November 2016

Our November meeting was held at Gerri’s home in the beautiful seaside village of Catalina, on the southern coast of NSW.  Five members travelled to Gerri’s for a full weekend of stitching, eating and enjoying the area in and around Batemans Bay.

As usual, our meeting began with show and tell.  Wendy and Ron returned from a European adventure which included a 14 day cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.  They were able to visit galleries, gardens, cathedrals and castles in small medieval towns and large Baroque cities.  There were factories (Faber Castell), markets, restaurants, wineries and coffee shops taken in.  The trip was a glorious ‘Golden October’ of magnificent colours and textures.  We wait for the stitching inspired by this visit.

Gerri had completed these Oma and Opa blankets.

Annette completed a kit in the form of a counted cross stitch scissors keep.  She purchased the kit at Portsmouth when she and Dennis visited the museum.  The ‘Mary Rose’ was still under restoration at the time.  The scissors keep is now a lovely trip memory.

Annette also showed a partly worked piece inspired by an article in ‘Quilting Arts’ magazine in 2012.  An old linen serviette has been hand dyed and junk from a ‘what to do with this stuff’ box in Annette’s sewing room have been used.  The objects are back-stitched around with hand dyed thread.  The piece is backed with a piece of old wool blanket.

Susan continues to work on her ‘Memory Quilt’.  Compare the current photo with the last update in September.

Robyn’s sugar skull is ready to be attached to a denim skirt.  Then she will finish the remaining stitching through the denim to fully integrate the design into the skirt.

Robyn also showed her canvas work in progress in which she is using any stitch and any thread.

Sheila and Brian have been visiting family in Melbourne and attending exhibitions while there and during the journey.  The foremost exhibition was the ‘Making the Australian Quilt’ at the National Gallery of Victoria.  Sheila purchased 2 post cards of quilts that have awed or inspired her.

Sheila was also lucky enough to see a retrospective of the work of Annemieke Mein.  Sheila especially enjoyed viewing the sampling pieces that were on display giving a sense of the amount of preparation work required before a work is started.  The large size of the works was another eye-opener.

On the return journey, Sheila went to the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize at the National Archives in Canberra.  The exhibition always provides so much inspiration that could push embroidery outside the box.

Then, a big thank you to Katrina, Gerri’s daughter, who provided a scrumptious lunch.  We ate it without taking any photos!

The highlight of our day was the official opening of Gerri’s studio.  Gerri’s home and studio reflect her Dutch heritage.  We were greeted with a sign and printed ribbon with Gerri’s motto.

The studio was officially opened by the president of The Embroiderers’ Guild NSW Inc, Wendy.  Gerri’s family and cousin from the Netherlands joined in the celebrations.

Gerri presented all of us in attendance with a lovely gift.

Gerri booked a local restaurant for dinner that night with family and partners.  An enjoyable evening and excellent day ended fittingly with fireworks.   We think Gerri organised the fireworks but there was rumour that the bridge over the Clyde River was 60 years.

Although unable to attend the weekend due to other family commitments, Jenny had still mananged to complete her jumper that she began back in August. 

Jenny has also started another jumper, this time for her partner. This one is also knitted in the same "Savanah" yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills, just in a different colour. The pattern is a Sirdar one, purchased on-line through Patternfish.

2016 has ended with fireworks for our group.  The lack of a fixed meeting place has pushed us out of our usual territory and hopefully pushed us out of our comfort spot with respect to creative embroidery.

We are already anticipating new endeavours in 2017.  Like all members of the Embroiderers’ Guild, we are looking forward to the completion of the renovation of headquarters perhaps in July.   

October 2016

Our meeting this month was held in the foyer of the the Uniting Church Hall at Concord. The AGM of the Guild, and the convenor's meeting, were being held on the same day at this venue. Four of our members were present.

Gerri had attended a class with Fiona Hammond where she made this colourful brooch. It was found to be a very soothing technique and easily completed in a few hours. Gerri enjoyed selecting the beads and threads for this project. Fiona had also brought along a great stash of goodies to peruse and buy.

This smocking is Annette's, worked on Baby Eleanor's dress to wear to a wedding. The smocking is worked in three strands of DMC Stranded thread onto Liberty fabric.

Jenny had made this baby shawl for her new great niece. Knitted in Bendigo Woollen Mill's Luxury 3ply yarn, the center pattern is from the Shepherd Baby Shawl Collection Book No 1, while the edge pattern is one found on-line here. As the edge pattern was only for a straight edge, Jenny had to create her own corners.

This is a small section of Susan's first piece for the Margaret Oppen Competition with the Embroiderers' Guild NSW.  The theme for this competition is 'Diamonds and Other Treasures'. Susan's emphasis will be on the 'Other Treasures', and using the diamond shape as a link between a  cloth book. The photo shows detail of trellis couching in diamond shapes, worked in space dyed wool yarns. The holding cross stitch has been worked in a natural dyed silk yarn. Silk noil fabric has been painted over with acrylic paint and used as a background to stitch on.

Gerri has been going through her stash and found off-cuts of canvas that had been kept in a small bag. These has been turned into brooches and book marks with some recently purchased variegated Perle threads and other threads from her stash.

