St Bees Priory, and Glasgow....... Out and about in March.

 

 

St Bees Priory Embroidery

 

This is a sample of the latest embroidered furnishings made by the St Bees Priory Embroidery Group. Originally, ten seat cushions were made for wooden chairs in the Church; one of the objectives being to use the wools and silks left over from earlier projects.

 

The design on each cushion was basically the same, and the same stitches were used for each one. They were designed, however, using subtle differences in the colours, so that only two or three were the same.

 

They were stitched in wool and stranded cotton, and they are very impressive. Difficult to photograph, though!  Mounted in a velvet fabric, they are a sort of trapezoidal shape, to fit the chairs. My role  in the making of the embroidery is as a stitcher; the designs are the work of one talented lady who is also expert at the upholstery side, once the stitching is finished. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After these were finished, some more chairs were found, so more of the cushions are currently being stitched, along with a new project. This is very ambitious, and may take some time!

 

 

Sewing, Stitch and Quilting Show, Glasgow

 

Quilting played a bigger part in this show than in the past, and these are some of the images I brought back......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......along with fabric, patterns, ideas, and a new Rotary Cutter!

 

 

March Informal

March Informal Meeting

 

 

Our informal meeting, usually held in Threlkeld, are always an opportunity to work on our own projects, to 'show and tell' work we've finally completed, and catch up with chat and news. This month, several members brought books started at February's workshop, led by Marilyn. It 's fairly unusual for so many of us to go home and finish things off so quickly!

 

Here are some of the books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several of us have plans to make more, so thank-you, Marilyn.

 

 

 

This is an ongoing piece of work by Debbie, in wool felt.

 

Another of Janet's knitted teddies made his appearance, too.





Marilyn's Mystery

Marilyn's Mystery

 

 

 

The mystery was solved at our February meeting, when Marilyn revealed the subject of her workshop. We were to make a small book, by weaving a variety of threads and fabrics into a canvas background, which she had coloured for us.

 

 

 

 

These were two of the examples Marilyn had brought to show us, and we set to work.

 

We had all brought different threads and fabrics, including raffia, ribbons, string and sari silk, and Marilyn had plentiful extra 'bits'.

 

 

 

Once the canvas had been covered, out came the sewing machines!

 

 

 

 

We were shown how to machine over the (quite bulky) woven mat, and to finish the edges , before cutting the piece to size.

 

The book pages that had been prepared for us were ready to be inserted..............

 

At this point, I had to leave, so did not get the chance to photograph finished work. I'm sure most people went home with a completed book. Pictures when I get them!

 

This was a satisfying and fun workshop, thanks to Marilyn's hard work preparing everything we needed, and clear instructions.

 

Next, Janet's knitted Teddy, who made her debut at the February informal.

 

 

 

 



November meeting.....Mary Taylor

 

 

Embroidered Landscapes

On Thursday 20^th 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.

www.marytaylorartist.co.uk 

 



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!

 

 





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.......