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.

Raffle Last Days of Summer

 

Finished Pieces of Work

Alison has finished her work on velvet and it looks beautiful.

I love the contrast of the mid blue with the ochre which produces a lovely background for the cow parsley and dragonflies.

You have used an amazing range of techniques to provide interest.

Thank you Alison.  It's lovely.
 

Sandra has finished her last two demo pieces.

The first one is a smack of jellyfish.

The second one is a garden with butterflies.

Thank you Sandra

Mary has made a very beautiful small quilt of flowers and geometric shapes. The colours are very pretty from pale pinks to dark pinky-reds.

It is now hanging in her kitchen to brighten up a plain white wall.

Thank you Mary it is lovely.

Sandra has finished two of her demonstration pieces from Working On Velvet

She has tidied them both up, added beads to the lizard and French knots for eyes in swallows.

She is still working on the other two pieces.

Alison has completed her work on circles and produced a pattern with beautifully muted shades of felt, over embroidered modifying the colours and producing texture. 

Well done Alison!

Working on Velvet- Sandra Kendall July Meeting 2023

 This month our workshop was led by Sandra Kendall one of our own members who had brought samples of work she had made on velvet.

She told us velvet was a lovely fabric to work on because of its sheen, ability to take colour and its sumptuousness. We would be working in stages building up our embroideries from scratch.

Sandra demonstrated painting our velvet with Dye na flow using two colours and allowing the colours to flow slightly.

After members had painted their velvet they dried it with a hairdryer and then they were ready to print with textile paint using bought and hand-made blocks.

It was suggested they build up dense printing at the bottom to provide depth to the piece and print a few special prints in the lighter shade which would be brought to life by embroidery.

Members chose to print flowers, dragonflies, butterflies, fish, birds etc. as their special prints which would be embroidered heavily later.

Adding gold/silver paper with bondaweb was also demonstrated for anyone who wanted to add gold highlights.

Most members got as far as the printing. Sandra demonstrated attaching the sheer over the top of the piece.

The sheer does two things, it supports the stitches so they stay on top of the pile and it can also be used to enhance or modify the colour.

The piece can then be machine stitched or handstitched using a continual stitch on the darker shade e.g. granite stitch[machine] or a line stitch[hand]. This produces a lovely texture.

Individual stamps are then stitched more heavily to make them come to the front.

This beautifully printed hare once it has been embroidered will pop to the front giving more depth to the picture.

Sandra showed everyone how to cut back the sheer and then finish with a heat gun once all the embroidery was finished.

Beads and buttons can be added at this stage.

Members took home their half finished pieces to complete at home and soon we will see some beautifully finished embroideries made completely from scratch.

Well done to everyone and thank you Sandra