September Meeting - Lots of Stitchers met the Challenge!

Our September meeting brought our Annual General Meeting, and once the formalities were completed, we had time to admire the completed 2014 - 15 Branch Challenge, which was "A Stitch A Month" on a small piece of fabric, so that we could learn some new techniques, revisit old ones, and find out what we liked doing best. 
Members who had completed the challenge had mounted their stitches into books, onto canvas, or had displayed them in other imaginative ways. 
I have had to cut down the number of photos to 3 per member just to make it manageable, but it was a difficult task! 
Here they all are, for your perusal! 
(Don't forget to click on the photos for a closer view of your favourites.)


Janice's quilted book was in shades of rust and brown and the cover was decorated with canvas work. 

Val's concertina book has a canvas work cover too, with stitches displayed on both sides of the pages. 

 This is Margaret's little black book, with a machine embroidered frontpiece and with the stitching done on black fabric to match the cover of the book. 

Catherine's book has a stitched plastic canvas cover, and her stitched samples continue the theme in shades of blue and silver. 

Jane's stitch samples are mounted on canvas and make a colourful display

 Abi has made a lovely box from canvas work and her pages fold out, concertina style, on pages which have been spattered to match the box. 

 Jackie has also made a concertina book, with striking covers and very neatly labelled stitch samples in lovely variegated threads.

Vanessa's samples are in a concertina book of a different kind, made from a tasselled blanket offcut. The inner pages are machine stitched to give a defined crease. 

 Jo has given her stitch samples the theme of the Night Sky, and has used dark blue silk with silver metallic threads for impact. 

The first of Anne's samples (I know, annoying isn't it!) is a lovely book in a folder, with a stamped heading page for each stitch. 

 Julie's colourful samples are in a concertina book, and she has recycled a table mat to use as the background for her stitching. 

Anne's second set of samples are displayed on a strip of denim, on a large wooden bobbin. (I'm sure her days are longer than mine.)

Mandy's samples aren't quite mounted yet...they are stitched on silk, using variegated silk threads.

 Wyn's stitches aren't quite mounted yet either! These beautiful samples will finally be displayed on a wooden bobbin. 

And finally...you may remember that some of our members went to Summer School in July. 
Sue took a gold work class with Jenny Adin-Christie and this is the beautiful brooch which she started then, and has now finished...I should have put a 5p next to it for scale - it is tiny, but exquisite! 

~Please also have another look at the August "Flowers" Playday, where you can see some updates of members' work...

August Playday - Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!

You may be able to tell what the theme of our August Playday was from the heading! Some members took the opportunity to continue working on their Towers of Flowers; to continue with work started in other workshops; to start something completely new - or just to take the time out to sit and stitch with friends, doing their own thing. 

Abi had a very productive day. 

She stitched a bird on its nest, taken from an Emily Sutton tea towel 

And here it is after it's had a good meal, looking much happier! 

 Then she made some Mark Hearld chair back covers

(And here it is in situ!)

 Then she started on a cushion cover as a gift for a friend

 And somehow, she managed to find time to make some show curtains for her "She Shed" in this lovely Cath Kidston fabric

Elizabeth managed to complete a whole bag, 

complete with patchwork squares on one side...

...and big circles on the other. Note the floral lining and motifs! 

Mandy spent most of the day making pages for her 

"Frances Pickering" books

Davina completed a quilt, a gift for a (lucky!) friend - here she is, modelling it!

This is a detail of one of the panels

Anne spent the day making what seemed like thousands of brooches for her stand at next week's Art in the Pen at Skipton 

(White coffee, one sugar, if you go to see here there!)

Rona continued to work on her Tower of Flowers

 Lots of hand-stitching on these seed heads!

 And blackberries!

Jane also continued working on her Tower of Flowers

 Lovely twirls of beads and a sophisticated colour scheme

 Gorgeous 3D flower buds

Janice continued to work on a cover for a book of Memories

 Lovely neat stem stitched title!

Catherine started work on a Gillian Travis kit of 3D flowers
in lovely hand-printed fabrics

And here are the lovely quilted flowers completed, a couple of weeks later : 

...and Margaret and Wendy scampered off before I could collar them!