Lecture 9th January 2021 Anne Griffiths - Stories in Stitch

Anne started her lecture this afternoon by telling us how she started teaching Machine Embroidery at Gloscat. As the City and Guilds courses folded she then took on Hand Embroidery, Felting and Beading.

She has always been interested in letters, script, text, messages and iconography. An iluminated manuscript of her mothers' sparked this enthusiasm

Anne has always been interested in stamps and she has used ideas from these in her work.

While doing her City and Guilds she chose angels as her design topic

Anne told us that handwriting and font are important

While doing her City and Guilds  part 2 , her mother died and as she sorted through old letters, and then used these , stamps and motherhood for the inspiration for her wall hanging

Christmas stamps have also inspired some of her work, which starts off in her sketch books

                  

More inspiration from stamps using a variety of fabrics and tecniques

Illuminated letters using Bronzing powder and then metal shim

Anne completed the afternoon by showing us metal shim technique on the inside of tomato puree tube 

   

and the combining it with acrylic painted images and text 

Thank you Anne for a very interesting afternoon

 Christmas workshop December 5th

Over 20 of our members gathered together on Zoom for our annual Christmas workshop.

Most of us wore a Christmas jumper ,  Christmas jewellery or hat, or in some cases all three!!

We then started on our Christmas tree decoration / brooch

inspired by the Wychbury Designs  article in the October/November Stitch magazine.

Here are some of the finished trees.

It was lovely to stitch together and chat. We then had a stitch-inspired quiz, after we had had a festive toast .

Here's to 2021 when we can hopefully meet up again

Lecture - Emma Jackson Silversoles - November 7th

Emma Started her lecture by telling us about her early career in felting. She started Silver Soles in 2000 when her children were small. The name Silver Soles comes from the fact that her early career was in making felted baby bootees with silver leather soles. The name has continued although she rarely makes bootees now!

She then  did a lot of work teaching and working with young people and adults in the community and then in residencies in schools both with felting and mixed media. Felt appealed to all abilities. She also taught for 15 years at the MAC. 

Emma also undertook commissions including an altar frontal for St. Martins in the Bull Ring, Birmingham.

Her work which she sold at Trade Fairs and specialised Art Fairs included both fashion and interior design pieces. She as interested in textural surfaces, colour and included Shibori.

In 2015 having had a lot of problems with her back she thought she would have to give up felting and so she decided to undertake an MA in surface design and texture at BCU. She explored the touch of surfaces.

Emma's sketchbooks were the start of this process

She then started to create different surfaces, including adding latex onto a variety of fabrics.

The combination of these surfaces with devore velvet and nuno felting.

The fabrics she created ..............................

........ were used in interior designs including these wonderful lamps and cushions

How different the lamp shade looks when it is lit!!

Thank you Emma for a fascinating lecture and we look forward to a workshop with you when we are back to normal.

 

Lecture :Wool Magic by Raya Brown -  3rd October 2020

Raya's lecture showed her innovative use of Nuno felting

She has now developed her love of fleece into making wool paintings which she traps between glass. She gave us a demonstration of her technique. The fleece is teased into very small amounts with which she 'paints'.

Thank you Raya for sharing your work with us

 

Bargello talk by Gail Tutcher 5th September 2020

One of our members, Gail Tutcher gave us a very interesting talk on Bargello Embroidery .

She started by showing us historical examples of Bargello

Gail continued by showing us how to create the patterns

                                       

                                        

Gail used her knowledge of the techniques to create a four way Bargello design that she turned into the top of a pouffe

Finally she showed us ways in which designs can be taken from items we can see around us

Thank you Gail for a very interesting lecture

 

Chairs Challenge 2020  Theme of “20”

This challenge was set by Elise Stewart in her final year as Chair. These are the entries that would normally have been on display at the AGM!!

 

Saskia
It is what the year 2020 means/meant for me.   The background is from a textile that someone (possibly from the embroiderers guild) made into a uniform bag that I used when I was transferred to New Cross hospital for 2 months. The appliquéd flowers and letter C were from another uniform bag. The canvas work was from my kit from the embroiderers guild. The coronavirus was one of the textile artist.org challenges. The words on the ribbons all relate to the year. The calligraphy was done by my daughter and scanned onto dyed fabric. The stitching incorporates many of the try a stitch Tuesdays. The photos are of me and my family signifying our separation and use of zoom and the post to keep in touch. The stitched bird and flowers signify my enjoyment of the nature in my garden. And obviously (I hope) the red stitched circles are the virus.

 

 

 Judy enjoyed using the stitches from Try a Stitch Tuesday

Helen’s very “blingy” entry 

Margaret

Her entry was samples of rust and indigo that she tried for herself for the first time this year

Anne Holyhead made a china teapot set – China being the traditional gift for a 20 year wedding anniversary  

Maggie – 20 shades of blue.  A piece of her hand made felt with stitching on.