Seascapes - Sandra kendall July Meeting 2021

 

Seascape

Mary has made her seascape already! She used the embellisher on wadding and then machine embroidered to complete the picture.

She has produced a very atmospheric picture of the sea and I love the waving marram grass in the foreground.

Thanks Mary.
 

Kantha -style Owl June meeting 2021 Sandra Kendall

 Kantha Yellow Irises - Mary

Mary has just finished embroidering her pretty yellow irises in kantha stitch. They look fresh and clean and would enhance anyone's wall.

She has provivded a ruler by their side so you can judge the size.

 Thank you Mary they look lovely.

Mary has a book on kantha by Angela Daymond and she can send an email of a design if anyone would would like one.

 

 

 

 

 The task for this month is a kantha-style owl but you can choose anything you like.

Flowers Joanna Henson May Meeting 2021

Ikebana flower arrangement

 Sandra decided to make an Ikebana arrangement for her flowers. The flowers and leaves were made from silk and the branch was a machine made braid. The basket was raffia with curly wool to represent moss.

 

 

Tulips  Mary 

Mary has just finished embroidering her tulips in the style of Nikki Parmenter. They look super with beautiful shading on the flowers. She has finished off the piece by binding the edge.

 

 

Thank you Mary they made me think back to Spring when the tulips in the garden were in flower.

 

Baltimore Quilting - applique flowers 

Mary has made her flowers by using an applique technique used in Baltimore quilting. This form of quilting did not use scraps but new fabric for the applique.  You can see her beautiful panel below which has been machine stitched, but can be stitched by hand.

The result produces a beautifully vibrant picture of flowers in a pot, so whole quilts made with this technique must be wonderful, especially if each panel is different.

Thank you Mary for your beautiful flowers and introducing us to Baltimore Quilting.

                                      

Flowers in many ways

 

 

 This month Joanna has sent out an activity based on flowers which can be made in as many different ways as you can think of.

Using your own creative thoughts you can decide if your are going to put them in a basket, vase, corsage or anything else that inspires you.

Regional Day

 On Saturday 24th April the NWR EG held their first zoom regioanl Day. It was hosted by Merseyside Branch. They had been planning for three years as rules changed in the light of the covid 19 outbreak and they had also  cancelled the meeting once.

Despite all of the setbacks on the way, they produced a wonderful colourful and friendly day.

There were two excellent speakers Linda Miller in the morning with her own style of machine embroidered characters.

In the afternoon  Michelle Carragher with her wonderful costume embroidery, particularly from Game of Thrones and Elizabeth 1.

Traders videos tried to tempt us to spend money and there were competition pieces to look at.

Sandra won the Rosebowl competition with her piece Psychadelic Love which you can see below.

 

The pictures are dedicated to those of you who were teenagers in the 60s!

Plastic Entrapment - Nikki Parmenter April Meeting 2021

 Fish in the weeds

Janet has just completed her fish she started with Nikki.   You can see how far she got at the meeting below.

 

After the meeting she trimmed the colourful entrapped fabric and added sequins and the eye.

She then used sari silk around a ring and added loose threads to look like weed.

Thank you Janet. Your colourful fish is wonderful swimming through his weedy home.
 

 Fish

Fran redesigned her fish and made it with sheers. It is very pretty with pinky- orange scales.The fish is obviously happy swimming in the water because it has a massive smile.

Thank you Fran for your wonderful fish.
 

April Meeting 

At our April meeting Nikki Parmenter arranged a zoom meeting for us on  Plastic Entrapment. 

 Each of us  chose what we wanted to make in advance of the meeting from a select list.

We had chosen fish, flying fish, tulips, frog, and a seahorse.

 Nikki sent us the relevant packs containing plastic, shiny material, glittery paper, silver, funky foam, sequins and a pattern.

Pack with bits and pieces

The pack with a pattern of  tulips

 

 

The zoom meeting was much enjoyed by all members and thanks go to Nikki for introducing us to a completely new technique.
 

