May Newsletter from Pat

                  

Newsletter

 May 2011

The North West Regional meeting at Lytham St Annes was enjoyable – the talk was interesting, the facilities including lunch were very good, and there was ample opportunity for some retail therapy.  Five of us attended and met lots of people from other branches in the county.  In April, those of us who managed to attend enjoyed the talk given by Jackie Cardy, and had great fun playing with inks and dyes during the afternoon.  A good chance to see some lovely artistic items from  Jackie, and appreciate her journey to her very individual style.  A good day with an inspiring tutor. 

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Our Next meeting - Thursday, 19^th May at the Friends’ Meeting House, is The Stitch Makes an Image - an opportunity to further the theme of using just one stitch to create a piece of work, using different threads, colours, etc. 

This time we will take one stitch (either one you have been pursuing in the last two of the series, or another you would like to try) and create a simple landscape or image that is recognisable, using the one stitch in any size, any direction.  Bring a picture that would guide you, if it helps.  Bring your normal sewing equipment including fabric, and sewing threads of different thickness and of a colour palette you would like.  Bring along your own lunch (or Booths beckons over the road),  and be prepared for a pleasant time, sharing ideas and producing a masterpiece! 

'Other' POSTCARDS

This is your one chance to take part in the (cultural)version of the International Festival of sport taking place in London in 2012!   As you all know, our country is Lesotho and we would like to discuss any information that you have assembled about the country, with a view to taking a short break during the May meeting to discuss the way forward on this project. 

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THE OUTING

June 16^th – we will be visiting Askham Church to view the four sets of church altar cloths and vestments created by Josephine Radcliffe, a professional embroiderer from Kendal.  We will share lifts, and arrange to meet in Askham for an 11am start in the Church, followed by lunch later, probably in Pooley Bridge.  (Perhaps even a boat ride to follow if weather permits?).  Please contact Pat during the May meeting to book your place for this opportunity to get a close-up look at some truly beautiful embroideries.  If you can’t make the May meeting and still want to come on 16^th June, ‘phone Pat and we will try to arrange mutually conventient lifts.

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Upcoming Exhibitions during the summer

Woolfest 2011 is taking place at Cockermouth on Friday and Saturday, 24^th and 25^th June.  You can also book onto workshops and lectures, which are listed in the WoolClip shop at Caldbeck, or can be seen on their website – www.woolfest.co.uk

If you’re out and about in the North West:

Textile 21 present a Retrospective at Studio Art Gallery, Warrington, Friday 6 May till Saturday 4 June.

Threads Transformed – exhibition of textile work from Preston Threads at Rossendale Museum, 7 May till 31 July.

Anthology (Textile Art inspired by Poetry) – by Embroidery 2000 at The Fylde Art Gallery 9 May till 4 June.  (Includes work by Jackie Cardy, our recent tutor).

South Cheshire Embroiderers’ Guild 21^st Anniversary Exhibition – Audlem, Cheshire from 22 till 25 September. 

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ON YOUR PC

I may have already flagged this up, but you will find some interesting stuff on www.colouricious.com , and they send you some lovely short videos on various techniques, once you’re on their mailing list.  Might just inspire you?

If you have any ideas for items for the Newsletter, or know of anything coming up which might interest our readers, please contact me.  In the meantime, I hope to see you on the 19^th May.    

To dye for........ April workshop

What an exciting day we had!   We were low on numbers today, as several members who had planned to come couldn't make it. They missed a treat.


Jackie Cardy , whose work we had been looking forward to seeing for real, began by giving us an idea of her journey into textiles, and showing us examples of stunning work. There was an astonishing variety of techniques here, and we were fascinated by the stories behind some of the pieces! 

Then we got to work, as Jackie took us through the art of dyeing teabag paper. What fun!   With lots of samples to bring home, ranging from vibrant to subtle, we should all have plenty of inspiration for our own work. It will be interesting to see what we all make with our dyed 'fabric'.  Jackie generously left us with some teabag paper and dyes, so those who missed the workshop may yet get the chance to have a go!

Many thanks to Jackie for a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Folded Book...... Lynda Monk Workshop and April Meeting

The only workshop I did at the recent 'Fashion Embroidery and Stitch ' Show in Birmingham was with  Lynda Monks, making a book with clever folded pages, using some of her mixed-media techniques. The sample books she had on display for this workshop looked very exotic, and it was intriguing to see how some of the effects were arrived at. Seeing the ideas in books is always interesting, but there is nothing quite like being shown how to achieve the results!  Lynda is generous with her ideas and encouragement, and everyone in the workshop managed to end up with a lovely book. Mine, actually, would benefit from some more embellishment on the cover, which it will get, someday!

