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.

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking Raffle February 2025

 

Blackwork Scissor Case - Bev Mounsey February Meeting 2025

 

Finished Pieces of Work

Sandra has made a cubist style face with her "pieces from the jar" with different emotions showing on opposite sides of the face. She used machine stitching to join the pieces together and then hand embroidered details.

She has even used the strawberry decorating the top of the jar turning it into a necklace!

Thank you Sandra for an interesting piece.

Karen has just finished her memory quilt made from "the items in a jar".

She has used the fabrics well to give us a glimpse of a holiday scene. It reminds her of when she went to Fuerteventura on holiday in 2024 and she had a enjoyable time with some of her family.

Looking at those beautifully coloured cocktails you can almost feel the sun and hear the waves lapping on the beach as the sand runs between your toes.

Thank you Karen for a lovely cheerful piece.

Sewing Items in a Jar - Use the contents to make something! -January Meeting 2025

 This was the first meeting of the New Year and our numbers were down because of snow and severe frost making travelling difficult. However there were enough of us to have a good fun meeting and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

We were then given a number that corresponded to a jar full of interesting things for us to use. The contents were all different and it was up to us what we made with them.

Some members had an idea what they would be making while others let ideas develop from the materials.

Many members used their fabric for patchwork.

As members were working there was lots of laughter as members tried out different ideas and there was also some swapping of material to get a good colour or pattern!

Some members made landscape pictures.

Those who had blue and white fabrics immediately made a winter scene based on what it was like outside.

One member made a Small memory Quilt.

Some made other pictures.

It was a good fun meeting even though nothing was finished but it was nice to be back into the routine of stitching again.

Because of the weather, members began to drift home early taking with them their ideas to finish at home with hand/machine stitching and then embellish if needed.

A big thank you to the committee for arranging the task for us which we all enjoyed and we are looking forward to seeing the finished items.