May Meeting 2013" My Crafty Life" Dorothy Pearce

At the morning part of our meeting Dorothy Pearce, one of our members, told us about her "crafty life" over a number of years. She illustrated her talk with an extensive and breathtaking display of examples of her work including the most delicate pieces of lace. There were plenty of oohs and aahs as Dorothy produced pieces from boxes like a magician!

Dorothy with a lace bridal bouquet which she helped to make

Her examples included every type of textile work but particularly lace and hardanger. Some of her pieces can be seen below.

A friend of Dorothy's in Canada introduced her to making these decorated eggs with their beautifully intricate patterns!

After Dorothy had finished talking we were able to look more closely at the pieces and there were so many that it took another hour to view them all!
We have all been inspired by Dorothy to aim higher with our textile work and make sure we finish pieces!
Thank you Dorothy for a beautiful, interesting and inspirational morning.  

Stitches

After lunch we broke into 4 small groups with each group led by one of our members to explore 4 different stitches varying the thread, style, size and type of each stitch.

Examples of Chain Stitch

The first group was led by Anne Covell and involved chain stitch.

The Second group was Bullion Stitch  led by Brenda Pearson.

Examples of Bullion Knots

The third group was buttonhole stitch led by Margaret Hunter.

An example of Buttonhole Stitch

The fourth group was Sorbello Stitch and led by Sandra Kendall

Examples of Sorbello Stitch

Everyone seemed to enjoy the stitching even those who are veteran stitchers as we often just use our favourite stitch and forget all the others we know until reminded again.
Thank you to our 4 members Anne, Margaret, Brenda and Sandra for working the samples and leading the groups.

Chris has just finished her Stump work Kingfisher and he looks beautiful. As you look at him below it is hard to believe that this is Chris's first attempt at embroidery. Well Done Chris!