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.

September Meeting

Looking at sorting out our next exhibition for next May so keep an eye open for the date, I just have to check that the village hall is free.

We had another postcard swop today and I am very pleased with the one I have got this time, I have started straight away on it.

Ann and I had a look at silk rods this time.  Ann split hers and then dyed them different colours.  She also had a go at loosening a silk cocoon but didn't get too far with it.  I split my silk rod and have attached it to some fabric and started stitching into it, think it might make a book cover.

 This is the view out of the village hall doorway.  Maybe we should look at what is under the canopy that we can see.

Christine is working on a piece of 'Silver' for the Embroiderers' Guild branch competition.

Mavis was working on tree bark using papers and lutradur.

Roma started this piece of delicate stitching as an experiment.

August Meeting

Not so many of us here today but we all managed to get some work done.  Barbara had brought some of her silk caps and cocoons and gave us a little talk about them and their differences.

We were all working on our Under the Canopy work (I think) and there is some interesting things going on.

This is Ann's work based on the Eden Centre.

Cath has also used the Eden Centre for inspiration.  This is the centre of a palm tree that has had it's top cut off.

Shirley has had her sewing maching out making these lovely trees.