Show and Tell

 Janet has made her needle felted fox and Amanita fungus into a beautifully colourful Autumn diorama. 

It makes me think of childhood stories such as "Wind in the Willows" and "Mr. Tod".

Thank you Janet. It is a delight to look at.

Jane has hand stitched a line drawing of her new grandson in the arms of his big sister. A delightful and emotive piece with the most delicate running stitching.

Thank you Jane for sharing such a personal piece with us.

Linda has quilted a wonderful Christmas table runner which she intends to sell to raise money for charity.

It is a complex piece using various shapes resulting in a fascinating central design.

Thank you Linda and I hope it makes a lot of money for charity.

Embroidered Landscape - Mary Taylor November Meeting 2026

This month we welcomed Mary Taylor who loves the environment and uses it as an inspiration for her wonderful textile pieces that you can see in the photos above and below.
 

Mary had come to inspire us to have a go at producing a small textile piece based on a photograph or drawing of a landscape which we found attractive. 

The background would be built up in layers so Mary demonstrated applying the first layer of felt and then sheers over the top to build up the background colour. When all the layers were pinned they would be machine or hand stitched in place.

Members chose their colours from an array of felt and sheers.

Then sheers were added to intensify and/or modify the colours.

Once the background was in place members set about either hand or machine stitching which held the pieces in place  but also added details to the landscape.

With more and more stitching little textile landscapes began to appear.

To finish our embroidery Mary suggested either applying a mount or melting the edges with a heat gun and stitching to a background.

Some members finished their piece while other were close to completion and the results were beautiful landscapes in jewel-like colours and more skills tucked into our belts.

Hopefully any more finished pieces will be brought back next month!

A big thank you to Mary for inspiring us and sharing her own original skills with us that we will be able to apply in different situations. It was a good day.

Requirements List - Embroidered Landscape - Mary Taylor November Meeting

 

Show and Tell

 Gill has embroidered this delicately stitched squirrel blending differing colours of thread to produce the illusion of fur.  As you look at him, you can almost feel his bushy tail.

He is delicately stitched and you almost think you are disturbing him eating his hazel nut.

Thank you Gill he is beautiful.

Sandra has finished her star sign of Aries started at the September meeting. He does not look much like a Cumbrian sheep but he is a celestial ram!

His wool coat has been embroidered in straight stitch and bullion stitch, which has not been tightened so it looks like curls. To add to his stellar body he has been highlighted with gold stitching.

Thank you Sandra

Maureen has been very busy and brought an armful of embroidered pieces to our meeting.

This fantastic hare has been made by embroidering with thread over

carefully placed fibres, thus building up the head, ears and top of its body. The subtle colouring and texture is beautiful.

Based on one of her holidays in the dolomites, Maureen has made an attractive small book that fits into a box, also hand made, and a diorama of a scene from the dolomites.

Maureen's third piece is a pair of sashiko inspired cushions.

The white against the blue gives a lovely clean palette and I am sure 

they are a focal point in her room.

Thank you Maureen for your beautiful work.

Needle Felting - Gillian Ferguson October Meeting 2026

Gillian arrived with an armful of delightful, characterful felted creatures which she set out for us to view [see below]. As soon as members saw them they wanted to know how they were made so they could have a go themselves.

 

We would all start by making a fox and if there was time some fruit or toadstools.

Gillian had prepared little bags of fibres, a mat, instructions and two felting needles for each of us.

Gillian demonstrated how to make the body and gave us safety advise about the sharp needles. We then started pricking our fibre sausage until the fibres knitted together becoming firmer.

We were then shown how to make the head and the ears.

 

How to attach the eyes and nose were demonstrated and the foxes began to develop character.

As we were shown how to attach the head, then make and attach the limbs, the foxes began to take shape.

The foxes were then finished off with a tail and white hair on their chest , tail tips and in the ears.

We then viewed our  skulk* of foxes and some members had managed to make some beautiful fungi and fruit.

They were delightful, full of charm and members were pleased with what they had made and that it was completed!

It was a good, fun day and all thanks go to Gillian for her teaching, organisation and demonstration skills.

*I looked up the collective noun for foxes

Collective nouns for foxes:

skulk - group of foxes

earth - usually a family of foxes

leash - hunting term usually applied to a group of 3 foxes