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.

October 2018

Most of our members had other things on this month so our blog post for this month comes to you all via technology.

This chain stitched piece is Susan's second quote embroidery. This time the quote is from the artist Lloyd Rees. Susan likes the quote as a reminder of how wonderful the universe is, and the joy of living that is easy to forget. The piece is worked totally in  chain stitch as a solid fill, using colours from her collection.

Sheila had finished Robyn's activity from last month and turned it into a Journal cover.

    

Robyn has been working on a Kantha pouch flap, started at a workshop with Helen Nott.

Sheila had attended the same annual stitching retreat at Ferndale as Robyn  last weekend. Helen Nott presented a workshop using supplies from our cupboards. Sheila took some samples removed from Colour Streamers brochures and attached them to the base fabric then added more squares in stitch. It will be turned into an envelope pouch for sewing supplies. 

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This insertion stitch sampler is another UFO being finished by Jenny, inspired by the work of Effie Mitrofanis. Jenny hopes to add stitching to the panels in between the insertions, but is yet to decide what to turn the piece into.

This little bobbin lace book mark is also by Jenny. It is her third attempt at this pattern by Olwyn Scott, and features double eyed spiders which have yet to be mastered. This one is worked in Gutermann Sulky Cotton No 30 with  two strands of Gutermann quilting cotton as a gimp down each side. 

A little crocheted cot sized blanket made by Jenny. Jenny had purchased three yarn cakes on impulse to make something out of. The yarn was equal to a 10 ply, and one of the thickest that Jenny had used to date. After completing the squares, there was barely enough yarn left for a border, so a navy 8 ply from her stash was used with the remainder of the yarn cakes to create the edge. The squares are from a pattern in the Shepherd Baby Shawl Collection 1 book, they have been sewn together. The blanket has now been donated to charity.

After looking in her stash to find some yarn to create a border for her blanket, Jenny decided to use the same navy acrylic to make a hat. No pattern was used, just cast on six stitches, knit in rounds increasing in every second row until big enough, then decrease until it fit her head circumference, and work a ribbed band. The finished hat is in the beret style. This was another spur of the moment decision to make one for an upcoming trip away where the weather will be colder than home.

Sheila is participating in Inktober this moth for her daily practice. She is doing self portraits in ball point pen

A bag of goodies  received by Sheila for attending  the Bernina birthday celebrations. The party had lots of fabulous machines on display, demonstrations of the capabilities of the machines, and displays of machined textiles and postcards. An enjoyable celebration including Cake and champagne.

Our little group may have all been busy with other things on our meeting day this month, but we have still managed to create.  Come back in November to see what we get up to over the next month.

September 2018

 For our September meeting, Robyn led us through a creative stitching exercise. There were three categories that we drew out of a hat, then used as inspiration to stitch onto fabric that we had brought. The categories included shape, two stitches, and either a positive or negative approach.

Above are  our works that we began creating on the day.

There may have only been  four of us on the day, but show and tell as always is worth a look see.

Sheila had made this book cover using last moth's activity presented by Wendy. The final stitched piece was inserted into another piece of fabric, which was then turned into the book cover.

The Embroiderer's Guild is displaying poppies for the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. The display will be in the Gallery window in November. Sheila made one sheer fabric poppy using a stencil cutter to create the petals and beaded the center. The brighter red poppy was created using four Suffolk puffs, felt and french knots.

On an impulse buy, Jenny succumbed to  purchasing three yarn cakes from Lincraft while they were on sale. The crocheted squares above are from the Shepherd Baby Shawl Collection 1 book, and are being sewn together to form either a knee rug or baby blanket.

Quilt NSW is collaborating with Arterie Lifehouse to create a patchwork wall hanging for the State of the art building. Sheila has completed blocks from kits that were distributed by Quilt NSW.

Sheila's daily practice for August was to create a fun foam stamp every day. This flower shape was created with a single stamp printed multiple times. 

Our little group had another fun day, with a creative exercise, some oohing and arhing over pieces in the collection room, to stitching an chatting to visitors in the the Gallery. I wonder what we will get up to next month?

