Autumn Challenge 2024 now completed

'What can you do with a Piece of String?'

Members were asked to make whatever they liked from a small ball of household string.

All members took their pieces to the April 2025 meeting and here they are:

Golden Tree by Suzanne Morton

Suzanne couched her string down (Photo1), then worked over it in goldwork. (Photo 2) It was worked in 3 different shades of copper passing thread. Branches couched as one would apply plate in goldwork . Trunk couched in between the bunches of string.

Roots stitched in different variations of Elizabethan plaited braid stitches and plaited braid stitch

Ship on a Bottle

By Melanie Barr

UFO Kit by Sally Turnbull

The various colours of my string were achieved using procion dyes then neatly tied into skeins. The inspiration for this kit came from Jennifer Adodo Christmas. eT Tvery sTite.

H Tree by Debbie Nelson

My first thought when I got my string was of vines and roots around an old tree trunk. My second thought was the richness that could be achieved with embroidery cottons and wools to create moss and lichen around the base. My overall aim was to create rich textures using layers of different materials and threads.

y site.

by C

By by Shirley Casey

I started with a large Dorset button made from most of the string, embellished it with wooden and gold beads, added a plaited tail and a crocheted hook to hang it up.

by Jean Wright

String and cotton covered wire wrapped with silk thread set into air drying clay and painted.

by Susan McCartney

by Lorraine King

It's inspired by Rachna Garodia who exhibited at the Knitting and Stitching Show last Autumn, and her book entitled 'Contemporary Weaving in Textile Art'. She incorporates found objects in her weaving, My found objects nearly all come from one Amazon brown cardboard envelope, as well as from the sewn up top of a paper sack containing oats and a piece of bubble wrap. The box originally contained a delivery from a health food company, including the oats. I've incorporated her weaving techniques as well as a bit of herringbone "Stitching", just to see if it worked. Just a bit of fun really.

by Mavis Winders

The string was coloured with a teabag then Knitted using different sized needles , random stitches and increasing and decreasing, randomly, to get the shapes .

Rings covered with string using blanket stitch.

by Gwen Cogman

I used the string to weave a background that looked kike a basket with flowers made from organza and heavy machine stitch.

A Bug Hotel by Roz Peel

I dyed the string with tea and used it to cover the inner tube of a toilet roll. The beetles are made from felt covered with fabric and wire for the legs.

by Yvonne Brown

Wheels by Marion Leach

I separated some of the string into 4 strands - they were a bit short -and left some as it was. Then I made the string into balls and dyed it in procion dye, The string was used to make dirset buttons.

Volcano by Jane lliffe

by June Smith

A ball of string in a weaving project inspired by a book entitled 'Contemporary Weaving' by Rachna Garoura

by Teresa Harvey

Members Day March 8th 2025

Members enjoyed meeting up for a day of sharing and socialising, with a Silk Painting demonstration by Karen Wood.

Thank you to Jane lliffe for taking these photographs.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

If you would like to do a Silk Painting Course with Karen at her studio in Little Welnetham, her email address is kewood757@gmail.com

Thank you to Jean Wright, for taking these photos of members' work. If I have put your work upside down on this page, sorry. If you contact me on mrsmarion.leach@gmail.com I'll turn it around.

MEMBER'S PROJECTS 2024/25

Chair's Challenge 24/25

to be brought to the AGM on 4th September 2025

'Cargoes'

Our Chair is asking for a piece of work, no larger than A4 in size, in any stitch technique, inspired by the poem 'Cargoes' by John Masefield - see https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/cargoes.

There are two categories 'Hand Embroidery' and 'Machine Embroidery'. If your entry contains both , you need to decide which category to put your entry in.

Entries will be displayed at the AGM on 4th September 2025 when members will vote for their favourite. Winners are awarded one of 'Stars' two trophies. The Chair's Challenge Trophy for Machine Embroidery or the Mary Lovewell Blake Bowl for Hand Embroidery. is asking for a piece of work, no larger than A4 in size, in any stitch technique, inspired by

Members' Projects 2023/24

CHAIR'S CHALLENGE 2023/24

The subject for the Chair's Challenge was: 'An Embroidered Sculpture'.

