We are a group of women (but men are welcome!) who have an interest in textile art and embroidery. We are of mixed abilities and there is no need for you to be able to sew to come and join us - there are no tests!
New members are always welcome - why not call in and join us as a guest for a few months?
Meeting fee for visitors is only £5.
Our meetings vary - we have talks and workshops, show and tell - we also have lots of weekend workshops and playdays. For details of what's coming up (and what's been and gone!) check out our programme below...

Saturday, 8 August 2015

August Meeting - "Knot Gardens" - and some completed Towers of Flowers!

For our August meeting, Margaret had planned a "Knot Garden" activity evening, based on an article in Stitch Magazine (July 2014). 
We grated some transfer crayons - these are wax crayons and their colour is fixed by ironing. The grated pieces were ironed between baking parchment until they melted, and then were transferred to (synthetic) fabric which produced some nice random patterns. Pieces of similarly coloured chopped up organza and chiffon were stitched over the crayon, and then these were stitched in french knots, bullion knots and pistil knots, to give the impression of a colourful flower bed. 
Hopefully there will be some pictures of these ongoing pieces to show you after our next meeting, but here are some photos of our members enjoying the challenge!
 You will see that Margaret ran round the room 
so that she could be in both pictures!

Wyn presented member Jenny Greenwood with her first prize from Regional Day, the Maggie Judges Floral Trophy, for her winning entry into the "Flower Beginning with E" which was a lovely Echinacea in a vintage frame. 

Here is Jenny with her small yet incredibly valuable Moorcroft vase, which she has the pleasure of owning for a year! 

Davina has been stitching sweet treats - calorie free of course (I tried them.)


We also welcomed Eva, a visitor from the Hertfordshire Branch, who has a holiday home in the area and hopes to call again! Here is a link to the Herts Branch Blog - they do lots of interesting things, too! 

Last but not least, here are some photos of the lovely Towers of Flowers which members started at the last Play Day - there are some real beauties!
(Don't forget to click on the photos to get a close-up view)

This is Janice's Tower with blanket stitched edges and lots of dangly beads and lots of cornflower blue flowers





This is Catherine's slender tower in a very chic grey and gold colour scheme, and she has threaded stitched flowers onto the wire with the beads




Jackie added lacy flower and butterfly motifs at the top of her tower, 
and lots of strings of beads in colours to match her flowers




Wyn's tower has beautiful beads hanging from the points, and she has applied some striking motifs along with the flowers on a chopped silk background





Margaret's tower has lots of hand-stitched flowers on the body, with swirls of machine embroidered leaves and flowers wired around the structure




Anne has applied numerous different types of flowers to her tower - large sequins, lace, appliqué and machine-stitched - and has embellished it with curls of white florist's wire





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