We spent two fantastic days in November with Angie Hughes on an 'Altered Books' workshop.
Angie taught us how to adapt and 'wreck' an old, unloved hardback book and turn it into a beautiful work of art. We used lots of different products and techniques , and by Saturday afternoon, we had all created a few pages that we were extremely proud of.

Ruth Lowe visited our meeting at Trinity Centre in November and gave us a fascinating talk about Mary Quant, her life, work and inspiration up to 1970.
Ruth bought along a selection of Mary Quant clothing from the 50's and 60's, which bought back memories for some members.
​Ruth is a very knowledgeable lady and provided a very entertaining and enjoyable evening.

Marion Crundwell has introduced us to a lovely little project that many of you might want to get involved with.
www.buddybagfoundation.co.uk is a local organisation that provides toiletry bags for children who have entered emergency accommodation after fleeing domestic abuse.

You can create the bags using any suitable children's fabric in a size that is approximately 12" x 10".
It can be single or double lined.
Drawstring using cord or ribbon.
Waterproof or mixed coton fabric.

All bags will need to be delivered/posted to Cookes Storage:

Buddy Bag Foundation
c/o Cookes Storage
Unit 16 Maybrook Road
Maybrook Business Park
Minworth,
Sutton Coldfield
B76 1AL

If you take a look at the Buddy Bag Foundation website, buddybagfoundation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BBF-Crafters-Pack-15.6.21-min.pdf they have a craft pack with gorgeous little knitted teddy bear patterns that you can knit and donate. These are put inside the bags along with the toiletries.

Una taught is lots of different techniques for folding and stitching fabrics to create a sort of 'resist' in order to obtain the most beautiful effects when dyed in an indigo vat.
We all had yet another extremely enjoyable and fun day at SCCS on our regular Saturday workshops.

After her hugely successful and enjoyable Zoom talk during 'lockdown', Zoe very kindly returned in person to show us her beautiful 'broken' vases that she painstakingly covers in silk fabrics and stitched back together again.
It was lovely to inspect these beautiful vases close up to see the intricate stitching that holds them together. We were even lucky enough to handle a small piece to feel the fragility, and yet new strength of these reconstructed items.

It was lovely to welcome everyone back to the Trintiy centre for our September AGM on Thursday. There was some lovely work on display at our mini exhibition, it seems that everyone has been extremely busy and creative over lockdown.
The winner of our 'Chairman's Challenge' award this year was Brenda's lovely quilt.

It was also a real treat to see the beautiful friendship rings that had been created.
If you haven't yet made yours, there is still time. The instructions are on the website, and you can bring it along to our next meeting.

We were treated to a very inspirational talk last night by Gail Tutcher.

​Gail told us about the history and origins of Bargello stitch, she explained how it is worked, and showed examples of her own work, and the many ways in which it can be adapted to achieve beautiful effects.

​We would like to set a challenge this month for members to create an item using bargello stitch. It could be a needlecase, a book cover, a cushion, or even perhaps a doorstop!

​The basic stitch is a very simple, repetitive counted stitched traditionally worked with wool on canvas, but it could possibly be worked on any even-weave fabric using a thread that is thick enough to fill the holes and to cover the fabric. 
Sometimes its nice to sit and stitch something simple and repetitive that’s not taxing on the brain, and the results can be just stunning.

​Pattern inspiration can be found on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/rgreen6040/bargello-free-patterns/

Canvas fabric can be purchased through Amazon and eBay, just search for 'Zweigart Tapestry Needlepoint canvas'. 12 or 14 count is probably about the best to work on.
Appletons Tapestry wool can again be purchased through Amazon and eBay for about 99p a skein.
HOWEVER, it would be nice to see what can be achieved using materials you have to hand - maybe embroidery floss on Aida, or knitting wools into Hessian...?

​Please send images of your work to info@suttoncoldfieldcreativestitchers.co.uk so that we can add your work to this blog post.

There are a few books on Amazon that teach new and modern variations should you wish to add them to your wish list :)

​Have fun!

PS. I have received a message from Gail:

"If anyone is interested, there is a new book available on Bargello which has good illustrations:
‘Bargello Stitch: A pattern directory for dramatic needlepoint’ by Laura Angell & Lynsey Angell, pub by Search Press August 2020
 
I’ve been looking up the details of the tapestry canvas that I use. I think it is interlock 10 holes per inch canvas like the example here: https://www.stitchtastic.com/store/interlock-canvas-10hpi-2 or here: https://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/fabric/zweigart-10-count-interlock-canvas-white-40-100cm-40inch-wide
I have used Wool Warehouse several times for threads and they are very efficient and reasonably priced."

