Wednesday, 16 October 2013

October

Today is our Macmillan Nurses Coffee morning 
We celebrated with cake and a marvellous raffle for a pumpkin, organically grown and donated by Clare
 Well done Heather and Sue - the lucky winners
 Well done Sue - don't be shy






Today we also welcomed our new members. New members but old friends, Dina and Di
Today's quote has to be from Ruth when talking about Bondaweb - ''the Viagra of the Textile world.''

Ruth decided it was ''wear odd shoes day''...could catch on Ruth!

 
Lillian shared with us her work for a woven cushion on hessian using up oddments - 
...lovely textures and very quick to work

This is one in progress which Sylvia is making. The hessian is loosely woven and a plastic bodkin is used for the weaving
 Joy quilted her peas...Lillian hand quilted her throw and Margaret made great progress with her Wolverhampton postcard for the Bilston exhibition

Elaine's ''Rabbits'' quilt is progressing with it's ''hens teeth'' hand embroidered flowers
Ruth hammered in eyelets for her rings to link all the double sided 'pages' of her journal
 Janet worked on a holiday 'page' for her journal after a recent holiday in Spain


 Sue is working on an amazing project to raise funds for Heather's Duke of Edinburgh's Award group. This is one of her covers for a handmade book. Connect in Threads are proud to be able to support this project and will help all we can.

Heather loved making paper jigsaws for the Jigsaw project - all designed and coloured



Talking of Jigsaws - this one of Pat's,  is the last piece of the puzzle for the exhibition at Bilston

 
 Clare continued work on her commission piece of a book

Dina is working on crochet for a scumbles project - a technique mentioned on one of our previous blogs

Di has a lovely project on the go using natural dyes from her allotment - the results are fantastic. Di has used blackcurrants, nettles and raspberries.
 

Jude worked on 'over-printing' with her hand made blocks                    


 Please note that November's meeting is by invitation only as we have a visiting tutor from 'Colouricious.' Requirements will be emailed with the invitation and a car boot sale will be available with a host of hand made blocks, printing inks and materials.

Sunday, 15 September 2013

September

We were missing a few friendly faces today due to holidays in particular, but we did have a lovely day with Di popping in as a potential new member beginning next month
 Sylvia has a lovely idea for a project she is constantly working on - a tablecloth with the signatures of her friends plus a logo/illustration to accompany each name. Sylvia then hand embroiders each one


 Pat's jigsaw - this lovely painting is now being enhanced with tiny applique flower heads
 Sylvia's applique hearts are being edged with heart sequins and bugle beads. This is a page for her journal after a wedding this yer
 Claire is working on a page of a handmade book with stunning fabrics. There's a pocket beneath the hen and papers are incorporated alongside the fabrics


 Elaine's hanging for a child's room, depicts little rabbits
Discussion and sharing as usual, forms a very important part of our monthly meeting

Remember ladies, we are meeting on the first Thursday of October instead of the second

Friday, 23 August 2013

August Summer Party

The weather could not make up its mind today, so we spent some of the afternoon sitting indoors and some of the time sitting outdoors. It really didn't matter to us...

17 of us talked...
 discussed...

pondered...laughed...

shared...

enjoyed each other's company in Pat's wonderful garden...


shared new ideas...read one another's magazines and books...

...and enjoyed a wonderful time together. Pat's hostessing skills never need to be tested - once again she surpassed herself. Bucks Fizz, strawberries, quiche, salad and lots more home-made dishes.

Thank you Pat for a wonderful way to spend a Summer's afternoon

Monday, 19 August 2013

July Meeting

Our July meeting began as usual with excitement and sharing of work in progress

Denise and Elaine share a WIP
What a beautiful sunny Summer's day at last and the room had a wonderful through breeze with all the doors open

Unpacking and more sharing

Setting up and enjoying a browse through patchwork magazines from Margaret

Some serious planning going on here...

Sylvia's jigsaw piece is amazing

Fabulous use of /expandaprint and lovely use of colour

We gathered round a few of the jigsaw pieces, to discuss the background possibilities. Jude will see what she has in stock and experiment with a block print of a jigsaw piece

Joy's piece is in a style reminiscent of the 1950's - just fabulous

Elaine's jigsaw piece in beautiful colourscheme on a fantastic frosted textured background

Lillian demonstrated paper laminating - here is Janet making her samples in the kitchen area

Close-up of Janet pushing the gel through a stencil. Some really interesting effects were created

Sylvia's embroidered collage is her WIP in Sylvia's favourite colourscheme

Janet's WIP using sheers on top of patchwork. Looks stunning