The Chair's Challenge Trophy, which is awarded for Machine Embroidery, was won by Ann Lally; and the Mary Lovewell Blake Bowl, which is awarded for Hand Embroidery, was won by Shirley Casey.

Chair, Yvonne Brown presenting Ann Lally with the Chair's Challenge Trophy

Chair Yvonne Brown presenting the Mary Lovewell Blake Bowl to Shirley Casey

Members who took part in the Challenge were invited to send photographs and, if they liked, a bit of writing about their project, to add to the Chair's project webpage. Here they are:

Beauty in Decay by Ann Lally

I have collected fruits of the Physalis plant (Chinese Lanterns) in various states of their decomposition and made several drawings before I started stitching. So this piece I will call "Beauty in Decay"

Futura Light is a much loved font inspired by elements of Bauhaus design. Ideal for headlines, banners, logos & more, it will make your words stand out.

By Shirley Casey

I didn't find out about the Chair's Challenge until Member's Day but when I did I thought I would like to make something loosely based on a tree shape. The very next day I found a metal tea light holder at a car boot sale. I had already been experimenting with binding and coiling yarn around clothes line after a workshop at our Sewing Bee in the village. So I bound the "branches" of the metal frame in a variety of yarns and ribbons. Used a mat I was already in the process of making for it to stand on and a "skirt" decorated with Dorset buttons to cover the base. And then I remembered that there was the frame of an old water feature languishing in the garage (the ceramic bowl broken or chipped long discarded ).This fitted perfectly around half the "tree" and I made a waterfall to cascade through the hoops, of Florentine embroidery backed with satin ribbon and embellished with beads etc. I really enjoyed making it as it evolved organically.

Full Size Render by Phillip Rees

The Mighty Mushroom by Mavis Winders

I made the base material for the top then added a range of hand embroidery stitches, gold foil (you can't see it) and heat treated organza. It is shaped over Sinamay fabric.

Zebra MothZ

Mint Moth

Jewel Moth

Tiger Moth

Lunar Moth

Selangor Moth

Moth Balls by Mary McIntosh

The series of six "Moth Balls" were made for an exhibition by the Group Textile Connections and previously exhibited at The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds in July 2024. They were entered into the STARS challenge as they fitted the brief to make a non practical 3D piece of work.

Each moth is inspired by a real example found in nature and are stitched onto soluble fabric using LOTS of thread before dissolving. Some have wired antennae . Each moth is mounted onto a wooden ball which has been needle felted using merino wool tops.

By Sally Turnbull

Wire frame covered in wadding. Wings breast and tail embroidered silk/beads Dyed wire accessories/feathers (its a male). Beaded trousers Velvet leg warmers . Go to bed eyes.

Sphere by Ellyn Wilkinson

The sphere is made from sprayed garden wire, organza and copper mesh with machine embroidered spirals. Inside is a painted wooden bead suspended in knitted copper wire and a mesh worked on water soluble fabric, decorated with coils of machine wrapped string. The sphere is mounted on a wooden base.

Found and Fabricated by Marion Leach

I found the 3 uprights on Felixstowe beach 3 years ago and they had been hanging around on a shelf waiting for inspiration to arrive. The Challenge was the thing I needed.

The uprights are fixed to a piece of wood which I covered in fleece fabric made with my embellisher. I used pieces from my stash of naturally dyed lace and silk cocoons and rods and made small pieces of fabric by using the set patterns on my sewing machine on dissolvable fabric . The rusty bolts and washers were something I had in stock and I added wrapped washers to them. Lots of glue gun was involved!

By Heather Taylor

This used a found piece of wood The mushrooms were constructed with wire,card and padding and then embellished fabric was secured and the stem wrapped in a finger bandage. The 'hump' used different textured threads and fabrics and a variety of threads.