June 2015

Our meeting this month brought only four members, with a few away manning stalls at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair.

Show and tell is always on the list though, and even with only four of us there was still lots  to see.

Robyn had been continuing to go "walkabout" on her bag panel, stitching with split stitch. The spiral has been stitched with back stitch.

Annette and Jenny had both been knitting. Annette had been knitting baby things for the new arrival, Poppy Bella Kell, who arrived on June 5th. First up was this beautiful shawl in 3ply pure merino wool, completed in time for Poppy's birth.

Next was this cute matinee jacket also in 3ply pure merino wool.

Then there were the baby socks made from left over sock yarn. Do we think Baby Poppy will be warm this winter? 

Jenny had made herself a pair of fingerless gloves. Never wanting a pair, Jenny had found sewing in her sewing room in winter was giving her cold hands. So a pair of fingerless gloves made in pure wool 4 ply was the answer. Her hands could stay warm while she still sewed and worked in her sewing room.

Jenny's shawl was also growing. It had taken on a mind of it's own and was becoming more 3/4 circle rather than the 1/2 circle that was originally planned.

Sheila was continuing on he "drawing a day" journey. The intention is to work in watercolour in her new diary/daybook.

Our next meeting will be in July. Come back and visit again to see what we get up to over the next few weeks

May 2015

There were six of us in attendance at our meeting this month, with some of us contributing to the circle challenge for the Craft and Quilt Fair next month.

Above is Robyn's contribution, back stitched on felt using her own original sketch as inspiration.

This is one of Wendy's,  using her favourite cretan stitch in bright colours.

Another circle of Wendy's, again using cretan stitch, this time in pinks and greens.

This needle darned version was made by Annette.

"Fan Vaulting" is by Susan, another white circle to add to the collection.

Jenny had put her owls together into a mobile. Using fishing line and fishing swivels, the 3D appliquéd and machine embroidered owls swing freely from a padded and fabric covered metal ring.

Sheila had made the above three bags using vintage embroideries from the Marie Yeardley Collection. The frog had been stitched by Marie herself. Other fabrics used in the bags were from donations. The bags are now for sale at Guild headquarters in Concord West.

Jenny had been busy knitting. Firstly there are her socks which are finally finished, using a 4 ply  Lincraft Lullaby yarn. A few problems had to be overcome to finish the socks, including a free pattern from  http://www.knitpicks.com/   that could have been written clearer, bamboo needles that split, and not having enough yarn, which gave way to different coloured toes.

Next up was a baby set of hat, mittens and booties for a new member of the family. These can be viewed here, on Jenny's personal blog.

Then there is the half circular shawl experiment. using a denim coloured  acrylic, mohair, angora  mixed yarn, from the Marmaris Collection, The beginning of the shawl is loosely based on a circular one from a Shepherd Book of  baby shawls, but this shawl has now taken on a mind of it's own. Watch this space to see where it leads.

Jenny had also been playing with some coloured needle weaving on a WIP sampler.

Wendy was promoting the Signature Cloth, in which everyone is invited to add their name. For any non-stitchers, or overseas stitchers, the Guild will add your name for a $5 donation that will help redevelop our building. Please contact the Embroideres Guild NSW if you would like your name stitched on this cloth, or even willing to give a small donation to aid the re-development of our building.

April 2015

Our April meeting brought only a few of us in the morning  as other members were in attendance at another meeting. The morning was spent quietly stitching and chatting, then at lunch, visiting members joined us and there was much chatter. Show & tell came after lunch when our other members returned.

Jenny had been making owls. There were six of them in all, and all six were double sided. Using applique, and machine embroidery, the owls were layered together with padding between, stitched together, trimmed then satin stitched around the edge. The owls will eventually form part of a mobile.

Annette had been knitting a lace pattered baby shawl. Using 3ply natural superfine wool, a knitted edge surrounds the main body of the shawl

Above are two more pages from Sheila's "Drawing a Day" challenge.

