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.