Wednesday 10 December 2014

November meeting.....Mary Taylor


 
 
Embroidered Landscapes

On Thursday 20th November we were very pleased to welcome Mary Taylor to our meeting to tell us about her embroidered landscapes.

          Mary has a unit in Farfield Mill in Sedbergh where she usually works and displays her pictures etc. for sale but on this morning had come to Keswick to show us how she makes them. And what a treat it was!

          Backed up with her excellent photographs of the landscapes she is depicting, Mary was very generous with her information regarding her methods of working and the fabrics and threads she uses. She had many samples to hand round showing us the various stages of her work and demonstrated each of the steps she takes to achieve her amazing results.

          Her talk and demonstration was interesting, informative and inspiring and left many of our members fired up with enthusiasm to “give it a go”. Mary, however, has been making these landscapes for several years, since completing her City and Guilds, and thus has perfected her techniques, so I do not think she needs worry about any serious competition any time in the near, or even the middle distant future!


Thanks to Val for this report, on a meeting I was very disappointed to miss!  I don't have any pictures of Mary's talk; hopefully someone might send me some. However, here is a link to Mary's website where you can check out her work.
 


Monday 17 November 2014

Embroiderers Guild North East Exhibition


Faith, Inspiration and Stitch
 
 




I loved this exhibition in Ripon Cathedral in the summer. It was such an inspiration to have the Lindisfarne Gospels at Durham last year, and the work produced by Northeast Embroiderers was stunning......
 
(I couldn't get the some of the pictures without the reflections from the Cathedral windows, but actually, I think it's quite apt!)
 
 
 
 


 
 

 
 


Great work by Young Embroiderers. Two different groups, interpreting lettering in different ways. All lovely.



 


  1. These lovely panels are knitted!  Very clever, and very beautiful.

 
Wonderful exhibition!
 
 



Monday 10 November 2014

October , November meetings



After September's AGM, members showed some of their finished projects.....

 
 Bag made from embroidery on squares of plastic canvas....

 

 
Lyn's hat, completed after Sara Gadd's Sinamay workshop

 
Quilted cushion
 
Then. our October Sit and Stitch meeting was an opportunity to catch up on some unfinished projects.
 
 
 
Canvaswork....

 
Blackwork

 
Patchwork....

 
Development of design ideas after a Quilters' Guild workshop.........

 
Counted thread........

 
Goldwork.......
 

Wednesday 29 October 2014

North West Regional Exhibition Tied by stitches



Our day out!
 
 
 
It seems a very long time ago now, when we went as a group for our annual day out to the Northwest Regional exhibition, 'Tied by Stitches' at the Storey Gallery in Lancaster.
 
Here are a few of the creations that caught my eye. My apologies if I've got any of the names wrong!
 
 
 
 
Ros Cormack


 
Tie Challenge
 
Sandra Kedzlie


 
Jackie Cardy

 
Anne Stark

 
 
Nicola Robinson
 
 
Group project; textile interpretation of Van Gogh's famous painting.
 
 
 
It was a lovely exhibition, and some of our members took the opportunity to put stitches in the longest embroidery while it was here!


 
 

 
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Saturday 2 August 2014

Biennial Exhibition

 
 July 2014
 
Exhibition of work
 
 
At last..... pictures of our recent exhibition at Keswick's Moot Hall. It poured with rain all day; whether or not this affected the number of visitors we had is hard to say, but we were kept busy most of the time, and people seemed pleased with what they saw.
 
 
A selection......some crewel work, Sinamay flowers from a workshop with Sara Gadd,
 
a vessel sculpted from felt, by Marilyn, and an intricate patchwork rose cushion by Debbie.
 
 
 
Stern-looking owls........
 


 
Cheeky mice...............
 
 
Fabric boxes made during a workshop led by Marilyn......
 
 
These dolls were the results of workshop led by Debbie. Each one is meant to reflect the persona of its creator!

 

 
Gloria led this workshop, using the Stitch magazine article 'Dandy birds'

 
Felt by, (I think) Marilyn.
 
 
 
Welcoming friends from the Quilters' Guild......
 
 
A variety of offerings........

 
Embellished felt..................

 

 
The Tombola..................

 
Sales table.....................
 
 
Lovely tile designs,  made on a Quilters' Guild day that several members attended, taught by Yvonne Brown. They used a reverse applique technique, cotton fabric, heat- reactive felt, a soldering iron and a heat gun!
 
 
These Little Owls were made on Lizzie Wall's workshop.

 
Debbie's  (I think) patchwork
 
 
Lots of tea and cake.....................

 
Phew!  A good day!
 
 
We were pleasantly surprised by how many different techniques we'd worked on over two years. We had a lovely day, and can look forward to next year. We have our AGM on September  18th, followed by a Show and Tell session in the afternoon.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.
 
 
 
 
 

Friday 27 June 2014

 
 
Exhibition
 
Our exhibition of work will take place at The Moot Hall, in the centre of Keswick, on the 4th July, from 10am to 4pm.
 
Entry is free, and refreshments will be available all day. members' work will be on show, and there will be a fabric tombola, a sales table, a sale of pre-owned embroidery books and magazines.
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 3 June 2014

May Meeting Beading





Beaded Bookmark
 
 
 
Our May meeting was a workshop with  Gillian Forsyth, who took on the challenge of teaching us how to make a beaded bookmark. I think it's fair to say that our experience of beading was varied, and some of us found it harder to pick up than others! Fairly good eyesight, a steady hand and concentration seem to be the key to this, and there were many expressions of frustration as we mastered the first few steps. 
 
 
          Gillian brought with her examples of her lovely work to encourage us.
 
 
 



 
 
The scale and intricacy of these items is amazing.
 
 
 
The tools and the beads......

 
And one finished bookmark, notably made by a visitor, who is a beader!
 
Ours are still in progress, and will be finished, hopefully, by the exhibition in July.
 
A good day!