Gerri has also re-visited the birds that she made last year, this time with a Christmas twist, to be used as decorations. Hopefully they will be used every Christmas. The colour combinations are always a surprise when they are completed.

Robyn had been knitting herself a scarf in her favourite colour. The pattern is from Yarn Country and is made in baby alpaca.

This Mexican sugar skull has been hand drawn by Robyn with a Frida Kahlo influence. The design is being interpreted into stitch and will be appliqued onto a denim skirt when completed.

Sheila had been busy making bags. In the above three, she had used  pieces from the Marie Yeardly estate to to decorate them. The bags will be donated to the Guild's  sales table.

This blue/purple bag was made from a stitching sample.  Layers of chiffon were stitched to a hand dyed base.  Also made by Sheila

This yellow, plaid, three part bag is made from furnishing fabric donations and is also destined for the Guild's sales table. Another one made by Sheila

Jenny had finished working the back and front of her new jumper. Knitted in "Savanah", an 8 ply yarn from Bendigo Wollen Mills.

This is a page from Jenny's new art journal. Although she had been keeping visual diaries for some years, Jenny wanted to become more comfortable with drawing, and facing the blank white page. For the moment, only a black ball point pen is being used. This page has some slight colour coming through from the next page which has been washed with a tea/coffee solution.

Sheila was one of three artists whose work was featured in the most recent edition of 'Textiles Downunder'.  The works have been curated into the 'A Matter of Time' exhibition.  

The last month has been wedding orientated for Annette and her family. The wedding cake is 3 tiers  of chocolate mud cake, marble cake and the top is the family favourite chocolate cake. All layers are covered with watercolour butter cream icing and decorated with fresh native flowers.

Although our little group is being displaced by the Guild's renovations, and some members moving to country areas, we are still managing to be very creative. Please come back in November to see what we have been getting up to.

September 2016

Our group met at Jenny's home this month, with  six of the group attending. Morning tea of orange cake and pistachio & white chocolate biscuits preceded show and tell. 

Sheila had made a number of brooches that featured her now famous faces. All featured applique and surface stitching.

This is a portion  of Wendy's play attempt from "Stitch and Play In the Mountains", held on the 12th March 2016, with Effie Mitrofanis. Wendy enjoys trying new ways with different thread, and the colour and texture made it fun.

Jenny had been using up scraps of linen and had completed this Hardanger book mark that was started last month. Using a dark green Perle 8 thread, a variagated Perle 8, and a pale green stranded  thread, the book mark was stitched on white linen fabric. The full story of this bookmark can be read on Jenny's personal blog.

This is just part of the progress that Susan had made on her "Memory Quilt". The quilt now has 130 different fabrics made into 1,017 hexagons, of which half have been stitched together. It may become bed sized eventually.

Gerri had finished this blanket made from 28 knitted squares using variegated Acrylic yarn. The squares are crocheted together to give an effective border, and  the finished blanket will be given

to "Wrap With Love"

Jenny had finished the front of her new jumper started last month on the train to Wollongong. It features a cable pattern on one side, and is made from "Savanah", an 8 ply yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

Annette had also started a new jumper in 12 ply Jet, with a pattern sheet from Lincraft. So far she has completed the lace sleeve.

Sheila had made a pencil case using the instructions on Julie Fei Fan Balzer's blog. Sheila is looking at the possibilities of decorating it with stitches.

Sheila had also made this bag using instructions from a Quilting Arts website. The flap could have decoration, while the bag could have a clear pocket for a name tag. This would make it useful for meetings, conventions etc. It is big enough to hold credit cards, money and lipstick.

"To be on Earth, the heart of God" is the motto that is reflected in these hearts that Gerri was making. The fabric is indigenous in design, hence the connection back to the earth and land with a hint of the creation stories. The hearts will be used as gifts.

Another successful day by all who attended. We enjoyed lunch in the sun on Jenny's back balcony, a 'show & tell" of Jenny's sewing room, and some of her pieces that she is most proud of.

An Exhibition

Back in July, we wrote about our collaborative project for an Exhibition, and now has come the time to reveal what we did.

Our collaborative piece was displayed as part of the Biennial Embroiderers' Guild NSW Exhibition, which was held on the last weekend of August. Thanks go to Wendy and Annette who hung the work on our behalf. The were able to creatively layout a mix of techniques, colours and shades to show the works beautifully.

This collaborative work began last year when the question of whether to exhibit or not was raised. " I will be lucky to stitch a 2inch square" was one member's comment. And so an idea was born. That member did manage three squares!

Members could use any technique, any colour and any material, as long as each piece measured
2 inches or 5 cms on each side.

It was fun to see the pieces come together for a test run at our July meeting. We also discussed the title of the work and agreed on " From Little Things". These words came from the Paul Kelly song "From Little Things, Big Things Grow"

At the exhibition, several members were able to explain the work to the public and other members of the Embroiderers' Guild. We received many favourable comments.

We are now looking forward to see where each of us takes our individual pieces. Several members plan to make their works into books, others might join the pieces to create a larger work, and others might use their pieces as starting points for larger works. The possibilities abound.

The big question: will we plan another collaborative piece in two year's time?

A big thank you go out to Sheila who wrote these words, and to Wendy & Sheila for taking the photos.