March 2012

Our meeting this month brought seven members & one guest, with a  number of us working on our exhibition pieces (for later in the year) throughout the day. There were magazines & books for swapping, with  lots of chat over copious cups of tea/coffee.

Show & tell as always brought lots of discussion & "oos & arhs". Below is just a selection from our day together.

Robyn was playing with art dolls & had made this one using water soluble crayons & surface stitching.

This is her new one that was being worked on during the day.

Then there was this fabulous sampler of Ukrainian Work also by Robyn. The finished project will eventually be a needle book cover.

Jenny had been making scarves. Firstly, this one knitted from a very fine wool in a simple pattern. The yarn was very old & had come from a deceased estate without a label. 

This scarf, also by Jenny, was an experiment to crochet a different shape other than a square, & then join rows of them together. It has been made in two different cheap acrylic 8ply yarns, but now the pattern has been played with, a finer yarn in a better quality is calling.

During the day Jenny experimented with a black work pattern.

Donna was crocheting herself a wrap with this beautiful Tencel fiber, & plans to try dying it at a future dying day.

This is part of Donna's quilt "Mountain Trails", for an exhibition in July.

Sheila  had made this quilt from scrap fabric using a 'quilt-as-you-go" method.

There was also two pieces of this yummy eco-dyed silk that Sheila had dyed using cosmos flowers for colour.

Well, that was part of our day together this month. I wonder what April will bring.

February 2012

Last Saturday was our first official meeting for 2012 as our meeting room always hosts Summer School in January. A few of us had got together  in January to check out the displays on the walls & what Summer School was up to, then have a chat over coffee & lunch . It is, after all, a long time from November to February.

So what did we get up to on Saturday?  There were reminders of our year's objectives, & discussions on fund raising. Sheila had been researching boxes & postage in readiness for our years project.

 There was show & tell a plenty from the five of us attending.

Jenny was experimenting with Hardanger, working filling stitches in different colours.

Donna had been practising her crochet, making this gorgeous scarf in pinks, trimmed with some spiral flowers  that she had made in both matching & contrasting yarn.

Sheila had made a shopping bag featuring rows of raised chain band stitching in her own hand dyed threads.

Jenny had attended a workshop with Judith Langdon,  learning how to make Dorset buttons.

Sheila had made yet another brooch for her collection. Her own design, the brooch came about after a Guild Summer School with Sue Wood.  It is commercial felt which has been  machine stitched, mounted on a fabric backing.

 

Donna had found some hand dyed velvet which she used to play with some goldwork.

 Sheila had made two quilts, this one a baby quilt featuring a ring of hearts in machine quilting.

 "Dizzy Eye Dancing" is the second of the quilts by Sheila. It features fabric printing, fabric rubbings, machine appliqué & machine quilting.

Jenny had been making book marks to sell on a Guild Sales Table.

                    Wendy had been making crocheted squares using a pattern from Golden Hands.

Susan had finished her lacy scarf "Sweet Lorraine" that was shown in progress here. Made in a cotton yarn, the pattern is one that was downloaded from Interweave Crochet .

This granny square is also by Susan using a pattern by Panda Yarns. Made in a soft knitting cotton, it is the basis of a scarf, and a practice for another one in another colour some time in the future.

Wendy had been to Bangladesh, where she had purchased this "Village Scene" worked by Nermola at 

St Paul's   Sewing Center

Mongla Port

Bangladesh.

Come back in March for updates on our progress as we head towards our goals for 2012.

November 2011

Our meeting this month was our last for this year, so food & Christmas lunch was the order of the day. There were seven members present, & two visitors who are both thinking about joining our group.We did do some work in between all the eating & chatting, planning our activities for 2012.

Show & tell as always provided much inspiration & discussion.

Robyn was working on a piece of Ukrainian Whitework ( in colour) using patterns from Gay Eaton's Book "Ukrainian Whitework" .

There were also these Christmas Strawberries by Robyn which had been made at a workshop with Molly Mc at a Hawkesbury retreat.

 Jenny had finished two tissue packet covers, experimenting with colour schemes. Both were stitched in the same pattern of a blackwork design on the same fabric, but using different coloured threads. One in harmonious colours, the other using triadic colours, the effect of each being  quite different.

Donna's  mixed media work  is  still a work in  progress. Fabric, machined cords and papers applied to heavy vylene, hand and machine stitched , painted with gesso  and then acrylic , further embellished with counched threads, hand stitching and beading and filmo face made using a caste created by Pearl Moon.

During the day there were some experiments with some pulled work stitches ready for a major piece.

Sheila had been stitching book covers in raised chain stitch using her own hand dyed threads. 

There were also many animal activity book pages, using a Vogue pattern.

 

 

 

 

Esther had made this felted bag at a workshop in Mudgee

 using wool & silk, with wool scraps as decorations.

Well that is the year that was for 2011. Come back in January for another visit to see what we have planned for 2012.

October 2011

There was only a small group of us for our  meeting this month due to a Convenor's meeting and an AGM.
Those of us that were present found some stitching or designs to work on, lots of people to chat to & inspiration a plenty.

"Pots", a still life by Donna, had her practising her FME on a piece featuring applique, pastel dye sticks and some hand stitching.

 
Jenny was experimenting with black work patterns & colour. The piece below uses her own hand dyed fabric with variegated threads,

while this second piece uses the same hand dyed fabric with numerous colours.

 

These gloves were made by Jenny, adapting a pattern from Payton's Classic Book 50 worked on 2 needles, to one using double pointed needles & so eliminating seams.

Mmmmm......... I wonder what we'll get up to in November?

September 2011

There were six of us present on Saturday to partake in Robyn's colour activity, where much was brought to inspire us. Everything from thread colour charts, colour wheels, colour exercises in fabric, pages from her own journals, books, magazines,  examples of her own stitching, & bags full of enticing coloured threads.

 

 We were given an exercise  to do, using a picture from a magazine & picking out the colours within using whatever colour sources we had available. Jenny chose a picture from a food magazine & picked out the colours using coloured pencils. Later, thread colours were matched & colour schemes & colour values discussed.

Show & tell brought this stitching from Robyn, using water soluble oil pastels combined with surface stitches.

Susan had used freely improvised applique & running stitch embroidery to brighten and give new life to this purchased top.  

  

Susan was crocheting this scarf using a free downloadable pattern from Interweave Crochet. The scarf starts with a foundation single crochet row instead of chains & uses a pattern with a 4-row repeat. Both these techniques are new to Susan, who is trying to do something new with each new crochet project she tackles.

Jenny had finished knitting her Feather & Fan scarf in a 2 ply cashmere yarn from Belisa Cashmere in Bundanoon. 

 Jenny had also been stitching as well as knitting. There were experiments in pulled thread work including  this cover for purse pack tissues ( yet to be made up)

This bookmark that still needs blocking & cutting,

and this tiny square which will eventually be made into a scissor fob.

Come visit us again soon to see what we get up to next