Sandra chose to make a flying fish and you can see the pattern below.

 The outline and some detail was drawn onto the plastic and then the material and paper were placed between the plastic. The outline was drawn by the sewing machine using a dark thread. Colour was added by machine embroidery. Little gaps were left in the stitching so the glittery stuff could shine through!

The fish and the two flying fins were made separately.

Additional plastic was attached at the back and then stuffed.

 

The fins were attached and sequins added

The eye was added before stuffing

The fish skimming up and down across the water.

Sandra says she will make a circular frame for it when she has a bit of time!

Thank you Sandra. I like the colours. 

The frame is now finished and the fish is entering the water with a SPLASH! 

 

 

Textile news 29

Felted Carrot

Not only does Denise grow her own vegetables she also makes them. She has made a needle felted carrot all ready for the pot!

 Thank you Denise, I think it is super.

 

Getting ready for Nikki Parmenter - Plastic Entrapment 

Here is something to make your creative juices flow! Mary sent me this wonderful sparkly fish that she made with Nikki in conjunction with Parbold Branch a few weeks ago.

 I am hoping that after viewing this it will spur you on to have a go at this unusual technique!

 

 Hellebores

Wendy has sent us this beautiful picture of a hellebore from her garden.

They have been beautiful this year and very long lasting, taking anything the weather has thrown at them. 

 

Sandra has sent these from her garden.
 

I hope you have all found some hellebores to enjoy.

Thanks Wendy.

Textile News 28

Loving Earth Panel - Clothes 

Sandra has just finished her panel on clothes and pledging to only buy new basics. She will make her older clothes last longer wearing them more times and upcycling some by changing sleeves, embellishing and lengthening etc..

 

This is the pledge and if she only buys basics it will help reduce the use of pesticides, reduce water consumption and put less Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by reducing transportation and production.

The clothes on the left of the panel are the basics and those on the right are some of her older items.

 If we all do a small thing to help the planet it will all add up to something major.

Thank you Sandra

If you haven't decided if you are going to do a panel please consider it as the Earth is now at a critical stage and we owe it to the next generations to hand them a healthy planet, not a dying one. It doesn't have to be too complicated just something that strikes a chord with you.

Chicken Scratch Embroidery

Sandra has just finished a small chicken scratch square. She was amazed at how quickly it could be completed despite making a mistake with the pattern and having to undo a bit.

 

She is thinking of making the small aquare into a pin cushion!

-And here is the completed pin cushion.

Back of pin cushion made with scraps!

A big thank you to Anita for introducing us to the technique.

 

Rice Bags as Presents 

During lockdown when it was very difficult to go out and buy presents, Janet made some rice bags with Japanese charm squares. She filled them with hand cream, chocolate, sanitizer and soap and then gave them to friends for their birthday presents.

 What a lovely and thoughtful gift. Anyone would be pleased to receive a pretty bag like these and the items inside would have been a bonus.

Thank you Janet. 

Meditiative Stitching

Janet has completed her piece of meditiative stitching which she said she found quite addictive. Once she had stopped trying to follow a pattern and let the needle just take her where it wanted to go she found it very relaxing and would like to have another go.

I love the way you have maintained the lovely graphic quality in the stitching.

Thank you Janet Its lovely.
 

 

 

 Loving Earth Project

Mary has made a start on the background for her loving earth panel and has used Inktense blocks on cotton. [See below] She is not quite sure about the white at the sides which is likely to end up beige. She  will probably embroider some stitched leaves on the ground with a Medeira machine wool thread but needs to experiment some more before she decides.

A good start Mary and we are all waiting to see what comes next!

 

Finished Panel for the Loving Earth Project 

This is what came next as Mary has now finished her panel. 

The panel is tranquil,  subtle and evocative of the peace of trees,  plants and the healing power of nature suitable for an Earth Project.

It has a calming effect by just looking at it.

Thanks Mary for your beautiful piece.

It is such a topical project and I am hoping that we will get some more ideas soon even if it is only at the thinking stage.