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.

Encaustic Wax, Sue Tyldesley ,July Meeting 2014

I was sorry to miss this month's meeting with one of our own members Sue Tyldesley but I have been informed that it was great fun and members went home with "new materials enhanced with encaustic wax" ready for stitch.
Sue brought samples of work and some finished items to show everyone. See below

Below are photographs of work in progress.

I am looking forward to seeing the finished pieces at the next meeting in September. Thank you Sue for a good workshop.

Lichens and Encrustations, The Storey, Lancaster Sandra Kendall

Three of our members attended the workshop on Lichens and Encrustations at the Storey which was taken by another of our members Sandra Kendall. Sandra brought along a range of samples using the same motif but varying the size and colour and worked on different backgrounds as shown below.

We all looked at the colours, shapes and textures of lichens and decided that they were just asking to be stitched with stitches that give  raised textures e.g.french knots, woven wheels, pistil stitch and many others.
The basic lichen was worked by applying fibres to hand dyed cotton and then embroidered over the top and finished with the addition of beads.

Some of the ladies then started embroidering onto muslin with textural stitches and making a smaller lichen supported on felt which would then be applied to a background at a later stage. 
At the end of the afternoon we had covered a range of work as you can see in the picture below. A big thank you goes to the ladies for working so hard on a very hot day!