It was lovely to meet up on such a cold and wet day. We are all so used to keeping our layers on and opening windows that we hardly notice the weather anymore.
Steph opened the meeting with the notices and reminded everyone to be careful with regards to Covid distancing etc.
There was a lovely selection of mince pies and Yorkshire Rascal biscuits (made by Irene) to see us through the day. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I am sure many of us will be practising making and eating them
The morning was spent making Christmas badges or keyrings.
Kath Roberts had prepared some earlier to give us inspiration and also provided extra fabric and fasteners to help us produce some lovely ideas
With the crackers, cakes and festive makes the morning sped by.
Steph opened the meeting with the notices and reminded everyone to be careful with regards to Covid distancing etc.
There was a lovely selection of mince pies and Yorkshire Rascal biscuits (made by Irene) to see us through the day. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I am sure many of us will be practising making and eating them
The morning was spent making Christmas badges or keyrings.
Kath Roberts had prepared some earlier to give us inspiration and also provided extra fabric and fasteners to help us produce some lovely ideas
With the crackers, cakes and festive makes the morning sped by.
The raffle went ahead with lovely prizes and the shop did a roaring trade with many items given away to good homes. It felt like Christmas had come early.
At lunchtime Steph announced the winner of the Christmas Challenge. This year we were asked to stitch ‘A Christmas Gift Tag’. Eight people took part, and the winner was voted for by the members. The winner was Eleanor for her lovely reindeer tag and Mel came second with her very intricate silver creation.
After a busy morning we settled down to listen to Maria Livesey give a talk about her life as a Textile Designer.
Maria had set up an intriguing table as the morning progressed and on the screen was written 'In pursuit of the WOW factor', so we were all ready to hear something amazing. We were not disappointed as Maria explained her strange way of seeing the world.
Maria had set up an intriguing table as the morning progressed and on the screen was written 'In pursuit of the WOW factor', so we were all ready to hear something amazing. We were not disappointed as Maria explained her strange way of seeing the world.
Her first steps to following a path of art was when she attended Aberdeen College, studying Art and Design. She enjoyed the course but did not know where she fitted into the world of design and textiles, until she went to an exhibition and discovered some unusual designs by Paco Rabanne, who used all kinds of plastic and other unusual materials in his garment designs. She was totally inspired by woven steel and cut cassette tapes made into shapes. Everything she had in her head fell into place and she began to experiment with all kinds of plastics including Lithotex, silicon and Fiberette. She used these and patterns in nature to make different dress materials. She liked using fish designs and liquid plastic connecting velvet on dresses.
Her other influences were Janet Stoyel, who uses sound and light to manipulate ready-made fabrics and Luisa Cevese, who recycles industrial waste into her weaves.
Her other influences were Janet Stoyel, who uses sound and light to manipulate ready-made fabrics and Luisa Cevese, who recycles industrial waste into her weaves.
Maria advanced into making handbags, which she sold to galleries. In London she made collections of burnt-out fabrics for fashion houses. Her designs were seen in Vogue and Time Out magazines. By this time, she was 'buzzing' with ideas and did an MA in Aberdeen to look at other materials and fabrics. She began trapping pressed flowers, lace and wire in-between silicon. She won many awards for her unusual textiles.
In between all this, she brought up her children and took teaching jobs to keep going.
She told us many other exciting things about her adventures into design and texture. Too many to write about here but suffice to say her talk was fast and furious and really exciting to hear.
Some of our members had a little practical taste of trapping pressed flowers in silicon before the end of the session.
Now we look forward to her workshop in February.
In between all this, she brought up her children and took teaching jobs to keep going.
She told us many other exciting things about her adventures into design and texture. Too many to write about here but suffice to say her talk was fast and furious and really exciting to hear.
Some of our members had a little practical taste of trapping pressed flowers in silicon before the end of the session.
Now we look forward to her workshop in February.
The Monthly Challenge for 2021 is coming to an end. This month the challenge was to recycle some items in the design.
Mel C has used ring pulls and champagne tops along with sequins and sparkly threads to make a firework design.
Ann R has used a piece of denim as the background, which was a from a waist band. The idea of a bonfire is made using recycled nets from fruit and onions woven into a bottle neck protector (usually found on duty free goods- Do we remember those days?). The Catherine Wheel firework is made from a foil wine top with machine embroidery.
Margaret G. decided to do some felt work this month. She covered some notebooks, which can be given as gifts. She used the idea of November and poppies.
Irene recycled threads in her design as well as adding felt poppies on a water coloured background.
Mel C has used ring pulls and champagne tops along with sequins and sparkly threads to make a firework design.
Ann R has used a piece of denim as the background, which was a from a waist band. The idea of a bonfire is made using recycled nets from fruit and onions woven into a bottle neck protector (usually found on duty free goods- Do we remember those days?). The Catherine Wheel firework is made from a foil wine top with machine embroidery.
Margaret G. decided to do some felt work this month. She covered some notebooks, which can be given as gifts. She used the idea of November and poppies.
Irene recycled threads in her design as well as adding felt poppies on a water coloured background.
We look forward to the December pieces in the short January blog, so do send your photographs.
As requested, the committee have put together another monthly challenge for 2022 based around the theme ‘Inspired by’. The list will be posted on the Notices tab very soon, ready for you to complete the January piece.
Thanks to Janet and Irene for their reports about our Christmas meeting. It was very much appreciated by us all.
J.P., I.P & A.R.
As requested, the committee have put together another monthly challenge for 2022 based around the theme ‘Inspired by’. The list will be posted on the Notices tab very soon, ready for you to complete the January piece.
Thanks to Janet and Irene for their reports about our Christmas meeting. It was very much appreciated by us all.
J.P., I.P & A.R.
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