Jacob's Join December Meeting 2014

This month we held our Christmas Meeting which started with the usual business meeting. As members arrived they put their entry, of stick weaving, for the competion on the table. Members voted for their favourite throughout the morning.

Entries for the Christmas competition

After the business meeting we had a tea/coffee break and then had our Christmas quiz based around literary quotes with colours, sewing terms or implements. The quiz is just a bit of fun and there is always lots of laughter.
We had been donated some beautiful material which we could buy with a donation to group funds and as we will be dyeing at our next meeting this was very popular.
We then set up the tables for our Jacob's Join which was enjoyed by everyone.

After our meal the winner of the competition was announced - Gillian Darrington with her cushion - and the Christmas raffle was drawn.

Then all that remained was to wish everyone a Happy Christmas!

Knitting and Stitching Show Harrogate November 2014

It was a lovely clear morning as the coach set off from Grange station on its way to a second pick up at
 Preston Patrick  and then on to Harrogate. 
We arrived at about 10:15 and then made our way into the  halls where we were greeted with a riot of colour from the displays, demonstrations and stalls.
As usual the displays were very inspirational and our imaginations began buzzing!

Many of us had shopping lists to stock up on items for our next projects as we scoured the stalls!

It was also nice to see that the Embroiderers' Guild had a very strong presence promoting embroidery and the Guild.

 One of the highlights for many of us was the kente weaver from West Africa. He was a joy to watch!

We left Harrogate at 4:00 weighed down with our buys and ready to nap on the coach after a hard day of shopping and being inspired!

Stick Weaving Joanna Henson November Meeting 2014

Joanna Henson, one of our own members introduced us to stick weaving this month. Her samples, to inspire us, are in the pictures below.

Joanna had made sets of 5 weaving sticks for us to use and we were shown how to thread the warp  and then how to start the weaving which involved just over and under.

We started weaving a flat piece with three sticks using different coloured and textured wools.

We were then shown how to make a curved piece so that it could be joined into a circle to make a brooch.

When we had finished our circles, ways of decorating them was suggested, to turn them into brooches or decorations for bags and scarves.

It was a fun day and very useful to do in front of the television! A big thank you goes to Joanna for sharing her skills with us.

Craft Fair Lower Holker Village Hall 1st Nov. 2014

We had our usual stall at the craft fair in Cark on Saturday 1st November with the hope of raising money for our funds. Our members had been very busy making items to sell from bags to brooches and everything in between. You can see some of the items below looking very colourful on the stall.

A big thank you goes to members who made things, helped on the day and supported the stall by buying things.

 We made £115-05 on the day and a little more is still coming in.

A.G.M. Stitches October Meeting 2014

We held our AGM on Tuesday when we voted in a new committee and thanked some of the committee from the last couple of years who were standing down.
The Chairperson thanked all the members and the outgoing committee for all their hard work over the past year. Her report went through the wide range of activities undertaken since last October.

After the AGM we had the chance to do some stitching.
Four stiches were demonstrated as follows;

fly stitch by Mary, 

Cretan Stitch by Joanna,

 Running Stitch by Gillian

 

 Eyelet Stitch by Sandra

Members always enjoy exploring stitches and it reminds experienced stitchers of stitches that they might not have used in a long time.
Our thanks go to Gillian, Mary, Joanna and Sandra for leading the stitching.

Finding Inspiration Gerry Hickson September Meeting 2014

Gerry gave a short talk on the work of several contemporary artists such as Sue Dove, Alice Kettle, Michael Brennan Wood and how we could develop our ideas for stitch from their work. She also suggested we could look around us for interesting patterns and to take our own photographs of things that appealed to us.

 

 Gerry advocated keeping sketch books full of drawings, photographs and collages that could be referred to for inspiration and she brought samples of her own large array for us to browse through.
We were then shown how to use collage to recreate an image or part image working into it with oil pastels. These images or part of them could then be used as a starting point for fabrics and stitch.

It was a very interesting day and even if we don't ever use this technique directly again it all helps in the way we look at things and gain inspiration from the world around us. Thank you to Gerry for an enjoyable day.

At midday we also had a visit from Christine Poole, Chair Person of the Guild. She stayed about 3 hours and chatted to the members. Everyone was pleased to meet her and for her to be showing an interest at grass roots level was much appreciated.