July 2013

The July meeting of our group brought six of us in attendance and 3 apologies. Show and Tell was the order of the day.

Susan had finished "Summer After Summer". It is her  interpretation of time passing, and the change over the seasons, years, colours and textures of summer. The riotous colour at the height of summer, drought and the aftermath, bushfires and the new growth in a new summer. The piece is worked totally in stem stitch in a variety of threads. Above is the finished piece while below is a small close-up view.

 Annette had started a sampler of reticella in a class with Margaret Stephens earlier this month. A wonderful class , great learning experience, and with more to do.

Jenny had attended a fabulous workshop with Alison Snepp - "Hussif Using Linen Stitches" . The finished piece is supposed to be a hussif, but Jenny is going to make hers into a needlecase.

The Embroidered letter project is gaining momentum with Sheila stitching up these mini quilts .

 

 

 

 Annette had stitched her letters on the train. A good way to make the journey go faster as well as helping in the Guild Project.

Gerri had been playing with buttons and beads to form her letters.

Mararenelle returned for another day and had also taken on the letter challenge. Each letter had been used as an opportunity to experiment with different fabric and threads to see how they work together.

June 2013

Our June meeting saw seven members in attendance and one visitor. Marenelle had been  invited to join us for the day and is hoping to join us in the future. Our day was full of show and  tell and much chat.

Our visitor Marenelle had created this stunning needle-case using chain stitch and stem stitch. The project started as an experiment with different silver threads combined with rayon threads. Marenelle has said she is so inspired and excited in being in the company of such creative people.
 

Jenny had finished her piece of Byzantine Lefkara Lace.The full story of that can be read about on her own personal blog.
 

Some members of the group had taken the "Embroidered Letters Challenge" on board and had been stitching up a storm. Sheila had stitched the whole alphabet, while Gerri prepared her felt background and Jenny played with eyelets.

 Sheila had finished off a Gesso challenge from a few years back and stitched this framed underwater scene. Fabric was first painted with Gesso, then manipulated to shape, painted and coloured with paint sticks and finally had added sparkle with some beads.

Robyn had been to "Stitch-In At The Tops" and a workshop with Susan Barker in free machine embroidery.  The above panel is the beginnings of another bag.

This lovely bag was made by Wendy using curtain fabric samples.The buttons and embroidery continue to grow with time.

Wendy's friends had been to the San Blas Islands near Panama. They brought back these molas which were stitched by the people of the islands in a reverse applique technique. Reverse applique can be a very interesting technique, but linked to the special designs of these locals, it can create some interesting and lively pieces.

Jenny had finally given away the baby shawl she had been knitting. The full story of the shawl and also the final reveal can be seen here.

I wonder what we will get up to in July? Please come back for another visit to check out our creativity.

May 2013

Our meeting this month brought eight in attendance with lots of show & tell. Donna & Wendy have  been working hard on the Capital Campaign Committee & have given us all a new challenge which can be read about here. Please all help us in our challenge, it is all to help raise funds for our new Center of Excellence For Embroidery.

Sheila had worked this lovely gum leaf piece using surface stitching and fabrics from Kirsten Ingemar's natural dyeing course at the Context Art Forum.

Robyn had been been stitching letters for the challenge. Look at all those french knots!

 Annette had finished this biscornu, using a counted thread pattern from a magazine. It had been sitting in a drawer, stitched, but not made up, for a long time. When her local group's project was to make a biscornu, this fitted the bill.

Jenny had attended the first day of a three day workshop "My Swatchbook 2, Holes, Windows, Textures &  Edges" with Effie Mitrofanis. Above are her samples of Hedebo edges worked on day 1.

 Donna had been experimenting with paint on fabric. This example uses watercolour which was then embellished with surface stitching.

Donna had also been playing with surface stitches to create a cactus theme.

This is Wendy's passport cover. It is aari work, stitched onto bandhani silk by Asif Shaikh, from Ahmedabad, India.

Wendy purchased this design from Carol Douglas. it has been worked in free form ladder chain stitch onto cotton by a village woman from bujh, India.

Our next meeting is in June. I wonder what we will get up to then.