In the meantime, some pictures of my book in its present state, and a link to Lynda's website, where she is known as purplemissus.        Her blog entry about the NEC show is here, and she has much better pictures of the books.




A reminder about April's workshop .


This is a talk by Jackie Cardy about her work (see her blog, Dog Daisy chains, on our list), followed by an afternoon session of 'playing about with shibori dyeing', using inks and teabag tissue paper which is very easy to dye and can be used as a fabric, or base for embroidery later. It promises to be messy but interesting!


Requirements;


Rubber gloves and apron
Plastic to work on (even a cat litter tray might be useful in case of spillage)
Strong cotton thread to bind and perhaps stitch   needle required.
Plastic clamps or clothes pegs
Some squares of thick card about 2inches square (roughly)
* Tubes for tie dyeing. These can be plastic drain pipe type about 1to 2in dia, and at least 12 ins long. If you don't have any you can wrap a cardboard tube in clingfilm..... bring a few if you can.  Different thicknesses give different results.
Scissore  (Not fine embroidery type.)
Polythene bags to take dyed wet' fabrics' home




You are also invited to bring along your own inks or dyes and fabrics , if you have them. Jackie will provide us all with 20 sheets of teabag tissue paper 12" x approx 30" ; a charge of about £1 will be made for these. 

Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch 2011

It hardly seems possible that this show has come round again, but on Thursday I set off at 6.30am bound for the NEC , planning to spend  two whole days  being inspired. It lived up to expectations, and I have included some images from the visit.

Mermaid in her watery grotto.

These  pictures show bits of the 'Above and below the Waves' life-size project created to raise money for the RNLI, and part of the Sewing for Pleasure section of the show. Everything is knitted, apparently by over one thousand knitters. The detail is amazing!

An old sea-dog with knitted lobster!

The cliffs, complete with lighthouse and seagulls!

A day on the beach

Next, images of the costumes made by two French artists. Very theatrical, and beautifully-made, they are the work of Ollivier henry and Jean-Noel Lavesvre. Photographs can't do them justice; they were truly incredible.

No wonder they needed help to dress!

Unbelievably beautiful detail!

My favourite.......very very pretty!

Gorgeous Goldwork!

I also loved the exhibition celebrating Jan Messent's work, 'Recreating Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon Artifacts. The original pieces that were shown in her recent book were on display, and fascinating to see close up. I was lucky enough to meet Jan as she passed through.

Lots of textile groups have displays of work here; I was directed to the 'Through the Wardrobe' exhibit, based on the theme of Narnia, by Fulcrum.  It was a collection of evocative hangings based on snow, and very effective.

I really enjoyed talking to textile artists from groups all over the country and fitted in one workshop, Lynda Monks' class. We made a lovely folded pocket book, from spunbond, using foils to decorate, and soldering iron to finish the pages and cover. Examples of these books I saw beforehand looked so exotic, and difficult, but we all managed to produce an equally attractive version in the hour we had for the class, and I will photograph mine at some time in the future.

If anyone else from Keswick Embroiderers got to the show this year, I'd like to post their pictures and impressions, too.

March Meeting, and Squares

We met today for the second of our sessions working on the 'Mystery stitch'.  We spent the time investigating the possibilities of the stitch we 'chose' last time, and looking at the effects of changing the size, direction, and the thickness of thread.

We were  surprised by the arrival of a visitor, and even more surprised when she turned out to be Jackie Cardy, who is due to join us for our April meeting. She was in Keswick with her husband,  realised it was our meeting day, and popped in to say 'hello'!  Now we can put a face to the name on the Dog Daisy Chains blog, and we look forward to seeing her next month.


More of the squares for the Meeting House are now complete. They all look very different, as members have used their own choice of techniques to interpret the brief. Here  are some.........................

We ( or at least, I ) don't know exactly how they're going to be displayed, so it will be interesting to see the final result.

Embroidery in St Bees Church

This is the new superfrontal recently dedicated in St Bees Priory Church. 

www.stbees.org.uk

Several members of the church's embroidery group worked on the large and heavy frontal, but the beautiful and skilful embroidery on the superfrontal itself is the brainchild of just two of them, and the work, mostly, of one.  (Not me!). The Priory has other pieces of embroidery to look at if you are in the area, the Millenium wallhanging, and lots of seat cushions, etc, mainly in the sanctuary and the Lady Chapel. It's also an interesting church to visit for its history, and for two pieces of modern sculpture made specially for the church.

More Squares

Here are some more of the squares for the Friends Meeting house in Keswick;

Red, as you can see!