"Landscape in Stitch" Mary Taylor March meeting2015

This month we were pleased to welcome Mary Taylor who produces the most beautiful landscapes in machine embroidery. Mary had come to deliver a talk on the way she works and what inspires her. She starts with  photographs of landscapes/seascapes which inspire her and is very careful with her composition.  Samples of her work are below.

Mary explained how she is inspired by landscapes, the changing moods of landscapes and the relationship of plants and structures to those environments.

She has a particular love of the sea which features frequently in her work.

Mary explained how she took photographs and then cropped the picture for the piece she wanted to reproduce in embroidery.
She then builds up layers of calico, pelmet vilene, coloured velvet and coloured sheers in the appropriate colours  as you can see below.

She then sets her machine to machine embroidery and begins stitching, first to secure the sheers and then to build up texture and colour.

After machining the background she sometimes burns the sheers away to reveal the colours underneath. When the background is finished she machine stitches the foreground e.g. a tree or grasses and then sometimes finishes with handstitched flowers.

The results are very beautiful and you feel that the landscape is before your eyes. 
By the end of the talk we were all itching to get our machines out and start stitching!
Thank you Mary for an inspirational talk.

Printing February Meeting 2015

Our printing workshop was led by Sandra Kendall one of our own members. We were shown various samples of printing patterns and what the various motifs looked like when embroidered [see pictures below].

We then started to print with blocks  making the various printing patterns of rows, brick, half drop, rotation and so on .
You can see some of our efforts below.

Sandra then showed us how to make our own blocks by carving corks, erasers and by using funky foam. These home made blocks often have an appeal of their own and can be tailor made to suit the embroidery you are working on.

Sandra then showed examples of using printing in a more random way. 

We all went home with coloured fingers and content with our samples and inspired to do more!
Thank you Sandra

Procion Dyeing of Threads and Fabric January Meeting 2015

Our January meeting was led by Anne Covell one of our own members. Anne had done an enormous amount of preparation for the workshop by arriving with 6 dye colours already mixed and a large bucket of  soda solution in which to immerse our cloth prior to applying the dye.
Anne told us simply how the dye worked and reminded us of a few safety precautions and then we were ready to start  dyeing threads.
We dampened the threads and then applyed the dye carefully. After about 10/15mins we then applied a small amount of soda solution along the length of the threads and you can see the beautiful colours below.

We then retrieved our fabric which we had left soaking in the soda solution squeezing out any excess moisture. We then squashed our fabric into small containers and applied the dye sparingly as you can see below.

After a thank you to Anne for her advance preparation and support we all went home armed with pots of brightly coloured fabrics and threads. 
They all needed to be rinsed carefully and washed but mine are still in the pots as I am waiting for a dry day to hang them on the line without getting dye everywhere! 

A dry couple of hours so the dyeing has been rinsed and washed and blowing well in the wind!!! Definately the brightest washing in the village!!!!

  

 All dry and ironed and waiting to be used in the next embroidery projects

One of the best parts of dyeing is ironing the material and watching the patterns emerge!

Thank you Anne for a fun and enjoyable day.

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!