Cushion front

Gillian has finished embroidering her Shiva Stick picture from last month's meeting and put it into the front of a cushion.

The picture was hand embroidered and the background quilted with running stitch which gives a lovely rippled effect.

The cushion will be completed when Gillian finds the backing fabric!

Woolfest 2011

On Friday Sandra , Maureen and Agnes went to Woolfest just outside of Cockermouth. It has grown in size over the years since it started and has a different atmosphere to the large shows at the NEC and Harrogate. It is very colourful with a very rural atmosphere with country crafts, animals and folk musicians playing live.

There is plenty to buy from fibres to looms and even more to inspire on the stalls from useful items to the purely artistic.

Wandering around gives you a good apetite and there is plenty of food to choose from at The Rampant Bull.

It is always a good day out and we recommend it to anyone who has not been yet.

June Meeting 2011

Our June Meeting was taken by one of our own members Sandra Kendall. The workshop was on the use of Shiva sticks in embroidery and Sandra brought samples of patches made with Shiva and cushions made with hand dyed material, decorated with embroidered Shiva pictures.
Sandra showed members how to remove the skin from the sticks and how the colours mixed as in paints.
The members then carried out two tasks to familiarise, or remind themselves, of the properties of Shiva. They made a grid on one piece of white cloth and a pattern of torn strips on the second. They then applied Shiva to the tape and transferred it to the material with toothbrushes! The members were delighted with the colours and the way they mixed.

Sandra then showed everyone how to make their own stencil from freezer paper which they could attach to their material with a medium iron. Once the stencil was attached members set

about applying the Shiva to the edge of the stencil and transferring it to the material with a tooth brush.

You can see the interesting results in the pictures once the stencils were removed.

The pictures were then ready for the embroidery to make them stand out from the background.

The members were very pleased with their Shiva patches and many had started the stitching.

I am sure we will see lots of finished pieces at the next meeting!

Twentyfive Year Badge

Sandra was very pleased to present Mary Seaman with her twentyfive year badge at the June meeting. Mary has now been a very committed member of the Embroiderers' Guild for over twentyfive years. She attends both North Lonsdale and Parbold branches and enjoys a wide range of embroidery and sewing.
Well Done Mary!

May Meeting 2011 From Yuk to Wow

We welcomed back Ann Burrow to this month's meeting and she brought with her examples of work she had done on plastic canvas with string and then completely altered the result by painting and embossing.

We set about embroidering our unprepossessing plastic canvas with fairly thick string. We used raised stitches that would stand proud like sheaf, Rhodes,cross etc..

After the embroidery the whole piece was covered in PVA glue and then pieces of tissue paper were stuck on making sure that it was pressed into and around the stitching.

Then the transformation from "yuk to wow" began with paint, embossing powders and gilding.

We were all pleased with our results after starting with something so mundane as plastic canvas. Members made mirror frames, book marks and small pictures and it also triggered ideas of different ways that plastic canvas could be used in the future.

We always enjoy our workshops with Ann and she has the knack of making us look at quite simple things in different ways.

Thank you Ann for a good workshop.

Free Form Crochet

Brenda has made a very pretty design using free form crochet together with canvas work. It has inspired a few more of us to have another go at freeform crochet with embroidery. Thank you Brenda.

Pixie Boots

Mary was inspired to make these pretty and delicate boots for her grandaughter after seeing the idea in this month's Stitch. They included a little scroll wishing her grandaughter good luck and a successful outcome with her A Levels and any other tests and exams in the future. We are sure they will work!

Congratulations are also due to Mary for being awarded her 25 year badge by The Embroiderers' Guild. Well Done Mary!