June 2020

Our group met via Zoom again this month because of low numbers and the COVID virus . Our normal meeting space was open with restrictions, though quite a few of us had other plans for the day, and with only four of us attending, we made the call to continue with Zoom. We held two Zoom meetings with a small break between, which let us do show and tell really well.

Jenny had finished her pulled back stitch eyelet exercise from February and turned it into a needle case. The spaces between the eyelets had been filled with a variegated thread using an uneven 4 sided stitch. Cassalguidi inspired work was stitched over the background formed by the eyelets to add more interest, and a four sided pulled work hem with added tassel finished it off.

Jo was having a love affair with French knots. They are being stitched  with DMC Etoile and a rayon variegated thread. 

Susan had in worked a butterfly in a 10cm hoop. It has all been worked in DMC stranded cotton from her collection.  The butterfly in satin stitch, the background in long and short stitch, outlines in whipped back stitch. The words are:  joie de vivre, joie de faire - joy of living, joy of making.  It was made for her friend's 70th birthday, and she is a maker of all sorts of things, so she appreciated the gift.

Suganthi's work in progress - What she thinks of housework! Inspired by the Laterals Yellow Envelope Challenge - use a tangram; and Anne Kelly's six-week challenge for Textile artist.org.,  use found material in your home during this time of COVID-19 to create some folk art.

Suganthi used  used old tea towels. The family has hidden the rest of the tea towels!

Annette had found, in a cupboard, an almost complete  flap for a bag started with Jennifer Kime in 2008. Everything needed was in the bag ready to start.  It was a joy to find it and Annette  will now complete it.

Jenny had called her blanket finished after seven years. There was enough yarn to add a border, then a second border of more granny squares, then a third border similar to the first. The blanket is big enough to sit on top of a queen sized bed.  Yarn is still left over, and Jenny is yet to decide what to do with it.

Sheila is currently stitching a continuing work based on covid19 graphs published daily in the newspaper.  She is marking each death from the virus with a french knot. The individual blocks are stitched into weeks then joined to the preceding weeks. The work is growing longer and the plan is to continue while the graphs are in the paper.

Sheila is also participating in the annual Index Card A Day, ICAD, for her daily practice over the next 2 months. She is exploring simple mark making using markers and watercolour. Her cards can be found at : @thingstitcher.  The work of other participants can be found at: @dyicad.

Annette had  knitted a cardigan  for herself using Bendigo Classic 8ply wool.  Early in the COVID 19 isolation she decided to not go out to shops to find buttons but make 9 Dorset buttons. The  rings were found in her stash along with  a thread that would match. Finally buttons are ready to stitch on and the cardigan can be worn.

Annette also found in boxes and cupboards many framed pieces. The photo shows the majority on the wall in her work room. Some date from the early 1990s, and it is lovely to see them out on show.

Rhonda had made a three quarter length coat with  fabric from her Mother's stash. It is unclear how old the fabric is. The beautiful antique buttons and lining is also from the last century.

The Covid crisis is still on-going, though restrictions are slowly being lifted. Next month we may be back in our normal meeting space. Until then, creativity is going strong at home. 

May 2020

 Our group met again last Saturday, via Zoom again as our meeting space is still closed due to the Covid 19 virus. We actually held two meetings with a coffee break in between, which gave us more show and tell time. Seven of us attended the first meeting, and six of us attended the second one. We are getting good at this Zoom thing!

Show and tell is an integral part of our day, so without further ado, we present our show and tell, all with the help of the internet, e-mails, and Zoom.

New member Jo finished this piece a week before the lock-down. An example of an idea that she had, which was a third the size, free forming into this..... it was a marathon! Consisting of bullion knots, back stitch and satin stitch, worked in  wool thread on wool background. It’s the largest piece of hand stitch Jo has  ever done. It felt like quite an achievement!

Sheila has completed two shopping bags using partially completed projects from classes.  The machine embroidered figure was begun in a Forum class with Barbara Jackson.  It was quilted last year and finally assembled.  The abstract work was begun in a class with Helen Parsons ( https://www.instagram.com/helenelizabethzparsons/) last year.  It is collaged fabric and machine quilted.

Jenny was re-visiting our Pulled Back Stitch eyelet filler exercise from February, and is hoping to turn the piece into something practical.

These 2 are 'works in progress' views of Susan's "Butterflies" embroidery for our exhibition. The text is in whipped backstitch and the butterflies are in stem stitch outline. Susan is going to do more butterfly outlines in a different colour.

                                                                  

Robyn has been playing with Rust dying on a hankie using bottle tops and discarded Street cleaner road spikes.

Sheila joined the Carla Sonheim (https://www.instagram.com/carlasonheim/) class, 10 Years of Online teaching.  The mixed media lions were great fun to create.

Jenny had pulled out a UFO blanket consisting of different sized Granny Squares from approximately 7 years ago. The yarn is a cheap nasty acrylic from a $2 shop which is warm across her legs as she works. The blanket will continue as far as the yarn will allow, as the shop from which it was purchased has now closed. 

Jenny had also finished her cardigan in Bendigo Woollen Mills 'Bloom- Blackberry Bliss'. The cardigan still needs buttons, and is being worn without them. A trip to a button shop is on the plans when Covid 19 restrictions are lifted.

