Mary Taylor Landscape in Stitch

Our February speaker was Mary Taylor who brought us some fabulous landscapes in stitch. Mary brought along a work in progress to talk us through and demonstrate her work.  The evening was very informative and Mary was very generous in sharing her work with us.
The following images are taken from Mary's website with her permission, but should not be reproduced or used for commercial purposes please.







 

Mary drives to her studio at Farfield Mill Near Sedbergh through the beautiful Yorkshire countryside which is a continual source of inspiration for her.  Her work is very detailed with lots of very intense machine stitching which produces wonderful textures and gives a feeling of depth.

Details of opening times for Farfield Mill and  current exhibitions can be found here:
www.farfieldmill.org/

Handmade Books

Members Day in February provided an opportunity for us to get together on a Saturday at the studio to pursue various projects.  Free machine embroidery,  hand stitching or trying out the embellisher were all available, but most members opted to try making handmade books. Sue generously provided her expertise and materials and this proved to be a very popular and satisfying session with everyone taking a way a completed book by the end of the afternoon.  It was amazing to see how everyone produced such different and personal results, and I think we are all quite keen to make more of these lovely books.  Many members are now keen to try Bookmaking part 2.

Sue brought along many of her own samples which are works of art in themselves and provided a great source of inspiration. All this activity made for a very relaxed and enjoyable member's day and we are now looking forward to our next session.

Exploring colour through stitch

Exploring colour and stitches is the running theme for our stitch nights during this year. The events have offered something for everyone, with newer members learning about stitches and more experienced members developing the stitches in new directions.  Straight stitches have been explored in all their variations and uses. Fly stitch and variations were used and their application in floral subjects was explored.
In January couching stitches provided a very colourful and varied selection of samples:

Quick catch up

We have been enjoying lots of varied events within the branch so here is a quick update on some of our activities.
In November which seems like a long time ago now, Kathryn shared with us a technique for making Japanese Thimbles.  Many of us decided that the most useful tool in our kit was the glasses wipe as we needed 20/20 vision to complete the tiny stitches.
This is a fascinating technique and many members produced lovely results (some of us didn't quite make it to the finish line) and it was a very enjoyable afternoon.

September Speaker

What a great way to start again after our amazingly warm and sunny summer break!

Last night our speaker was Lizzie Wall. She gave us a truly inspiring talk about her work and was very amusing.

She talked about how her work has changed over a period of time from the ‘Harry Potter Owls’ that she created for a window display in a bookshop in Southport to the awe inspiring chasubles that she has created more recently. Her background in art, design and embroidery really shines through her work.

The stories attached to each of the pieces that she brought and passed round for us to inspect closely were very interesting and very well researched. I really strongly recommend that you take a look at her work and if you are not too far away from Southport that you ask her to come and give her talk to you branch. You will not be disappointed.   Lizzie’s website.

Last night Seonaid presented the prize winners of the visitors choice at our exhibition in August on the North Pier. Our member Marion Miller won 3rd prize with her superb felt teapot. Congratulations Marion – well deserved.

Lizzie’s work  (thanks to Lizzie for giving us permission to use some of her images).

Marion’s Teapot