Life is to short ....

Very sad as Dianne, a lovely friend, passed away on Thursday this week having had cancer for some time. She is seen here demonstrating her miniature Bernina sewing machine to us all at Venture Group.  Unbelievably she found it in a charity shop and they had no idea what it was so she got it at a bargain price. We are all going to miss her so much.  She was a talented and inspiring person, always so full of joy and enthusiasm for everything.

Early Christmas Lunch?

Met friends from the Running Stitchers (Venture 2) today for lunch at Bevere Gallery nr Worcester.  It was lovely to see everyone and catch up with what they have been doing over the past few months, especially the person who had travelled all the way from Islington to join in the fun.

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of coffee ....

A bit of 'Show and Tell' going on here ....

The dreaded mobile phone makes an appearance!!

The Green Dilemma

Many months ago the Running Stitchers decided to participate in a challenge using green fabric.  Each member of the group put a piece of fabric into 11 packets.  We all took a packet of 11 assorted fabrics each, plus some green beads someone had added.  We were meant to finish the final piece by our November meeting, but due to various reasons several members had not finished, or even started, by the deadline.  I have really struggled with mine as firstly I did not like the fabrics which were to hand and secondly I did not really have any enthusiasm for the challenge.

I have now almost finished my piece of work and it has to fit in an Ikea square box frame I just happened to have rolling around.  Although I carefully measured each piece to ensure the finished size would be correct it has been a struggle.

Reed Pen and Ink

On Wednesday one member of the Running Stitchers group very kindly brought along an A3 sized piece of paper, ink and pens made from dried reeds collected along the Worcester Canal for each of us.  We all had such tremendous fun, particularly when using extra long reeds which gave very little control over what was happening at the nib end on the paper ... not sure who did what now but some interesting marks

An onion was an option for those who wanted something to draw ....

Quink Ink with a splash of water

Some prefer a smaller scale

 

Could this be a compulsive doodler?

This Green and not so Pleasant Stitching

Shamed by those who have already finished theirs I have now attacked the bag of 11 pieces of green fabric and a packet of beads, which form part of a challenge for "Running Stitchers". I aim to make something interesting with them, she says confidantly!!  I used the larger pieces to make some small squares which will either be based on Cathedral Windows or the Secret Garden technique.  Then I might stuff some of these with the flimsier fabrics and add beads to others, who knows.  It is work in progress at the moment.

Remaining fabric choices

Pear Updated

Since yesterday have found time to add some machine stitching to the pear.  I still do not like the edges where the colour has bled and I had to balance the grey from the right hand side to the left hand side.  Must say it does look as thought it has sunk into a cushion!  The fabric needs stretching to remove the wrinkles too.  Nothing like a wrinkly pear!!

Could be Pear Shaped

 Our Venture Group (Running Stitchers) met this morning and apart from other things a couple of people in the group showed us all some uses for Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water soluble wax crayons.  I drew a pear onto plain white cotton fabric.  It was then wetted with a paintbrush and water.  I found the colour bled into the surrounding fabric.

 I then made a rough sketch onto some smooth cartridge paper and whilst at first this seemed more controllable, the overall outcome was less satisfactory.

A bonus from making these experiments was the bleed through onto the kitchen towel that was placed beneath the fabric prior to wetting it.  I must now get the sewing machine out and do some stitching on the fabric pear.

War Poem

I have been messing around this morning trying to add some detail to the earlier piece based on an Edward Thomas poem and the above print was an accidental result.  I used a piece of artist's canvas that had previously been primed with gesso (or something similar).  The barbed wire is a thermofax screen from a drawing and the fence-like structure is from a piece of mountboard with elastic bands stretched over it which was rollered with fabric ink.

The skyline was the biggest surprise.  I had not noticed it until I folded the fabric to get it in the scanner.  It is from where I cleaned the roller and it has given a surprising image which fits well with this topic.

Still not happy with the other piece thought, so may start again.

The words are:-

... watched the plough narrowing a yellow square of charlock. Every time the horses turned instead of treading me down, the ploughman leaned upon the handles to say or ask a word, about the weather, next about the war.  Scraping the share he faced towards the wood, and screwed along the furrow till the brass flashed once more ...

Running Stitchers Project

Talk about winging it ...  I have no idea what I am doing with the above piece.  It started off with me painting the background onto a piece of Silk Noil with Inktense bars.  The idea was that it was a square of Charlock with ploughing being carried out in a circular direction.  I then added some snippets of coloured chiffon to the sky.  Now I am stuck again.  If this piece ever gets finished in time it will be a miracle.