Wendy has been collecting neutral coloured threads and fibres of various thicknesses for many years. She has stitched with many, but just loves touching and playing with them. These neutral threads were intended for weavers and are difficult to stitch with. 

This is what happened when…“I did something…and then I did something to that……” With apologies to Paul Klee.

Sheila also continues her daily practice and for the month of May, she is creating dot faces every day.  This exercise was inspired by Carla Sonheim.  One dot of fluid acrylic is dropped onto the paper and spread with a piece of heavy card.  The number of drops needed can vary until the work is complete, or not.  Sheila's daily practice work can be found at:  https://www.instagram.com/thingstitcher/

Susan supplied us with a choice of  digital exercises for the month. The first was using the digital images proved on-line by The NGA in Canberra  https://nga.gov.au/knowmyname/works.cfm . We were encouraged to look and note what inspired us, and maybe stitch, paint, draw, or collage.

The second was inspired by Robert Genn 2010. We were encouraged to take a walk where we could, taking photos or drawing along the way with no particular focus. The idea was to get inspiration and ideas. 

 Robyn worked on choosing colours from two Digital works. The first photo was taken at the Sydney Zoo, while the second was a  Naomi Hodson painting found on the NGA link

Susan also  chose the same Naomi Hobson's "Yinyalma" image from the NGA link to study. Susan was attracted by the colours and the organic shapes. First she played with some of those shapes and the colours in a design, and then  used the colours to inspire her next quote embroidery, on 'inspiration'. Susan  now has her fabric in the hoop and is ready to stitch.

Jenny played with her camera while walking, trying to learn just some of  the features it provided. Above are just four of the photos taken on her walk. More can be found on her Instagram page at 

https://www.instagram.com/bugeyesj/

There is so much line and texture to be found just in our own back yard if we look .

The Covid 19 virus may have stopped us meeting in person, however, we are all creating in some way, shape or form while self isolating at home. We all hope to meet again in person soon as restrictions lift. So please come back next moth to see what we have been creating.

April 2020

 Another month has gone by, and still we are in the midst of this World Pandemic of Covid19. This little virus has made us all stay home, and venture out only for essentials, to go to work, or to exercise. We had another meeting via Zoom last Saturday with seven members joining in for show and tell. 

 First up we have Robyn who been working on a UFO, a  black-work piece from an Alison Snepp workshop.

Susan's  "Happiness" quote embroidery is the 4th in what's turning out to be a series. It is all in stranded cotton, with lettering outlined in whipped back stitch, and filled in with satin stitch, and the background filled in with irregular satin stitch. Susan has been using up her stash, and hopes the effect is joyful and energetic. 

Annette has made a Crochet donut. Over the years she has spent a fortune on pink iced donuts for her daughter. During a clean out, Annette found the instructions for the crochet donut pincushion which she decided to try. Worked with DMC no 4 cotton and 2.5 hook. No  more bought donuts for her daughter.

These Raised Butterflies are to go on Annette's  Pulled work background from last month. The butterflies are worked with silk thread and a thread of shiny variegated machine thread together in the needle. Why a non machine embroiderer had a lot of machine embroidery threads in the cupboard Annette  did not know but it gives life to the wings. Worked on silk organza backed with iron on vilene.

Jenny has been using up tiny scraps of even weave fabric, left over from other projects, to create tiny Hardanger motifs. Thread used is a variegated Perle 8. A decision is yet to be made what to do with them .

Susan had crocheted a beanie for herself, making up her own pattern with a couple of new stitches including a rib effect.  It will go over her ears so great for winter in the Tablelands.

Jenny had made progress on her new winter cardigan, finishing another front, and beginning a sleeve. It is being worked in Bendigo Woollen Mills Bloom - Blackberry Bliss

Susan had started her first ever mosaic, an old dinner set being smashed to cover a birdbath, the inside of the bowl so far, such fun.

For April, Sheila's daily practice is collage.  Continuing to work in a 1995 diary, she creates a paper based collage using her painted papers, gelli prints, stamped papers and mixed commercial papers to create a design.  The diary confirms that 25 years ago, Sheila was doing the basic (introductory) course with The Embroiderers' Guild.  That lead to the intermediate certificate which ultimately lead to the formation of Stitchers Plus.

While being overwhelmed with numbers in relation to the pandemic and trying to see the relationship between the days, Sheila started collecting and stitching on a graph that appears in the daily newspaper.  She is stitching a french knot for each death using the state and territory graph bars.  The individual blocks are being assembled in weekly rows which are then joined together.  The resulting work will grow to whatever size it becomes until the newspaper stops providing the graph.

Sheila is also working on a major project that needs to be kept under wraps.  The work is still at the point where it could be submitted for exhibition or submitted to the garbage bin.

Normally our little group has a ten minute exercise at the beginning of our day to get our creative juices flowing. As COVID 19 and the world pandemic has interrupted our meetings, Jenny decided we still needed a creative challenge. A music challenge had been on her agenda for a while, she just had to work out how to deliver it. YouTube Music made it easy, so a link to the following music video was e-mailed to all members of the group, with the advice to close our eyes as we put pen to paper. Our inspiration was found here - Maddie Poppe - 'Made You Miss Miss Me'.

Our results can be seen below.

We hope that this COVID 19 virus will soon be at an end so that we can meet in person again. In the mean time, out Face Book page might provide some other insights into what we do.

                                   https://www.facebook.com/Stitchers-Plus-638409429660889/