by Jenny, using her own  de-constructed version of the pattern  found in  " A Gathering of Lace" by Meg Swansen. Knitted in Paytons Embrace, a 2 ply yarn of  90% Merino , 10%  Silk, the gloves feature a moss stitch cuff.

There was also more chat about our collaborative piece. All will be revealed in the next few months, so please keep visiting to find out more.

November 2010

This past Saturday was our last meeting for the year so Christmas lunch was in order, with everyone bringing a plate of yummy food to share. There were ten of us present from our group and one guest.

The day brought a new member to our group. After seeing our exhibition in August, Annette has decided to join us . We welcome her to our group & look forward to her participation. It was also great to see Libby back after a long absence.

In the morning, Anne directed us in a design exercise, while in the afternoon ideas were discussed regarding our next exhibition & some loose plans made towards it.

Show & tell brought this tote bag "Autumn Leaves" made by Susan. Using cotton fabric, the bag is Susan's own design & features patchwork, applique, machine embroidery& buttons .
Susan had also made this scarf using Paton's bamboo & cotton yarn. The trellis stitch has given a lacy look, while the picot arched edge has given a decorative finish to the ends.

Sheila had been making more book covers, first printing the fabric, then using running stitch to add more detail.

Donna had been painting these abstracts. Inspiration was gained from part of a chair, and the designs will be used later in some of her appliqué work.



Jenny had been playing with her camera, trying to learn about ISO, aperture, shutter speeds, & all the other little buttons that adorn it. Samples of her learning will be visible here.

On that note, this will be our last post until January, 2011, when the creative journey of our group continues. So to everyone who visits our little space on the WWW, we at Stitches Plus would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Creative New year. We would also like to issue an invitation to come back in January to continue following our creative exploits.