A Quilt Exhibition By Sheila

Last Sunday, our little group was proud to be at the opening of Sheila's exhibition of quilts at 

76 Queen Street Gallery. 

With a life-long interest in textiles, Sheila Beer’s work is focused on embroidery and quilting. She likes to create with a sense of fun and a lack of preciousness.   
She loves the process of creating and ‘stepping outside the box’, whether or not it results in a completed work. She freely employs a host of techniques including paper and paint, combining this with textile and stitch in new ways. Currently, Sheila’s preferred technique is to stitch small hand held works that can be combined to produce larger works. 
Sheila finds inspiration all around her and is especially inspired by artists who take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. She is also influenced by the art that nature itself creates. Her world is filled with inspiration and it is her hope that others may take something from her works and be inspired in turn.

Our Guild President Wendy Schmid , (also a Stitchers Plus member), opened the exhibition, and we all enjoyed afternoon tea to celebrate with Sheila. The exhibition is being held in conjunction with  the Australia Wide Six exhibition also on at 76 Queen Street Galleries. Both can be viewed until September 18th 2018.

We congratulate Sheila on an impressive body of works, and hope that you will all come for a visit to see them on reality.

August 2018

Our August meeting was held in one of the workshop rooms at 76 Queen Street . There were six of us in attendance in Concord, and Susan once again joined us via Zoom.

Wendy led us through our activity for the day, giving us a task to cut a length of thread, feel it, drop it onto fabric, then couch it down. Then we had to stitch within the spaces that were formed. A fun, creative exercise  that had us all stitching for the remainder of the day

Above were the beginnings beginnings of our creations, while the photo below  shows them further into the day.

Show and tell is always a highlight for our group.

Jenny had finished another of her UFO's. This one dated back to 2016 and our group's two inch square challenge. Jenny had made squares of Tennerife lace for this challenge, using Perle 8 thread. The squares have been appliqued onto a navy linen square bag of Cental Asian influence that Jenny had made. Interlaced herringbone stitch has been used to create the lines, while small circles of vlysafixed fabric have been stitched over the joins with woven wheels.

This little book mark was made by Jenny. It began as a scrap of linen left over from working Christmas decorations, and was the perfect size for a book mark. A buttonholed edge was first worked to create the shape, then books were consulted for inspiration to create the remainder of the decoration. Four sided stitch, bullion knots and satin stitch were combined to form the design, with an added small needle lace edge to re-enforce corners, and a tassel to finish.

This little needle case was also made by Jenny. Made from another scrap of linen, it was begun as a small project to stitch on at a recent demonstration at 76 Queen Street Gallery. The  Retrospective exhibition of Laura Leverton and Christina Barton also provided some of the inspiration for the stitching, fitting into the idea to stitch rows of stitches separated by four sided stitch. A four sided stitch hem was added, along with a hand made twisted cord and toggle closure.

This gorgeous Zentangle design is by Sheila. A paint drip on watercolour paper, with added designs mostly from Zentangle.com

Sheila's daily practice for August is to make sticky backed fun foam stamps. Some of the stamps have been pieced, while others have been marked with a pen or tooth pick. The foam is then attached to foam core as a mount, then the stamps have been used to make the above pages.

Annette has completed her pulled thread design that she found in a Needlecraft magazine many years ago, and is very pleased with the result. 28 count linen has been used with two strands of DMC coloured thread. The stitches chosen by the designer have worked very well in colour, which can be very difficult to achieve.

Margaret has taken some goldwork UFO's and created "Homage To Goldwork Tutors". The final piece includes pieces worked over the years in workshops that she has attended. The workshops have been conducted  by Pam Spiers, Avril Ambrose De Havilland, Mary Brown and Doris Gordon.

This lovely piece of redwork has also been finished by Margaret, and is now waiting to be made up into something. The piece has been worked in a workshop by Margaret Light.

Another of Margaret's pieces is this 'Corded Lily' design that came from a Gary Clarke workshop.

Robyn is in the process of making a needle case, inspired by a hem finish found on cloths at the Retrospective Exhibition of Laura Leverton and Christina Barton at 76 Queen Street Gallery.

Annette has made this baby cardigan in 4ply wool and added very old buttons. 

This little vest is the first crocheted garment that Annette has attempted. The vest is for a three year old, and has been worked in Cleckheaton Country 8ply 100% wool. The vest still needs to be stitched together, and Annette still needs to find some rather special buttons that she bought in Paris to finish the vest.

It was bright and warm meeting in the workshop rooms at Guild HQ. We managed to iron out more of our technology issues with Zoom, and managed with one lap top, one iPad, and one phone, which was an improvement on our last video conference. So please come back and join us next month as we continue creating, and overcoming the hurdles of technology.