Embroidered Boxes - Anne Brooke October meeting 2023

 I have just returned from a wonderful workshop making embroidered boxes with Anne Brooke. Anne arrived with a diverse array of embroidered boxes to inspire us in our own work and she stressed that whatever we did would belong to us artistically. She also brought a lot of "stuff "for us to use.

She demonstrated how to start the box by cutting out six 10cm. squares of paper and attaching them to iron on interfacing in the shape of a cube net [" a Jesus cross"] The cross was then trimmed and she zig-zagged around the edges.

We all set to work making our nets with enthusiasm and zigzagging the edges in our chosen colours.

Anne then demonstrated how to decorate  the faces of the box with paper, especially wall paper, thinking about colour and shape. She then suggested ways of machine stitching the paper pieces so that the faces had an affinity.

As members started to glue their papers each one was different in colour, texture and stitch and each member used their own artistic talents.

Anne then demonstrated how to attach the lining and stiffen it with pelmet vilene and zig-zag the sides together to make a box including the tie for the closing mechanism.

We all took our flat boxes home to complete by adding hand stitching, beads, buttons and then zig-zagging the sides together. The boxes, still flat, looked fantastic spread out on the table and they will be a joy to see when finished.

A big thank you goes to Anne for her enthusiasm, encouragement, explanations and ideas.

We all went home full of ideas on how we were going to finish our boxes.

Raffle - Autumn Leaves Tuesday 3rd October

 

Can You Help?

 A lady who was Chair of the NW Region of the Embroiderers Guild, for a short time, is trying to track down the family of Helen Rhodes.

Helen was a founder member of the North Lonsdale and Barrow branch of the Embroiderer's Guild.

Has anyone met her or knew where she lived? Does anyone know where her family lives?

If you can help please leave a message in Post a comment [scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on no comments - a comments box will appear] and someone will contact you.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Finished Pieces

 Christina has completed her velvet piece using hand stitching. The colours are beautiful with the contrast of the darker browns at the bottom and the bright yellow at the top.

It has a beautiful depth as if you are looking through all the plants.

The orangey butterflies echo the colours at the bottom. Can you find the little snail?

 Thank you Christina it is fantastic!

AGM followed by Making Printing Blocks - Fran Walker September Meeting 2023

 Members were in a cheery mood as they arrived after their Summer break, ready to sort out our coming year and then settle down to some making and sewing.

The AGM, with the election of a new committee, took place in the morning, followed by the beginnings of an exciting new programme for the following year.

In the afternoon Fran, our new Chair, led the workshop on making printing blocks from funky foam. Other members had brought their own work to do.

Fran had made lots of interesting samples and used them to print with showing members what could be achieved. See below.

Funky Foam is a very useful sticky-back foam which can be drawn on, cut out and then stuck onto card to make a quick printing stamp for  embroidery.

Fran demonstrated how to trace a motif and then transfer to the foam cutting out the shape and attaching to card.

Members started by drawing or tracing a shape and then transferring it to the paper side of the foam.

Members then cut out the foam and stuck it to the card and the stamp was ready for printing.

Extra lines could be inscribed on the foam [to add texture] by drawing and pressing with a pencil or using a scalpel.

Some delightful stamps were produced and tried out on scraps of paper. They were then used on fabric producing patterns and pictures.

The patterns and pictures can be used as backgrounds or embroidered into as a central motif. The options are endless!

A big thank you to Fran for setting up and leading the workshop which members thoroughly enjoyed.

Members who brought their own work to do took the opportunity to embroider sharing what they were doing with like-minded friends.

It was a busy and productive day and our Best Wishes for another successful year go to the new Chair, Fran Walker and the new committee.