Inchies - Members Joint Effort July Meeting

This month we made Inchies in neutral and natural colours. At the start of the morning we pooled ideas on how to make and decorate the inchies. Members had been scouring the garden, kitchen cupboards, seashore and their stash for tiny interesting things to embellish their Inchies!

We decided  either to make a 1inch square or to make a grid and cut into several squares by attaching material/paper to pelmet vilene with bondaweb [see above].
Once the squares were cut most members stitched around the square with buttonhole stitch and then began to decorate them using an array of materials and found objects from spices, bark, seeds, beads, lace, and wire. The list was endless and the photographs show all sorts of things being used.

Toward the end of the afternoon we collected all our completed Inchies on a table and had a look at each others. It was amazing how different they all were from the backgrounds to the embellishments. There was no end to the members' ingenuity.

A few members also tried out different colours but we all found them rather addictive. It was an enjoyable day and I think this will not be the last we see of Inchies!

Woolfest 2013

On Friday three of us set off for Woolfest hoping that the weather would be better than last year! It was dull and damp but on arriving it was bright and cheery inside if not out!

Every year Woolfest gets bigger and more interesting and this year was no different. We like Woolfest because it has a rural atmosphere all of its own and is devoted to natural fibres and rural crafts. The following photographs just give you a taste of what is on offer.

The crafts on offer included knitting, weaving, spinning, crochet, dyeing, embroidery, braiding and all sorts of associated equipment, crafts and art forms.
There were also many of the animals on show which produce the fibres in their natural state and a few are pictured below.

It was a good day and we went home tired but with bags full of goodies!

Embroidery around the Bay, Storey Gallery, Lancaster.

I went to Lancaster today to visit the exhibition at The Storey. This is a joint exhibition with Lancaster, Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale and our Branch of North Lonsdale.
It is only a small exhibition with approximately seven pieces from each branch but it has been set out carefully with particular care taken with colour and shape. 

I enjoyed looking at the range of work and have taken photographs of our pieces which you can see below.

Cretan Cliff  Sandra Kendall

Stained Glass Window  Brenda Pearson

Top Winter Woodland  Sue Tyldesley
Bottom Walk through the Lakes  Elizabeth Shorrock

Rainbow Squares - Yellow  North Lonsdale Branch

 Teddy Bears  Gillian Darrington

 

Bottom Right Rabbits  Margaret Hunter

 

Pomegranate  Dorothy Pearce

A thank you to the members who have lent their pieces to the exhibition and the members who helped set it up so well.
If you are in Lancaster it is well worth a visit as I am sure you will enjoy this beautiful little exhibition.

Felt Beads with Jill Ferguson June Meeting 2013

This month we welcomed Gill Ferguson to show us how to make felt brooches and necklaces. Gill brought some samples of her work and many of us remembered making a felt vase with Gill.

There were lots of oohs and aahs at the blue tit!
Gill demonstrated how to make flat felt for the brooches. Then it was suggested we cut three flower shapes
from the felt when dry, attach together with a button and a pin on the back.

After much rolling!!!!! we took our pieces of felt home to dry and turn into brooches.
After lunch Jill showed us how to make felt beads with several different variations and how to construct a necklace with the beads  including purchased beads.
The pictures below show us all rolling the felt in our hands to make the beads. It appears to be a very serene operation!

When the beads were completed we took them home to dry and construct our necklace. For those of you who have made felt know, we also went home very tired as if we had done a full workout at the gym!
It was a good fun day and all thanks go to Gill for leading the workshop.
 Hopefully at the next meeting we will see lots of completed brooches and necklaces.