Embroidered letters - a fund raising effort for the Embroiderers' Guild NSW Building Fund

Stitchers Plus have been involved in a major fund raising effort for the Guild building fund -  it is a member wide effort -   we are stitching letters to go on a notice board that is actually a tree form.   The work is has been commissioned by the City of Canada Bay and will stand in the Concord Library

You are invited to join us and stitch as many letters or numbers as you wish - here is the information that is going out to members:

Call to arms ... we need you...

Yes another fund raiser!  But this time we all get to help doing something we enjoy!  We get to stitch.   Fancy that, a fund raiser that actually involves stitching.   The Guild has been commissioned to create 4 installations at the Concord Library … with the commission comes the opportunity to raise a significant sum for the building fund.  We can say more once the documentation is finalised.

What are we doing?  Many, many embroidered letters and numbers.

Letters and numbers - embroidered and embellished fabric tiles.  The tiles will be used by the Concord Library staff to create messages on a 3D tree form that is over a metre tall.   

 

What is needed?

First, we need lower case letters.    

What letters will I do?

How about the letters in your name.  

What next?

Choose a wool, linen or felt fabric in any colour (but not fluorescent please)

Cut your fabric 15 cm square.   

A 10cm (4 inch hoop) is perfect for lower case letters.   ( The ‘e’ above was stitched in a 10 cm hoop).  

Lower case letters like ‘a’ ‘c’  ‘x’ should be about 8 cm high.   Letters with a tail like ‘g’, ‘j’ or those that stand tall like ‘f” and ‘t’  should be a little longer/taller.   We trust you to make the right decision.

What technique will I use?

Any stitch or technique that you choose.   As little or as much bling as you wish – beads, gold thread and small spangles are all great. 

Are you a patchworker?   No reason why you can’t create a tile and embellish it too.

Don’t crowd your work.  Remember though that we want the letters and numbers to “pop” and be readable at a distance.  Thread, colour and texture will all have a role to play.    Step back from work occasionally and check that your letter is clear.

I have other commitments.  How long will it take me?

The letter “e” above took three and a half hours whilst the stitcher watched (or half watched) television.

I have a question.  Who will I contact?

Ring Donna on 0407 820 416 

or send an email to her at textiletea@optusnet.com.au

I’ve finished my letters .  Where do I send them?     

The Embroiderers’ Guild NSW Inc.

PO Box 109 

Concord West  NSW 2138.

Australia

Or drop them off at 76 Queen Street, Concord West,

spend a little money at the Threaded Needle and

check out the most recent exhibition.

Can I see what others have done?

Yes.   Jaci, our webmistress, will put photos of all your letters 

and numbers on a gallery page on the Guild website shortly.

Let us know what you are doing.

So we can keep track on who is doing what please let us know what letters you have decided to and your technique of choice.  Ring Donna on 0407 820 416 or send an email to her at textiletea@optusnet.com.au

We also need capital letters and punctuation as well.  A further call will go out for these shortly.

  

Whats in it for me?

• A fun way to fund raise.   
• A chance to sample that stitch or technique you’ve always wanted to try. 
• An opportunity to share (exhibit) your work and be inspired by others.
• A significant donation to the building fund for little effort.

  

There are over 1200 members of the Guild – if we each do 3-4 letters the library will have an a notice board like no other in the world!

Get stitching, experiment, play, tryout 
and, most importantly, enjoy.

April 2013

This month saw eight  members attending, &  Donna reporting on the Fine Devonshire Tea & Talk. Donna's hard work in organizing the event resulted in over $700 being donated to the building fund.

Last month Robyn issued a challenge to us all to find & work "Afghanistan Reverse Stitch". The above pic is Robyn's sample showing both sides of the working.

Robyn had finished her bag for the Post Box Challenge. Crazy pieced using her own hand dyed fabrics with commercial ones, the bag features surface stitching, including fly, buttonhole, running and couching stitches.

Donna had been seduced by a bargain transfer of vintage stitchery patterns. The patterns included an apple, a mushroom, and the above pears.

Sheila had been to a course with Kirsten Ingemar, producing the above beautiful hand dyed pieces of silk.
From the top:-
1. Pinoak dyed in iron water.
2. Green silk clamped & dyed in Sydney red gum & copper.
3. Gum leaves dyed in iron water
4. Orange colour is air moss dyed in iron & water
5 & 6. Stringy gum bark calligraphic marks dyed in iron & water.

I wonder what exciting things will happen over the next month. Please come backin May to see what we have been up to.