As the world continued with a pandemic of COVID 19, Australia was beginning to come out of lock down, and our group was looking forward to meeting in reality once again. However, a second wave of the virus spread from a southern state back to Sydney, and we were all on notice again. We decided it was better to forgo our reality meeting, and to continue via Zoom for the time being. Six of us attended, with much show and tell. 

Jo had been playing with machine stitching on silk and tulle to produce this 7cm x 7cm sculptural object which looks remarkably like a flower.

Jenny had pulled out another UFO of Ukranian Whitework to finish. The piece is being worked on denim coloured linen in a variety of coloured threads.

Suganthi's work in progress is sampling for the metal threads module of the Contemporary Stitch and Design course that she is doing with Sharyn Hutchens at the Embroiderers Guild NSW.

The last two months has seen Sheila working on a queen sized bed quilt.  The design is a variation of the Wild Goose Chase block which came from 'Enduring Grace, Quilts from the Shelburne Museum Collection'.  Sheila converted the pattern into a foundation pieced block.  She used fabrics from the Thimbleberry range which she won in 2002.

Sheila's on-going covid19 project is growing larger.  Every day, she marks each death on the graph printed in the daily newspaper.  The paper is trapped between the base fabric and the organza and then the french knots are stitched.  The blocks are sewn together into weeks and then joined with the previous weeks.  She started this project as a way to make sense of the growing numbers by comparing one day to the next or one week to the next.  Sadly, the numbers continue to rise.

Sheila's daily practice for July has been to continue creating an Index Card A Day, ICAD. Her structured card designs have used limitations on concepts and mark making but yet have allowed for a wide variety of creations.  It has been a challenging yet fun process.  Sheila's further work can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/

Lesley's 15+ year old jacket that has been deconstructed and re-knitted. The Jacket had been washed in a washing machine after a camping trip, instead of being washed by hand. It shrunk, and the wool looked very matted. Lesley was about to donate it to the charity shop, but decided to pull it apart and re-knit it, using the same pattern, and is very happy with the outcome. The wool has regained its texture and elasticity and looks smart enough to wear around town.

Rhonda has been knitting for family and friends using Bendigo Woollen Mill yarn

Jenny has also been knitting squares form her scrap yarn. At present there are 64 squares of varying yarn. Some wool, some acrylic, some textured, some plain. When joined together it should make an interesting knee rug. 

As Australia watches and waits to see how this pandemic will play out, our group continues to create at home. Please come back for another visit next moth to see what we have been up to.