Jayne has very kindly written a blog post describing her journey through Nicky's fun pdf workshop:

​I was really excited about doing a remote ‘workshop’ with Sutton Coldfield Creative Stitchers.  Usual weekend workshops would include raiding the sewing room of resources to pile into the car to unpack at the other end and hope, with fingers crossed, that you had all of the necessary equipment for a day of creativity. 
‘A day of creativity’ can be a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, a whole day to be absorbed in fabric, stitch, print and to engage with so many like-minded, passionate, inspiring people is an absolute dream.  On the other hand, the pressure to feel the need to produce your ‘best work’ or explore new techniques during the day can somehow squash the creativity and opportunity or permission to simply have a go! 
Nicky Barfoot, an art and knitwear designer, provided a PDF with video mini tutorials to ‘build your confidence and broaden your horizons’ through a ‘Stitched Selfie Workshop’ with a virtual follow up meeting via Zoom.  Exploring techniques and design this way provided the step-by-step scaffold to work through at your own pace, at home, with all of the resources needed at hand.  The videos brought to life the text and provided a real insight into the design and creative process. 

So, here we go… 
​
The first obstacle to overcome was to take a selfie, not something that I am comfortable doing, but in the confines of your own home and with the benefit of filters and technology, an acceptable image can be ‘created’.  I then traced a simplified drawing of the image onto tracing film.

 before tracing the outline onto tissue paper.

Using back stitch and 2 strands of black embroidery thread, I worked the main outlines onto the fabric. 

Having completed the initial thread tracing, I arranged a selection of threads and fabrics that I thought I wanted to use that both reflected my personality and represented my image.

Nicky Barfoot talked about the importance of the ‘pout’ and selecting a few important features, I therefore stitched the lips first.  When you look at yourself in the mirror, you look at your eyes and you recognise the person you are looking at, I felt it important at this stage, to get the eyes right in thread in order for the selfie to take shape. 

Something I had not tried before was to incorporate colour through pencil crayons.  My dad, who enjoyed drawing pictures of work colleagues using 4B and 6B pencils, letting the pencils show depth and texture; explored painting with watercolours, taking photographs, and drew technical drawings amongst many other creative things, passed away last April, due to COVID-19, and left a treasure trove of materials.  I decided to use some of his coloursoft crayons by Derwent to begin to be more creative with my selfie and to push some barriers of conformity, that I know, many stitchers feel. 

‘Artistic decisions’ was the next step to take, and I began to think about layers of design by arranging drawings onto the selfie and ‘placing’ materials before taking a photo, to see the effect. 

I continued to add stitch to my selfie, adding colour and shading.

The hair then began to take shape with couched thread, adding a bit of silver as the natural highlights of age emerge!  Adding red acrylic paint for the jumper, after using a heat'n’form block to obtain an impression from a recently completed hand knitted cotton jumper, increased the number of exploratory techniques used in this piece. 

​A little ‘chipping’ using fabulous silver bright check purl to highlight leaves on the cheekbone and then all that was left was the background – depicted by wrapped curtain rings, creating ‘bubbles’ and further couched threads and French knots.

The follow up meeting with Nicky and members of Sutton Creative Stitchers served as a fabulous occasion to share, explore, push more creative boundaries and to learn so much more from each other. 
And therefore, so much more than a days’ workshop.  An exploration of techniques, creativity, ideas and a personal reflection through a stitched selfie workshop.  

We were very happy to welcome Nicky Parmenter via zoom on Thursday evening.
She told us about her work, using plastics and machine stitch in the most colourful and creative ways. Her amazingly intricate works were spellbinding. 
Much of her work is inspired by artistic traditions from around the world, and often created using the most obscure materials found in hardware stores, but all to the most beautiful effect.

​Nicki will be joining us next year for a workshop. We very much look forward to meeting her in person, and seeing some of her lovely work in real life.

Dionne Swift's Zoom lecture, Establishing a Rhythm, was a lovely introduction into Dionne's artistic practice. She explained how her local Yorkshire countryside inspires her vibrant energetic work. 
Her quick observational sketches are trasformed to textiles using her sewing machine as a mark making tool.

​Saturday's workshop was fun and enlightening from start to finish. Dionne taught us how to use an holiday photograph to create a beautiful machine stitched image. Her advice and knowledge of sewing machines, threads, fabrics, hoops and sewing room practices were invaluable.