2024 Notice board - 

Connected Threads -Stitch together

Meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Monday from 9.30 - 12.30, at St Annes Community Hub Nantwich . Open to all members, £3.00 fee payable at each meeting, bring your own stitching/knitting etc.

Tea/Coffee Rota

21st November - Judy F , Jude

NB Volunteers requiredfor January 2025 onwards

New co ordinator for tea/coffee  is Lynn

Exhibition 2027 at Nantwich Museum 'Inspired by Nantwich'

 

16th March 2023

'A layered story'  presentation by Suzette Smart

 

Suzette has always stitched and created starting at a young age, using kits, weaving , sewing etc and this is what she always wanted to do. She did a B Tech in Art and Design which involved collage and wire and then went on to a degree in Fashion and Textile design.

Whilst her children were young Suzette bought a machine which she used for free embroidery, creating stories and thread pictures (no fabric used). This constrained the size of her pieces of work so she included fabric, this has also involved repurposing of pieces of existing work into her new work through the process of collage.

 
Piece created for Exhibition in 2016 - used a vintage dress as the base /foundation which Suzette cut up and re put together - it is based on a map of where she lives with journeys depicted in thread.

For this Suzette used a dress that she had as a child as a template and then included ideas from nature. She uses pieces of fabric with memories, paint, mixed media to recreate the dress shape and decorates it with birds, flowers, fruits and words.

This was inspired from the garden during the 'lockdown' period, with the darker flowers reflecting the mood. The background was created using fabric crayons for the rubbings with the story being told in the top layers (flowers/words etc)

This piece is worked on a old tablecloth and features hexagons, windows, (open fabric to reveal image) animals which are created through stitch and then applied and images transfered onto fabric which is cut up and collaged onto the background.

 16th February 2023

'World Textiles' presented by Sue Simper 

Sue is a teacher with a passion for textiles, she has taught creative textiles and been involved with the Quilters Guild. Throughout she has collected a wide variety of textiles from around the world to provide inspiration, record traditional making techniques as well as patterns/decoration, identify lifestyles and cultures of the people who made them.

 

We enjoyed looking at and handling the textiles and were encouraged to think about and discuss, how they were made, what they were used for , where they originated, what they told us about where people lived, their beliefs etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Workshop from 1pm 

Print and Stitch Rolls  (first of two mini workshops)

First workshop session will be printing 

 19th January 2023

 Cancelled due to Bad Weather Alert

Speaker - Christine Kelly

Presentation - Gentlework,emotion and Stories in Stitch

Mini Workshop from 1pm 

Print and Stitch Rolls  (first of two mini workshops)

 

 15th December 2022

This was our Christmas Celebration with a 'Surprise Speaker' and buffet lunch.

The speaker was Dave Draws (named as he draws and creates map illustrations) and the presentation was 'Unconventional Illustration Path'

Dave is based in Cheadle, Manchester and works producing murals and maps, some of his work is local but he has also worked abroad in Berlin, Hong Kong and Paris to name but a few of the places.

His work has developed into packaging eg 'Lancashire Tea', Rum bottles and labels, whilst his maps have been put onto mugs, place mats, cushions and trainers.

 During Covid he created an NHS map Manchester with the money going to the NHS, he now undertakes workshops including some in schools and also has an online shop.

The lunch a selection of savoury and sweet items, a drink and tea or coffee, was much appreciated providing a festive social gathering for members.

 17th November 2022

Our speaker was Amanda Clayton with a presentation entitled 'My Blue Suitcase' 

Amanda had visited us previously and recapped identifying her formal training as Art and Design followed by a Degree in Embroidery which included fabric making, design and dress making. Her informal training was life influences, creativity or trying something that may not work. From this Amanda set up on her own, creating her own pieces - 'you are only as good as your next piece of work' and has also taught on Art/Design foundation courses.

Her work has focused on Connections, Links and Relationships especially Visual.

As a child Amanda remembered making books and book binding and has used this in her work making books from fabric and paper, she also collects receipts/personal items etc and makes books to keep them in.

 

 

Current projects include 'Health and Feelings' which communicates (to Consultants) ideas through textiles.  A book for Nurses on Turner Syndrome, created in collaboration with a Doctor from Kings College, this contains found objects and words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Workshop 1.00 - 3.30pm is 'Blackwork Christmas'

 20th October 2022

Our speaker was Jennifer Collier with a presentation on 'The Art of Paper and Stitch'

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer is a graduate of the print, knit, weave course at MMU. She started working with empty tea bags into which she inserted objects and sealed them using wax, then to create fruit on large pieces of fabric, next was covering glossy magazine pictures in sellotape, rubbing the picture to transfer the image onto paper which led to her use of paper as a material as well as an inspiration.

Jennifer then started to 'patchwork' pieces of paper from books together, by hand, making them into dresses,coathangers, pairs of shoes etc.

 

 

 

 Recent work has seen the remaking of household items eg a 3D paper watering can featuring 'Mary Mary' nursery rhyme. A camera from maps with the decorative detail stitched into it. A Jug made from 4 pieces - body, base, handle, spout, a bird box featuring the 'Ladybird' bird books, using the hard cover for the roof and the pages for the box. For each one Jennifer makes a pattern/template, creates a toille to check it works and then makes her piece up, the template is kept for reference/further work.

 

Jennifer has also made a full size paper Hoover, Telephone, Microscopes, Camera's, Cassettes, Singer sewing machine, Armchairs, Tables etc. She has experimented with lighting using the frames and adding paper (ensuring safety requirements are met). A mug made from a printed cross stitch pattern which is then decorated in cross stitch to highlight.

 

Mini workshop @ 13.30 is 'Acorns'