February 2019

Welcome to a new year of Stitchers Plus. We had our first official meeting for the year  this month with lots of catching up, new challenges, positive notes and new faces. So welcome to our new members. We had nine members in attendance, including three new people.

After some introductions and finding out a little about our new members, we had some business to attend to, then Sheila led us through a design challenge using collage . Using a packet of mixed collage papers, we glued a piece down and then drew a line in relation to that piece.  Then continued gluing and drawing until we felt we were finished.   Below is look at the designs we all came up with.

 Then began show and tell.

Annette has finally finished and framed her pulled thread work piece of a peacock feather, a  design in old Needlecraft magazine. She was encouraged to work it after showing the design to Introduction to Embroidery - stitches and techniques students,  pointing out it was worked in coloured thread not tone on tone.  The piece has been worked with DMC stranded thread on 28c linen. 

Jenny had turned this blackwork sample onto a needle book. The piece began life way back in 2012 as a sample of stitches for another piece she was  about to do at the time. It had  been packed away since then, and found  again by accident looking for something else. All that need doing was to add a lining, some Dr's flannel, a back stitched edge, and a fastening. She now has another pretty needle case to use.

A little thread bag  by Jenny which began life back in September 2018 as a design exercise by Robyn. Some thought went into what it could possibly turn into, it was too big for a needle book, and there was not enough fabric to make a hem with a drawstring. So one side of the piece was hemmed, another piece of fabric was cut exactly to size, folded and worked with a pulled hem, then added with an insertion stitch. A twisted cord was made using some of the threads in the stitching.

Above we see the front and back view of another needle case by Jenny. This one began life way back in 2007 as a resist dye sample for her 'Summer Santuary' piece. Some drawn thread stitching and a hem had been worked onto the sample, then it waited over 10 years to be made into this needle case. All that was required was some lining, some Dr's flannel, and a closure. 

This doily is also by Jenny . Given a whole pile of stamped doily's some years ago, this is the only one that has been worked. Jenny found it cleaning out her UFO cupboard. It only needed  the crochet edge to be worked to be usable, but Jenny has other plans for it other than just a doily. The crochet edging is worked in No 20 crochet thread from her stash, and the pattern came on the instruction sheet with the doily.

This piece of FME is my new member Janet . At this stage it is a work in progress and she is hoping it does not end up as a UFO.

A  crocheted baby shawl is the reason Jenny did not achieve her personal challenge for the group last year. It has been made using Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 3 ply yarn and uses a pattern from the Shepherd Baby Shawl Collection Book 1. Although is may look simple to do, the shawl was actually quite a challenge.  The shawl is now with it's new owner. 

Whilst drinking coffee on a sunny morning Robyn sketched some flowers. When home, she added a watercolour background and acrylic paint to the flowers. Placing the sketch on a fabric background, she then  stitched through he paper adding texture to the finished piece.

Robyn has expanded Saturdays exercise, using a magazine cutting and doodling over the rest of the page. The page is still a work in progress.

Robyn’s Stitch Meditation, just playing with felt, fabric and stitch.

The above  table napkins are by Annette, and are samples of 20 napkins completed for the Christmas table. They are 100% cotton napkins purchased from Kmart. The designs are mainly from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine owned by her sister in law,  date unknown. Thread used was DMC Mouline Special ETOILE. Stitches used are back stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch, satin stitch and french knots.

Another  knitted baby shawl by Annette  is one in progress of 2 needed for 2019. The pattern is from Traditional Knitted Shawls by Martha Waterman. It is a square shawl knitted on circular needles starting from the centre with 8 stitches. Patterns are narrow cat's paw and old shale. Needle size 4.50 and wool is Bendigo Mills classic 3 ply machine washable.

The above two photos are of Susan's  first peg loom weaving, complete, and a detail. Susan calls this 'The Coming of Plants', an abstract landscape/geological history. Her main reason for working on the peg loom was to use up fancy knitting yarns she had for decades.  A ball of this, a ball of that, and a whole pile of cotton a broders, all in browns and landscape colours. Peg loom weaving is fun, and used up such a lot of yarn!

Above is a  photo is of a couple of sketches Susan made while on a recent trip to N.E. Victoria. She  did a few sketches to be made up into a concertina book of  her trip. The top sketch is of part of Lake Hume, so dry it has exposed the old river bed. The bottom sketch is of Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, just trees, and no vista where she sat. It's landscape was supposed to be good for birds, but Susan  visited at the wrong time. She really enjoyed sketching in landscapes of different kinds and  wants to do more.

Gerri had been busy making quilts. Made by machine featuring an appliqued ballerina , a removable tutu and a hand made wool flower, this quilt is for her grand niece. 

This Black Panther quilt is also by Gerri for her grand nephew. The center block was  imported from the USA, and uses basic piecing, assembling and quilting.

Similar to the previous quilt, this quilt was also made by Gerri  for her grand nephew number two.

February is collage month for Sheila's daily practice.  Her designs tend to be abstract.  Her collage papers collection shows no sign of diminishing though.

Sheila continues with her daily practice.  In December, she did stamp carving.  Her favorite stamp was based on an expanded square or 'notan' that she created last year.  Sheila's stamp carving continues to improve and she is slowly using up her stash of erasers.

Sheila also enjoyed carving leftover scraps and created a simple but effective design.

A great day was had by one and all, and we all look forward to meeting again in March. I wonder what we will get up to over the next month?