Sampling.

Deryll had shown us her completed work for Echoes last month but didn't come empty handed.

She had used one of the textile packs we put together earlier in the year to create this rather attractive cushion cover front.The photo at the front shows the contents,there are still things to be used up.

Jenn showed her pieces ready to go to the framers.

Both based on sea urchin fossils.

After our  last meeting she agreed to give her hanging a last chance.With this in mind she had sampled

Using a soldering iron,

Embellishing ,

And block printing.You'll have to visit the exhibition to see if it gets there.

Cock a doodle.

Sue returned with her proud cockerel almost complete.She had added some gold kid leather for his spurs and beak.We thought he looked magnificent.

They will most probably be padded and stitched.

She had also been gardening and found some inspiration for her poppy piece in the form of 'shrapnel'.

It is so interesting to see the way an idea can be taken up and interpreted in so many different ways.That's why creative subjects are endlessly fascinating.

Man-made .......but inspired by woman.

As mentioned in the last post,man made fabrics can be used for a great many purposes.Ira never uses anything but and gets such mileage from them.

These are some of her painted fabrics,using acrylic paint and as she says 'just sploshing  it on'.

She then goes on to burn ,stitch ,bead and add sequins.You would never know their humble beginnings when they are finished.

This is a piece inspired by Debby and Carol's workshop with Margaret Beal.Ira sent for a soldering iron and started to play.

and this a work in progress.The fabric ,a type of nylon net most often seen at windows.

The detail shows the closely worked beading and French knots which cover the surface.

Rock strata is a subject that fascinates Ira,above is the start of another piece. Working in partnership with her  photographer husband ,he takes stunning photos then Ira interprets them in fabric and stitch.

Colouring.

Marilyn and Patricia had separately been colouring fabric,and look how different it can be.

Marilyn had been on a course doing shibori ,with particular regard to its use in weaving.She produced some wonderful results with glorious colour.

The blue and red is done on a woven silk,you can just see the fringe at the bottom right.The following pieces were done on silk to develop and hone her technique.

Here she is holding up the second piece from the photo above.She was especially delighted with this next piece as it fits 'poppies' so well.

Patricia had been exploring transfer dyes and had produced some exciting results on synthetic fabrics.

They were a little difficult to capture due to the transparency of the fabrics.

These were the 'originals' worked on paper.Patricia had created little collages of the transfer painted papers before using them as transfers to fabrics.A little tip we had not thought about.

This was on a fabric throw from Ikea,it would make for an original scarf.

There is a transfer of some lace in this one,if you look carefully you can see it in lighter stripes across the fabric.

This fabric,below,came from some samples Patricia was given.It has silvery leaf shapes within it.

This last one shows up best,the base fabric has glittery threads running through.

Some food for thought,we often dismiss those man made fabrics but as this and the next post will show it can provide a rich vein for experimentation.

Progress.

Carol decided to continue with stranded cotton to add the 'bugs to her panels.

These are some of her interpretations of viruses in stitch.Jenn thought some would make lovely brooches !

The muted colours give a delicate feel to the whole piece.

She also brought along this piece......

Picked up in a charity shop for 50p.A lovely piece of shadow work,all that work done by some talented person in the past.

We have all been working on a piece to commemorate the Centenary of World War 1.Carol had transferred an evocative image to cloth and added some hand made poppies. Be sure to visit our Echoes exhibition to see this and much much more.

Dye. Painting masterclass

During the Festival of Quilts I attended Leslie  Morgan's masterclass and for 3 days we played with thickened procian dye paints using lots of different tools to create lines, of various thickness from very fine to broad sweeps and shapes. My favourite tool, became an old credit card for the range of lines  that could be made.

One of my pieces using a blank  screen

Leslie demonstrating with a credit card

Really pleased that by using an old credit card, I've found an easy way if applying dye paints to strip cloth. 

August at Ira's.

A combination of illness and holiday meant our numbers were depleted this month.No matter there was plenty to see,arrangements to make and lots of chat.

 Viv had been reworking some pieces .She had finished them both and brought along already mounted.

She also showed us the progress made on a seascape showed several months ago.

You can hear the surf !

Sally too had been reworking past pieces but in an entirely different way.....

She has been clearing out her studio and found dozens of photographs taken over the years of her work.She had sorted them into colours then strung them together.

She intends to hang lots of these strings together to create an installation.What a great record of her work.