'Take a Photograph' and interpret it in stitch

This month's stitching 'challenge' was inspired by Sue Hotchkiss' talk on how she uses photography in her work.  Members were asked simply to base their stitching on details in a photograph they had taken, interpreted in any way they liked.  As you can see, the results were as always very varied and imaginative.

Sue had briefly demonstrated the technique of paper lamination, and some members decided to have a go at that.

Diane took a photo of seaweed, laminated it onto organza, then stitched it as if it was a flat piece.  To add texture, she then used some iron-on shirring fabric, which made it shrink and bubble to create convincing seaweed texture:

Susanna said she was very much out of her comfort zone with this challenge, but really enjoyed it nevertheless. She was inspired by some online pictures of cell structures, and used them to create an abstract piece. 

"Sue Hotchkiss encourages us to look beyond the ordinary and see the beauty in urban landscapes, I was particularly inspired by a picture she shared of rust - the colours were simply stunning, definitely a rival for all the sunrises I have been watching.

"I found the course liberating, having always stuck to close representational work, it was freeing to simply allow the piece to evolve - stitching in circles created a bobbling effect and the felt seems to grow peaks and troughs. I found that close stitched ares became the valleys and areas left unstitched became hills and mountains. It was also liberating to focus on colour combinations and enjoy the movement of one shade to another. The time passed so quickly and it is an exercise I will revisit often."

  

Cheryl used this distinctively marked stone as the starting point for her machine stitched piece on beautifully colour-matched fabric:

Gill's photo of the patterns made by tyre tracks on newly painted road markings inspired her machine stitched piece.  She says the piece is stitched mainly from the back with perlé thread in the bobbin as an experiment, and she changed the colours. The fabric is silk and the raspberry coloured lines were stitched on soluble fabric, cut out and appliquéd.

A photo of some rusty metal found on a beach inspired Sue to create lots of colour and texture:

It's been fabulous to have the chance to see these lovely pieces again, and many thanks to all who have shared their creativity with us.  Please keep sending your photos to: leamingtondistrictitrep@embroiderersguild.co.uk