March Playday - Inspired by Sue Spargo

What a treat it was to meet at the Maurice Jagger Centre on Sunday for a day of chatting, eating and a bit of stitching. Davina made Birthday Buns, Mandy made Easter Nests, and Rona brought Passion Fruit Roulade, so by the end of the session our sugar levels were dangerously high. 
Sue Spargo is a British-born textile artist who now lives in the USA. She works predominantly with dyed wool fabrics (think granny's blankets) using decorative stitching and beads to attach small shapes onto larger pieces to create the finished article. 

Here are the beginnings of our pieces - it turns out that stitching is very time-consuming. 

Deborah used knitted fabric for the background of her piece, 

using patterned cotton to provide contrast. 

Irene used different shades of wool tweed in her piece. 

This fabric is quite challenging to use in appliqué as it tends to fray.

Davina cut leaf shapes from felt and used a variety of stitches to embellish 

them, including blanket stitch and french knots. 

Margaret W's felt and cotton pear design is embellished with beads and buttons, 

chain stitch, blanket stitch and french knots.  

 Sue K's teardrop shape is embellished with blanket stitch, cross stitch, 

and whipped running stitch. 

Jan's leaves are hemmed with blanket stitch and the patterned cotton

fabric provides a toning contrast with her felt shapes. 

Visitor Nina's bird is made from space-dyed velvet -

another very tricky fabric to work with! 

Maureen is making a case for her magnifier, using blanket she has dyed herself - 

as you can see, the colours are beautiful. 

Jacqui's circular designs are cut from felt and are decorated with 

blanket stitch, fly stitch and french knots.

Abi's felt and velvet leaf is decorated with running stitch, fly stitch and lazy daisy stitch and her plant has other stitches including pistil and french knots. 

Rona has outlined one of her paisley pieces with beaded blanket stitch. 

 Other stitches include leaf, fly stitch (with a short stem so it looks like a zig-zag) and french knots, without which no piece by Rona would be complete!

Jane is using silk yarn made from recycled saris 

to embellish and edge her leaf shapes. 

As usual, there seem to have been twice as many hours in Janice's day! 

She has used blanket stitch, fly stitch, feather stitch and french knots, 

with tiny buttons for embellishment on her felt shapes. 

Mandy is making a felt book cover and has used fly stitch, spiders web stitch, leaf stitch, seeding, french knots, and a type of chain stitch. 

Wyn's piece is a large blanket covered in circular shapes in subtle seaside shades. She has used chain stitch, spiders web stitch, herringbone, and buttonhole edging. She has also used an appliquéd Suffolk puff 

and tiny mother of pearl buttons.