April Meeting

Almost a full house this week and a welcome to another new member.  Everyone busy finishing off for the exhibition or in some cases, sitting back and doing other things as they have finished!  Jackie spent the day making a banner for us to hang outside to advertise the exhibition which looks great.  Jackie on the sewing machine, Cath ironing and Caroline picking out stitch and tear - made a good team.  Anyone who can, come and see us on either the 13th or 14th May between 10am and 4pm at Ayton Village Hall, YO13 9HY.  We will have tea and cake at the ready and a sales table and raffle as well as a brilliant collection of work.  There is a cafe nearby if you want something more substantial and you can spend the rest of the day by the seaside or in nearby Forge Valley which is a beautiful spot.

A preview of some of the postcards we have all been doing.

This might be Pam's work, certainly someone who has finished their 'Under the Canopy'

Maureen is doing Shashiko work and it looks lovely.

This I think is one of Colleen's many books.

This is Mavis's snail trails.

Working on the banner

This is what the finished banner will look like, and everyone has used up a little piece of fabric from their stash!

Maggie Smith workshop.

Last week we had a wonderful workshop with Maggie Smith.  Get Plastered was the title and we certainly did.  A nice slow, steady workshop working at our own pace made it really enjoyable and we were still all shattered at the end of the day.  Maggie showed us how to apply our plaster and then work into it to get patterns and designs onto it.  Later, we painted the now dry plaster achieving some really nice pieces to display in our exhibition.  Don't forget, Saturday 13th May and Sunday 14th May, at Ayton Village Hall from 10am to 4pm.  I can guarantee you a feast of textile work.

These are some of the pieces hanging out to dry.

 I think these bottles are Liz's work.

More work out to dry and a nice picture of my feet.

It's a shame you can't see the designs clearly in these pictures so you must come to the exhibition to see them properly.

March Meeting

The work is all coming together for the Exhibition.  I took one of the display boards to the hall and everyone was measuring up their space and working out how much room they require so it looks as though we are going to have plenty of work for you all to look at.
We welcomed a new member, Anne (that makes 3) I shall have to call them by number.  Hopefully we have not frightened her off and she will be returning next month.
The flyers for the exhibition are at the printers now and posters will be going up shortly so do look out for them.  The more people that come to see us the more worthwhile it is for those who put all the work into the pieces.

Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite.

Pam has been working on this piece in lovely shades of blue.

Christina is down by the seaside.

Mavis is working on snails and snail trails.

Cath is looking at barnacles.

Christina and Cath already have some pieces finished.

February Meeting

Suddenly realised I had not done the February blog, so here we are.  We had a good meeting, everyone getting down to their stitching.  We now have an extension to our exhibition in May.  The Picturesque framing shop in Scarborough has now got a new exhibition gallery upstairs and we are going to display our work there in June of this year.  Dates will probably be from the 5th to the 23rd of June and don't forget the 13th and 14th May at Ayton village hall.  Flyers and posters will be coming out soon.

A couple of us have sent our embroidered signatures off to the Campaign for Creativity which is run by Twistedthreads, the Knitting and Stitching show people.  This is a request to the government to look at improving the teaching of creative arts in schools.  They hope to get 10,000 signatures and as many as possible to be stitched in some way.  Have a look at the Twistedthreads website.

So here are a couple of photographs of what has been stitched so far.

Ann has been working this technique she learnt at a workshop.

Moira was using the embellisher to create this lovely surface.

January Meeting

Today we had a short talk and demonstration by Rebecca Thompson who showed us some gentle yoga movements to help us keep active and avoid strains and injuries while embroidering.  We all enjoyed the exercises and some were keen to join her yoga groups.

We also had an exciting time cutting up some Indian saris that we have been given.  We have kept two of them whole in case we want to use them for decoration at our exhibition but we all now have a small piece of fabric to use for what we will.  I am also hoping that a few people will make a small item to be sold in our community library towards their funds as the lady who gave the saris is involved in this charity.

This was the last time to swop postcards for the exhibition, they will be due back in March for me to put together in strips for display.

Exhibition work is coming along well and I am looking for pieces to use as the background for our flyers when I put them together.

Here is some of the work underway.

This is a contender for the flyer, Mavis' felt mouse, dried leaves and stitched web.

Christina's 'Under the Canopy'.

Jackie was creating a landscape with fabrics.

Roma has been making tree bark with felt.  The camera doesn't do in justice, it looks really good.

November Meeting

Most of the members were here today and everyone was busy.  Christmas is obviously on everyone's mind but not in their hands as very few have started on their cards and presents.  Lots of work being done for the exhibition in May.  Barbara brought her weaving frame and started setting it up.  The room is so good as you can really spread out if you want to do a large project or get your sewing machine out.  I have started again on one of my small pieces as the background colour was wrong and didn't tie in with the other colours I had used.  The original will go in my workbook as a sample.

This is Barbara's frame as she tightens the long warp's ready for weaving.

Ann's lovely fabric book that she started last month is now about finished.  It's really delicate and lovely colour combinations.

Carolyn's picture is developing well.  She started this last month and has turned it into a sunset.

Ann's workbooks are always amazing.  Lots of samples and different methods.  Here she is still developing the Eden Project canopy.

This was a lovely piece by Kath who was just trying out Markel Sticks on fabric and decided to do something with them.

Jackie is working on the theme of fungi and this is a piece of whitework on that topic.

Christmas lunch next month and then it is 2017 - doesn't time fly when you are having fun!

October Meeting

We had another busy day today.  Welcome to new member Carolyn who enjoyed her day and is planning to stay.

Well,  the Christmas Lunch is booked as is next years exhibition so clear your calendars for the 13th and 14th May 2017.  We are now the proud owners of our own display boards which we have purchased from the Hutton Buscel art club who no longer require them.  They will give us a lovely display space and we will be able to put our exhibition on in other villages and at other events and so hopefully get our name more well known in the area.

We have a workshop booked for next March with Maggie Smith so that is something to look forward to, as is a talk by a friend of Fran's about looking after your muscles, tendons, etc. while doing embroidery.

I am quite impressed how well everyone is getting on with their 'Under the Canopy' work, it is certainly a popular topic.  Here are some of the pieces under construction.

This is Christine's autumn leaf which will be covered in frost and ice.

 Ann is working on the construction of a huge flower she saw at the Eden Project.

Barbara is stitching these lovely shadowy arches.

New member Carolyn brought this colourful piece to work on.