Our February Meeting
It was lovely to see a large turnout for our February meeting. There was a lot of colourful work being done in the room in defiance of the grey weather outside! There were two 'stitch club' options running, the first being Stumpwork flower pinwheels with Annie. Stumpwork is a dimensional embroidery technique that originated in the mid-1600s in England.
Annie's beautiful examples were certainly inspiring but the process seemed quite daunting because the scale was so small (the pinwheels being only 3 1/2" or a little over 8cm). Some elements are worked flat whilst others are made on 'scrap' fabric before being applied. Raised elements can be stuffed or wired as well as embroidered. Eventually everyone in the group chose the design they liked, instructions were given by Annie and preparation, wiring and sewing started. Josie (who has a wealth of experience with Stumpwork) was on hand to offer advice and encouragement.
Annie's stumpwork flower pinwheels and needle cases
Instructions for making a pomegranate stumpwork piece
Sally made a start on wiring an acorn leaf
Dilys outlined some thistle heads ready for embroidery
The other 'stitch club' option was Wessex stitchery with Angela. This group got started in January and everyone had made good progress and were enjoying the counted thread work. The motifs were built using (relatively) simple stitches like back stitch, fly stitch, long tailed chain stitch and Algerian eye stitch. As with all grid based counted work it needed precision and care.
Jane's colourful stitch sampler on pink aida using two strands of embroidery thread.
Gill's stitch sampler on evenweave using a tonal colour palette
As usual there was a lot of lovely independent work going on in the hall. This 'retro' piece caught my eye this month although the photograph doesn't capture the subtlety of the colouring very well.
Laura's cushion front - a Studio Flax kit with linen threads worked on linen fabric.
Jessica Kinnersley "My Journey in Textiles"
In the afternoon Jessica Kinnersley came down from Northumberland to talk to the group about her work and career in textiles. She brought many examples of her early and more recent work for us to pass around and enjoy. Jessica initially trained as a surface designer and worked as a freelancer producing embroidered and appliqued samples for the textile industry. The commercial process required her to work to design briefs based on mood boards/forecast trends/colour palettes provided by her agent who then sold them on her behalf to London buyers who could use some (or all) of the design elements in domestic textiles such as curtains, upholstery fabric or bed linen. After around ten years Jessica moved into teaching art/textiles at a school and found that she really enjoyed working with young people. She worked with groups making art accessible in the community as well as continuing her commercial work with a book publisher. Over time she was able to take on a studio space at The Hearth Arts Centre in Horsley, Northumberland and concentrate on developing an individual style using vintage linens, papers and found objects. It was fascinating to see how her practice had changed over time and how varied her journey has been so far - clearly she has a great future ahead of her and we look forward to seeing what she does in the next 20 years!
Jessica's slow stitched textiles and paper collages exploring nostalgia and narrative
Jessica's sketchbooks and mixed media work
Jessica's work in progress of a bowl Spring bulbs using vintage textiles, applique and hand embroidery
jessicakinnersleytextiles.com
Jessica Kinnersley Textiles, Paddock Studio, The Hearth Arts Centre, Main Road, Horsley, Northumberland, NE15 0NT Workshops, sales and open studio visits.
Our next meeting will be on Saturday 2nd March. Visitors are always warmly welcomed so if you have an interest in stitching, textiles and embroidery do come along.
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