October 2019

Our meeting this month was held in conjunction with the Embroiderers Guild AGM, so we only got together after lunch. Four of us joined forces to chat, discuss the Margaret Oppen works which were on display downstairs, and show and tell in the Resource room at Guild HQ. The remainder of our group had other plans for the day.

The Embroiderers' Guild of NSW conducts a biennial competition for members called the Margaret Oppen.  The exhibition of submitted works was officially opened and prizes awarded in early October.  Six members of the group entered works into the competition which was the highest number of any group within the Guild.  We are proud of our achievement.  The theme of the competition was ' Sensations' which was addressed by all the entrants in a variety of ways.

Sheila's work for the competition was titled ' Ring-a-Ring' based on the sensation of dizziness.  The figures in the work were made of commercially available shapes which were covered in raised chain stitch using hand dyed threads.  The figures were joined into pairs and mounted on a covered base.  This was placed on a turntable so the work could be spun around.  The winning works and other entries can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/gallery76_queenst/

Sheila also continues with a daily practice and in October, she is participating in Inktober.  Sheila's work can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/

Annette's Margaret Oppen piece is titled 'AHhhhh!!! Time For A Cup Of Tea'. Annette believes  it should have been called 'Peace in the chaos of daily life".The piece consists of Pulled thread work, Applique and Surface Stitches. Annette used old fabrics, the surface stitch is on "Old Bleach" pure Irish linen. Nothing was purchased for the project, everything used was from her stash.

Robyn and Wendy's pieces for the Margaret Oppen Competition. Robyn's piece is on the left, titled 'Country'. Wendy's piece is on the right titled 'Sensations in Silk'

Robyn's  SENSATIONS journey started when stepping out of a car barefoot into the warn dry rust coloured soil of her mother’s country and finished with the cool soft blue/greens of her father’s, also many times barefoot.   

There were many sensations, both physical and emotional, created whilst coffee dying her Grandmothers cotton sheeting, collecting, drying and peeling apart the tea bags after many cups of tea with her Mother and then the feeling when the needle passing through all those beautiful textured layers with her favourite split stitch. 

Materials: Coffee and rust dyed cotton, tea bags, embroidery threads and felt backing. 

Techniques: Split stitch and Back stitching. 

Suganthi started with seahorses for her Margaret Oppen piece. Shades of blue on blue. Laid bars

She tried using crochet thread to create a base for pulled thread which  didn’t work.

She next tried linen with blanket stitch and  felted wool around the edges.

Withdrawn threads from the linen and blanket stitch to uncover the hidden seahorses.

A swirling sensation finished for the Margaret Oppen.

Artists Statement – Suganthi Singarayar

Margaret Oppen Competiton 2019

Theme: Sensations

Title: Hidden Depths

Something that you can touch, feel, see, smell, that creates a feeling (a sensation). Something that is wonderful. A swirling sensation, layers, depth, sea creatures, colour, swirls

Jenny had been playing with thread choices for a future piece of work. Her original choice of colour proved too dull for the chosen fabric so she added another fine cotton variegated thread into the mix.

The above is just a snippet of the major piece that is now happening.

These two crocheted butterflies are by Jenny. Using photographs off the internet, Jenny worked out the patterns herself using No 60 crochet thread and 0.6mm hook. There are more plans for these butterflies, including a change of colour and some added stitching.

Jenny had also finished trialing a new bobbin lace edge she wants to do. The edging  design is No 7 from the Pamela Nottingham book on Bedfordshire Lacemaking. This sample is worked in a King Tut quilting thread, and will be used at a later date to decorate something else.

Susan had been to Katoomba for a couple of exhibitions finishing this weekend. One was Wendy Tsai's "Drawing the Kedumba" (River), with some lovely big charcoal and mixed media drawings, and 6 'thread paintings' - she'd never done this before. 

There may only have been four of us present on the day, but the time went fast with all the chatting and show and tell. Next month will be our final meeting for the year, so please come back for another visit to see what we get up to.