Worcester TJ Part 3

Inspiration

Resolved piece (loved this)

March Artwork - must have a go at this

March resolved piece

This piece folded out of the sketchbook

May inspiration pg 2

May inspiration pg3

Resolved piece for May based on a tile design by Peggy Angus for Carters Tiles.

The entry for May was amazing and was so relevant after being to Compton Verney as they have a collection of Enid Marx' work and Folk Art Collection.

Worcester TJ Part 2

August pg 1

August resolved piece

June artwork pg 1

June Resolved piece

July Artwork

July resolved piece

Worcester Travelling Journal

On Wednesday the Running Stitchers group I am a member of had a lovely day out at Compton Verney.  As part of the day we all returned our Travelling Journals to the originator with an entry in it from all of the participating members and it was so exciting.  So much so that I have decided to blog the pages from mine so others can share the pleasure of looking at them.

They are in no particular order and other pages will follow in due course:-

October Inspiration

October Resolved Piece

November Inspiration

November resolved piece

The November entry was very interesting because this person has used the same inspiration in everyone's TJ, but resolved them in a different way in each.  The threads on this piece were created at a dying day we had and the fabric was printed on another occasion when we had a full day monoprinting.

Inspiration based on a piece by Helen Banzhaf

September Resolved Piece

Venture Group Print Day

On Wednesday of this week we spent a whole day printing.  General theme was monoprinting, however, we all tried things we have been wanting to do for a while with some stunning results.  I took along my Geli printing plate which I have had since the summer and not tried.  I was so surprised with the results.  Another member of the group also has a Geli Plate, but has found a cheaper method to make your own plate using Gelatine and Glycerine so she demonstrated that.

Sliced Apples on Geli Plate

Apples plus plastic canvas

I then decided to try out some of the techniques that I had seen Hilary Beattie demonstrating at the NEC Quilt Show in the summer.  (I forgot to pre-treat my cotton fabric with soda solution, however I am still pleased with the results.)  I used white acrylic paint over a plastic stencil and, when it was dry, dragged Procion dye thickened with Manutex over the fabric with a small squeegee.  I have now washed out the Manutex, adding Synthrapol to the water, and the colours are slightly lighter than when I started but I am sure I will be able to use the fabric for something.

This is the piece of paper I used to clean my stencils, rubbing mat and stamp pad on.  It then had a coating of diluted Procion dye washed over it.  Fire Engine Red and a mixture of Mid Blue and Antique Gold made the green.

Playtime

An article in the latest edition of 'Stitch' magazine prompted me get out my sample pack and try this material out.  It is called 'Texture Magic' in the article, but the sample pack calls it 'Shrink Polyester'.  I used natural fibres and cotton thread and have now dyed the piece.  Left to right - I stitched circles, random zigzag and straight stitches and finally vermicelli. You then hold the steam iron over the work until it shrinks by approximately 30%.  I then joined the samples together to form a mini quilt and the dyed piece will go into one of the Travelling Journals I am participating in.

I have also been making a calico apron to replace my rather worn out Muji denim one which is developing a hole in it where I keep wiping my paint scraper on it, plus a couple of drawstring bags to store the Travelling Journals in.  I have just received another Yorkshire Travelling Journal in the post and it is wonderful filling me with the enthusiasm I need to get on with some proper stitching instead of messing about.  Unfortunately the next few days will be taken up with household tasks that must be done as the boiler is getting serviced and - at long last - the bedroom, bathroom and ensuite are getting some flooring laid.  It might start to look like a real house now instead of a 'WIP'!!

Jinney Ring

As we do not normally meet in August, eight members of The Running Stitchers met up for lunch at Jinney Ring Craft Centre on Wednesday.  It gave us an opportunity to exchange our Travelling Journals for the month.  We had a lovely time dining and chatting followed by a walk in the grounds and browse around the many craft shops.  Most appropriately there were lots of 'Running' ducks - Indian Runners I believe.  Very comical.  Very difficult to photograph as they will not stand still ....

3 August 2013

Worcester Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild organised two venues in and around Worcester on Saturday as part of the national "Celebration of Stitch".  Our group, who are also members of one of the Venture groups "Running Stitchers", were outside at the Guild Hall.  Would you not think after all this beautiful weather we could have expected a nice dry day.  Oh No!!  It decided to rain heavily mid morning and we had several showers and all got very wet.

The staff at the Guild Hall were so helpful and found space for us to move inside at lunchtime.  Then the sun came out so some members went outside again with a table, fabric and materials and carried on stitching.

However, we did enjoy ourselves and we were bouyed up by some willing members of the public who kindly added some stitches to our Stitching Line.

Can you see thesweet little pink bird on this section?

The lovely lady who made this butterfly had not stitched for years and had developed problems with her eyesight in recent years.  I think she did a brilliant job.