Viv has finished her interpretation of the scrap of Victorian wallpaper.It was uncovered while decorating at her house .She has deliberately dyed and distressed the background fabrics as the fragment had obviously darkened over time. She has used a mixture of vintage fabric appliqué ,hand and machine stitch and picked up the rich maroon of the flower to edge the piece. She had been given this bag by a friend .It is a Banjara embroidered piece It has bands of satin stitch ,with ricrac braid and shisha mirrors. She also brought this camel neckband from Egypt, with a ph ..read more

Sue has been attending water colour classes and is making great progress.This time it was about populating places .So with a view to that they practised people.  These are so simple but characterful.   Then they added some to a view. It makes all the difference ,making it come alive........where is it ,who are these people ,why are they there ? A way to engage the viewer with the painted scene. Sally ,meanwhile has begun to order her thoughts by collaging pages in her concertina sketchbook.She has started to add in some of her own interpretations and expressed how pro ..read more

Fumi trained as a surface designer and occasionally comes across her designs .This was in a B&Q brochure . She designed fashion fabrics ,wallpaper ,borders ,placemats in fact anything that could be printed upon.She even saw one of her designs on a set in Coronation Street.Apologies for the photo but how exciting ! She is continuing with the 100 day project online with Ann Wood www.annwoodhandmade.com Sue Brown is a favourite with Debby and Jenn.Fumi spent some time there at a workshop  exploring print of all kinds on fabric.www.theyardartspace.com Sue is such a gener ..read more

Just lately Carol has been very involved with her daughter's project in Broadmead .She has researched the kind of plants that would once have populated the area .There will be large planters plantedup with these outside of 'Sparks' at the end of May. We hope it goes well.  As a consequence her work has taken a back seats.This month she brought along a Stitch club workshop which entailed recycling a vegetable net to create lichen/fungus which is 'very Carol'  It was heated so it melted but in a controlled way ,see above against Sally's sleeve. Carol keeps such detailed ..read more

Debby,Alison and Fumi all attended Quilters workshop with Sarah Hibbert who is a British Ambassador for Modern Quilting .The idea is to first  create a collage on paper ,then a grid is used to choose an area to translate into fabric.There is a lot of clever fabric choice , cutting and stitching to create the eventual quilt.You can see they created some individual designs and learnt a lot in the process. www.sarahhibbertquilts.com Debby Alison Fumi   ..read more

After getting so much from her ceramics course Kirsten had taken the next step and applied for the Degree course at Weston College.She was going straight from our meeting to her interview.These photos detail some of her work .It covers a range of media undertaken over the years .We think she should be a certainty. Her latest Print club challenge  was to create something to do with  Fish in print .These were then distributed to each member. Kirsten bound hers into a book with stab binding and end papers she  marbled herself. Kirsten made several prints before  c ..read more

Sally hadn't been at our last meeting but had taken time to create her Dandelion clock. It is delicately stitched on some sheer fabric . Meanwhile this month's 'OLD' prompt was treated in different ways as seen below. Jenn 's work wasn't put up for February so here it is along with March's contribution.She had been to the Elias Sime exhibition at the Arnolfini which was very interesting in a number of ways.Aside from the work she was struck by the Ethiopian symbols and did some research to find some to explore.She has been Gelli printing and made some stencils and stamps from them to ..read more

Jemima Lumley gave a workshop at Bristol Stitchers on 'Encrusted Embroidery' Carol took the Forest Floor as her inspiration and you can see her progress above.  One of the techniques they were introduced to was 'Crushing' .Basically it entails solufleece under fabric which is then steamed .The steaming makes the fabric crinkle ,the more steam that is applied the crinklier the fabric becomes.A very useful way to create texture. She also brought  along her Garden birds  which has been an ongoing project. The detail she creates in her choice of fabric and the  ..read more

Kirsten has really taken to exploring her creativity.She is taking workshops whenever she can .This one was about developing Abstracts with Nick Moore.Drawing with their eyes shut and using spontaneous movement to mark make .She didn't quite feel she had let go enough as the shapes are recognisable. The next was working in a zig zag sketchbook with Karen George .The drawing was made in the middle of the surface then the viewfinder was used to isolate areas .The  shapes were then taken and rotated to create patterns.Both seemed to be very interesting ideas to explore. In her Prin ..read more

Fumi is challenging herself to keep up with stitching everyday.Above is her 'CALENDAR' .She has divided her fabric into a square for each day of each month so she can keep on track ,and it's a visual reminder of the shape of each month. She has worked again on the 100 day project which will morph into a twenty page book . She did a workshop a little while ago and asked to keep the Kaffe Fasset scrap pieces which were going to be binned .The colours and her stitching sing out. She ,like Debby , did a postcard for QuiltersGuild using commercial fabric but adding her own touches &nbs ..read more