Tama [Jewel Bag] -Janet Tabarandak Japanese Flower Bag - Wendy Barrington March Meeting 2025

Alice in Wonderland - Raffle March 2025

 

Finished Pieces of Work

 Joan has finished her "fabric in a jar piece" by turning it into a colouful bag. She has very cleverly used the fish printed fabric as an under the sea picture embellishing it with  stitch and buttons as bubbles. Then she attached it to blue fabric turning it into a bag.

It gives the feeling of looking at the sea through a porthole.

Thank you Joan for a very clever piece.

Christina used her fabric very ingeniously to produce shells with a sea background. The delicate pink fabric with a small amount of stitching made very believable shells. Starfish and waves have been embroidered onto the background for added interest.

 She has bound the edge turning it into a small but delightful mat.

Thank you Christina.

Gill patchworked her fabrics together and decorated the piece with colourful buttons and some embroidery. She then lined the mat before turning it in half, stitching the ends together, and binding the top edge.

The front was embellished with a strawberry from the top of the jar and a useful cover for a computer was made.

Thank you Gill for your colourful cover.

Blackwork Scissor Keeper - Bev Mounsey February Meeting 2025

 Blackwork embroidery was introduced to us by one of our own members Bev Mounsey. She had brought a beautiful array of detailed samples with her including some with colour. [See Below]

She gave a short history of the technique, believed possibly brought to England by Catherine of Aragon, having been brought to Spain from North Africa. It then gained popularity at the Tudor court.

Most members wanted to have a go even though there were worries about whether eyesight was up to the job.

Bev had prepared little packs for all of us containing instructions, chart, canvas, needle and threads and she explained how to start in the middle and follow the chart.

Members started off slowly but as the pattern began to be embedded in the memory work began to proceed faster.

Little gold beads and gold accents were added and beautiful symmetrical patterns began to emerge. Members took their blackwork home to finish and many had taken to it like a duck to water and we look forward to seeing the finished items.

Thank you to Bev for introducing us to blackwork,  preparing all the packs for us and inspiring us with her samples. It was a pity that the session was cut slightly short because of the heating failure.