Donna has had an enjoyable month reading and working through "A method of Creating Design" by Adolfo Best Maugard. Adolfo suggest that we can create designs using seven motifs, - a spiral, a circle, a half circle, two half circles in a "S" shape, a wavy line, zig zags, and a straight line. When combined they create an endelss number of patterns. Above is Donna's play with this suggestion.

We hope you all enjoy this small show and tell for this month, and come back for another vist in My to see what we have got up to.

March 2015

 Our March meeting brought seven of us in attendance with a number of visitors.

Show and tell for the day brought the following:-

Jenny had been playing some more with filet work. This time it was to weave a flower into her hand-made mesh in linen stitch. The challenge here was to leave holes in the weaving. What looked like a simple design woven in separate sections proved more challenging than it looked. Most of that daisy flower was woven in one continuous weave, and Jenny had to work out a complicated weaving order to achieve the finished result.

Susan had finished her cross stitch variation circle and had started a second one in surface stitching just for fun.

Robyn was continuing working on her 'walkabout' project from last month.

Donna had made this little clutch purse while on holidays a few weeks back. Using scrap fabric and a grab bag of textured threads, Donna has used couching and other surface stitching to create the flap.

Donna had also been playing with fabric weaving. After beginning with cereal boxes,  fabric was then cut, woven into patterns and stitched to hold it together .

Jenny had begun knitting another pair of socks on a recent trip away. Using a 4ply Lincraft Lullaby, the pattern is the "Cirque Socks",  a free pattern from Knit Picks .

Sheila was continuing on with her daily drawing practice which is her personal challenge for the year.

We hope you have all enjoyed our show and tell for March , and come back in April to see what we get up to.

February 2015

Welcome to another year of show & tell by Stitcher's Plus. We are a creative group of the Embroiderer's Guild NSW and play with all kinds of art. This year is the year of the personal challenge. 

Congratulations go out to our member Susan, who applied for, and received, the position of Guild Secretary at our headquarters in Concord West. 

Last Saturday was our first official meeting for the year, with seven of us in attendance. Show and tell is a major part of our day, and as our last official meeting was way back in November,  there was some great show and tell to be feasted on.

Robyn had finished stitching her lady, who will eventually adorn the lid of a work box.

Robyn had also finished her needle case featuring Afghanistan reversible stitch.

Donna had been playing with running stitch, exploring what could be done with it. The little bird at the top of this set was inspired by a Mexican ceramic tile, while the remainder were inspired from doodles. Exploring running stitch is Donna's personal challenge for 2015.

Jenny's personal challenge for 2015 is to explore the technique of filet lace. In this sample, Jenny has made her own mesh by withdrawing threads from fabric, bound them into a mesh formation, then worked a dragonfly in linen stitch. The dragonfly was first drawn, then charted into a graph which was then used to chart the linen stitch working order. The working order of the linen stitch has to be precise for the under/over sequence of the linen stitch to happen.

Jenny had also been adding to her sampler with a band of Wessex stitching. The sampler began eight years ago, and Jenny has decided that 2015 is the year to finish it. The whole back story can be found here, and by following the links within the post on Jenny's personal blog.

 This table mat is being worked by Jenny  from a Christine Bishop workshop that she had attended back in September 2014. The piece is inspired by Dresden Embroidery, and features both pulled work and surface stitching.

Annette had been busy making her daughter's wedding dress. The hand beading on the sleeve and bodice echoed the pattern in the lace.

Sheila had made a new plaque for a young relative, using constructions by Jenny Cochran Lee in the September/October 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors

Sheila's personal commitment for the year is to draw every day. At the moment she is drawing in a day book/calender.

This is Susan's sample of "Cross Plus Two Stitch", worked on Aida cloth. The piece is for the Embroiderer's Guild installation at the Craft and Quilt Fair, later this year in June.

Robyn was beginning to stitch on this Aboriginal panel, purchased from the Black Arts Markets. The fabric has been screen printed and will be made into a bag. This is one of four personal challenges that Robyn has listed for herself.

This bag was made by a talented Guild member and raffled as a second prize at the Guild's Summer School. It was won by Sheila.

Such a great start to 2015 by all our talented members. Come back for another visit in March to see how we are all progressing on our personal challenges.