Current times call for current measures to hold creative meetings. The world has changed since our last meeting, and we now have a world pandemic crisis with a tiny virus called COVID 19 to deal with. We are advised to stay home and to avoid crowds and meetings. So, did this tiny virus stop us? Of course not! We as a group decided to social distance ourselves, and to meet via Zoom. Three of us got together with the help of the internet, and video conferencing, and had a very quick show and tell. The three of us were all in the safety of our own homes away from the virus, one in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, one in Sydney's South West, and one in the Central West of NSW.
So without further ado, may we present show and tell for March 2020, all with the help of the internet.
Sheila's quilt, 'I Can See
Clearly Now' has been selected to tour with the Vision 2020 exhibition. The
quilt is made of hand dyed cottons with foiled spectacles. The quilt is machine quilted. Details of the tour dates can be found at https://vision2020textiles.com/
Jenny had finished off a UFO. This work pouch was started a few years back, and was inspired by the work of Effie Mitrofanis. It had been sitting waiting for a few months just for a zipper and a lining. It features hemmed strips joined together with insertion stitches, then added surface stitching down the centre of the panels.
Annette had started this Virgin Mary piece in a class with Alison Cole during 2019 Summer School. The class was
Opus Anglicanum, worked in Split stitch in Au Vere A Soie Paris single strand
and couched gold thread.
Alison's design has been modified to suit the appearance Annette wanted her Virgin Mary to appear. After reading the English Medieval Embroidery at the V & A
Museum exhibition, Annette realised Mary needed a more subdued cloak than the one
worked on the sample and she needed a halo.
Annette's attempt at a fashionable hoop embroidery. It features appliqued gold silk on silk organza. The shape has been couched
in place. The coloured stitches are split stitch in Au Vere A Soie Paris. The body bits satin stitch and french knots.
Jenny's second UFO. This bag was started back in 2017 with one ball of Norro yarn that had been purchased some years previously. Jenny had combined the variegated yarn with a plain navy wool to crochet square flower motifs. The motifs had all been finished for some time, and had been joined onto the bag shape. The bag just needed a lining and some handles to be finished. Some tassels were added for decoration.
This is Annette's 6" square (approx) of Robyn's 5 min lesson from our February meeting. She plans to use it as a garden type background for a
raised butterfly and dimensional flowers for our up-coming exhibition. It has been worked on 21 count
linen in a variety of Perle 5 and variegated threads randomly stitched.
Robyn has been back
Stitching circles on Denim with navy and variegated thread. The finished project
will be a work bag.
Sheila
continues her daily practice and for March she has been creating her own
stencils. She is using a hot tipped stencil cutting tool to cut the
stencils. More of her creative practice can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/
Sheila has also been natural dying pieces of
silk after she found cineria, a type of eucalypt, for sale in her local
supermarket. The plant material was wrapped in the fabric then bundled
around a dowel, securely tied and boiled in iron water solution for two
hours. The cineria results in the orange colour. Another eucalypt in
her suburb was also used in the bundle with each side of the leaf providing a
different colour on the raw silk. Washers were added to another
bundle. The fabrics need to cure for several weeks before they can be
washed and then used.
Jenny had continued with knitting her cardigan in Bendigo Woollen Mill "Bloom" - Blackberry Bliss. The back and one front has been completed.
So, a tiny virus has not stopped us creating. Who knows what will happen as this tiny bug creates havoc in our world. We all hope that you have enjoyed our cyber show and tell, and that you all remain safe and well to visit us next month as we show what we have created in self isolation and social distancing.
