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

August 2011

Our August meeting may have had only 4 members & one guest, but we still had fun. Donna led us through an exercise on texture, bringing paper & fabric for us to play with.

Jenny chose to play with fabric & threads, using running stitch to gather & pleat, as well as fraying edges.

Robyn over-layed paper with fabric, opening up holes in the fabric to reveal the paper underneath.

Donna also mixed paper & fabric with stitch.

Susan tore paper & over-layed it over more paper.

Our guest Ester used torn fabric strips & textured yarns to stitch over paper. Ester was visiting us for the day from Neville, in the Central Tablelands of NSW. Her passions are spinning, painting & art .

Show & tell brought the following:-

Jenny had been knitting. The feather & fan scarf above is in a 2 ply cashmere yarn from Belisa Cashmere in Bundanoon.

This blue ruffled scarf is in an acrylic yarn while the pattern is from http://www.interweaveknits.com/

This green scarf is using a combination of two yarns, one textured & one plain. It is worked in a simple drop stitch pattern.

These gloves are an experiment with knitting gloves on four needles. Jenny's last red pair were done on two needles exactly to the pattern which created seams. This experiment is using an old pattern from Paytons but adapting it to use 4 needles so as to avoid any seams & to get a more personalised fit.

Susan had been crocheting.
This bag is her own design & consists of two panels in a hand dyed wool. An alternating stitch pattern has been used featuring double crochet & treble stitches . The gusset at the sides & the base, and the top band have been worked in a contrasting wool with the top band worked in the round. A welt pocket features on the inside of the bag & the button closure is a hand-made porcelain one from Carcoar.
This is a corner of the shawl that Susan is currently making. It is worked in a trellis stitch using a Sirdar Crofter yarn. The pattern has been adapted from "Vogue Knitting & Crochet Scarves"

Donna had been sketching and her lovely sketches can be seen on her own blog here.

I wonder what September will bring?

July 2011

A small group of only four this month, but the planned tonal exercise still went ahead. Sheila led the day using an exercise that was based on one presented in 'A Complete Guide to Creative Embroidery' by Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. Copies of a large sketch were provided and selected parts of the sketch were chosen by each individual to represent in stitch. The aim of the exercise was to express the tonal quality of the drawing through stitch using density of stitch and/or colour of the thread .

Below are the results the girls came up with.

Donna

Donna

Sheila

Wendy

Anne

Show & tell included the following:-

Sheila's diptych 'Lost Stories' using rust stained fabric and stitch.


Donna's canvas work in progress based on a painting she has done.


A piece by Donna which she was not happy with, so cut down & framed.


Donna's completed tivaevae purchased 'ready to stitch' on her recent holiday.