More inspiring work

Elizabeth, one of our Junior Embroiderers, has shared photos of work she has been creating over the past few weeks.

Firstly, she has been working on this piece while she and her Mum have been sitting together chatting and stitching trees:

and these two completed pieces have been stitched from kits:

Such lovely neat stitching!

Members have also been sharing pieces they have completed since our 'Take a Book' session a couple of weeks ago.

Mary's personal project was to create a sample using metals, sweet wrappers and copper shim, following the instructions in Alysn Midgelow-Marsden's book, Stitch, Fibre, Metal and Mixed Media.  Mary created her background fabric using metals and sheers, and then progressed to making a cover for her lap top.   

The book Sue used is mixed media and useful for inspiration, although she says that some of the instructions are a bit limited. "I've knitted with strips of paper, painted it and stitched with sari strips and beads. I then made paper casts using printing blocks, and the casts have been made into mini books using Soft Form Relief Paste - something else I found on my shelf."

Shay's chose her book because it has so many idea. She says, "I printed some fabric using printing blocks which I also pressed into the blue blocks so I had positive and negative. These will be made into cards."

There is such variety in everyone's work, and it's so good to be able to see the work in more detail than a brief showing on Zoom can provide.

"Take a book ..." co-create session

Members who took part in this challenge last Saturday said they really enjoyed it, and were enthusiastic about having a go at something they might not have thought about otherwise.

Most people were happy to share what they had created at the afternoon Zoom show-and-tell session, and it was wonderful to see such a wide variety of ideas and fabulous pieces produced in such a short time.

Here is another look at some of those.  We would be delighted to post more pictures if anyone else would like to share theirs.

Carole:

Gill:

Gill's owl was inspired by the flamingo made by Sarah Louise Matthews in this book, which illustrates layering.
"I will be putting him in my lockdown samples book. This only took 3 hours work, so next time I could do the technique with more care."

Judi:

Judi says, "I still have more hand stitching and beads, etc to add. The piece is approx 6"x6". It includes paper fabric, painted Bondaweb ironed onto velvet, painted and stamped tags, copper sheets, cut into various shapes, embossed, and painted with alcohol inks, then 'aged' using gesso.  Pieces of the 'paper' fabric were cut into strips, machine embroidered onto a calico/felt background. Each was then embellished with the various elements of mixed media. Organza was added to some strips, and some 'friendly plastic' was also incorporated."

Margherita:

Margherita used Anne Kelly's Textile Folk Art to make a folding book, using nuno felt backed with kozo paper and machine-stitched appliqué. 

Jenny:

Jenny's piece is from the chapter ‘Unfolding story’ by Amanda Hislop, but she is making cards instead of a folding book.  (Great idea! - Ed.)

Please send your photos to: leamingtondistrictitrep@embroiderersguild.co.uk

"Take a book ... " challenge

Our co-create day last Saturday was a challenge, in a fun way, to take a book and use it as inspiration for a piece of stitching to do on the day. We almost all have textile-related books on our shelves - some we refer to regularly, and others that tend to be less well used - and so this was an opportunity to challenge ourselves to try something new or different.

We convened via Zoom in the morning for a short presentation compiled by Gill of pictures shared by the Travelling Book group, who had previously had a go at this challenge.  Below you can see their pages again, and in the next post we will share pictures of pieces created on the day.

JETS makes

As promised, here are some of the items that Junior Embroiderers have made since they were last able to meet.

Firstly, Emily made this beautifully decorated bird as a school project:

                                          

New member, Lara completed her cactus, which was a recent theme, with lots of beads and a flower:

and Amy made this fabulous array of hearts to sent to Coventry University Hospital:

Well done, girls!

More photos on our Instagram page: @leam.embroiderers.guild

Junior Embroiderers 2021

Our Junior Embroiderers have been very busy during lockdown, making items for themselves and gifts for others.  There is more about that in a separate post, but for now a quick update on what we will be doing this year.

We are planning a Zoom sew-along, which will involve each junior member with a helper, to produce a set of personalised bunting that can be used at events later on.

When we are able to return to the hall safely, our theme will be 

fairies, elves, pixies, woodland and nature  

tiny items to be made for an exhibit - a possible DeDenne competition entry.  When we do return to the hall, it may be necessary to split the group to comply with church requirements.  This will involve lots of helpers and co-ordination, and so we really will need more helpers to join in, please.

I would be very happy to hear from you if you can give a few hours on a Saturday, 9.30 - 11.45 am or 12.30 - 3.00 pm (or both!).  The JETS are mixed ages, and all we require is your ability to thread needles, sit on a chair, drink coffee, and smile. 😊 The JETS do the rest.

Happy Sewing!

Lucy 

Please contact:

JETS Group Leader, 

leamingtondistrictjets@gmail.com

* * * * * * * 

www.youngembroiderers.com 

also has lots of information for young embroiders and textile students.

Member stitching and "Take a Book" session

A gorgeous stitched portrait by Jenny of her 3-year old grandson - a gift for his parents.

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We're really looking forward to this Saturday's (9th January) stitch session:

Take a Book

The idea is simply to take a book off the shelf, and use the opportunity in the morning to try a new technique, start a new design or play with new colour combinations or threads.  Anything goes .... just have fun.

We will get together again in the afternoon for a show-and-tell.

Please contact leamingtondistrictdaysch@gmail.com if you have any queries or have not received Zoom login details.