November Meeting

 November's, well supported, meeting gave us the opportunity to meet a local speaker.

Adam Brookes, who was brought up in Whetstone and went to local schools, provided us with a lovely friendly afternoon meeting.

Most of us recognised him from TV's Great British Sewing Bee where he had been a contestant.  Adam outlined his career before and after his TV appearances as well as giving us "insider" details of the show.

We learnt of his early sewing experience, first with his nan and later at secondary school and their active encouragement.  He brought with him the garments he made on the Sewing Bee and we were able to examine them at the end.  He welcomed questions and audience participation.

Adam had a wide knowledge of sewing equipment including machines and fabrics.  His energy and enthusiasm was evident throughout.

Sewing Exhibition

 Cut and Create

The Story of the home dressmaker & the equipment used to make the latest fashions more convenient and affordable.

At:- Harborough Museum

       The Symington Building, Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough. LE16 7LT

harboroughmuseum.org.uk

Tel: 0116 30503627

Open until 28th January 2023 :- Tuesday - Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10am-4pm

Big Textile Show Photos

 

Speaker for November

The next meeting is Wednesday November 2nd, 2.00pm. and our speaker is Adam Brookes who you may know from his time on The Great British Sewing Bee.  Adam began to sew when he was just six, taught by his Nan.  He is a local lad, from Leicester who studied performing Arts at university before working on a cruise ship as an entertainer and was promoted to Entertainment Director.  He will be talking about his love of crafts, and his Sewing Bee experience.  It promises to be a very entertaining session, not to missed!! 

September Meeting

 Our Speaker at the October meeting was Linda Chevell.  She told us how much pleasure she gets from quilting and reminisced about doing workshops with Vicky Oswin and Jean Gentry.  Before she took up quilting full time she was an English teacher.  She retired from teaching in 2007 and by 2009 she was teaching patchwork and quilting to a few sewers in her own home.  Eventually this became Slipper Stitchers in Market Bosworth.

She said that she enjoys playing with colour and shape and particularly in shading the colours (Photo 1).  She showed us several examples.  Many of the quilts that she showed us had been created for her classes. 

Just prior to covid she had a quilt all set up for the next classes and successfully managed to transfer everything from face to face on to the internet.

At the summer school in Loughborough she had shown several of our members how to make perfect circles using reverse applique.  Some of these were in our show and tell session.

Currently she has started using the “Modern Quilting” Style which can be seen in the last photograph. 

We now have 14 people doing the travelling books and the first entries were displayed for everyone to see.

Please note that the next meeting starts at 2 pm.

October Speaker

Our October Speaker is Linda Chevell.  Her talk is entitled "Quilty Pleasures".

Bosworth based quilter and teacher, known for her meticulous work, precision piecing and perfect circles.  Linda will be telling us about her quilting style and journey.

A number of the group attended the Loughborough summer and school this year and enjoyed her perfect circles project, we saw some completed pieces last month and hope to see more at our October meeting.

Would you please bring the finished circles to the October meeting.

We also have Julie Chapman coming to the October meeting with her fabrics. 

September Meeting

 Kate Findlay began her career as designer working in the carpet industry and was made redundant in 1991 when the floor industry changed to hard floors or plain/mottled carpets. She then taught art in primary schools which included sewing. In the last class in their primary school the children were making quilts and one group won first at the Festival of Quilts.

Eventually she decided that design and textiles were her forte. She uses raw edge applique, bonding the fabric together and then free machine stitching for extra detail. Most of her pieces would be considered wall hangings and she backs them with felt rather than layering them up.

The subtitle of Kate Findlay’s talk was ‘Working in Series’ - that is the way that she likes to work. The first series she showed was about Henley with scenes of the spectators and rowers on the river. Her next series was inspired by photos of the hadron collider in Switzerland. She is also inspired by nature, particularly by birds. We all enjoyed the videos of her constructing her work.

Covid brought about changes in the way she works as her income came from talks and workshops, which had to stop. She then began to make up kits and cards; she has also produced designs which are licensed to companies for their exclusive use and sale.

She had brought with her a variety of the products she sells including kits, cards, fabric and books which were very popular with our members. Everyone enjoyed the meeting.

Detail from Bird Quilts

 Quilts inspired by the Hadron Collider

September Speaker

 

Kate Findlay is our speaker in September.  Her talk is entitled "Working in Series".

Kate is self employed as a textile artist and teacher. She lives with her partner and son in Berkshire, and has a studio at home on the second floor which gives her plenty of exercise up and down the stairs!

She trained in industrial textiles at Kidderminster College and worked in the carpet industry for a few years before retraining as a teacher. Kate taught Design Technology and Art in secondary schools for many years, before getting a job as an art teacher in a private primary school after her son was born. It was working part time here that allowed her own art to develop.

Kate produced a body of work inspired by the Large Hadron Collider. These were all textile pieces, with a number of large art quilts being the culmination of nearly five years of work. The series was exhibited widely and attracted international interest. In reaction to the scale and subject matter, Kate then turned to the natural world for inspiration and began a series of very small pieces inspired by birds, which has gradually grown to encompass a great variety of wildlife, and also landscapes and woodlands on a larger scale.

Kate travels the country giving talks and workshops based on all her work – and her ongoing interest in e-textiles and the use of other media. She has work in a number of Galleries, and exhibits at Art Fairs and Craft events throughout the year.

Making art is a complete passion and is probably the most important thing in her life right now!

July Meeting

 Karen Lane said how she had started crafting when she went to some craft classes to support a young girl she was working with.  The girl enjoyed the class and this lead to more classes.  Karen was hooked on crafting for herself as well.

She started with felt making and tried a range of techniques and then moved on to mixed media as well.  She had a beautiful display of all her different crafts and went through them explaining the different techniques she used and how they were the individual items were made.  This included the techniques which would be used in the workshop on the following day.

Jan Gamble and Gina Cooke's pictures from the workshop which was thoroughly enjoyed.

Workshops for September

Please note that there are spaces on the following workshops. 

On the 8th September Kate Findlay's workshop is entitled "Waterlilies" at the Community Church

On the 24th September Viv Denscombe's workshop is "Tiny Books"

July Speaker

 Karen Lane is our speaker for July.  Her talk is entitled "My F Plan Diet.

Karen Lane is a Mixed Media Textile Artist with a passion for Feltmaking.  She discovered the art of Feltmaking in 2014 and immediately fell in love with the very physical and tactile process of transforming loose soft fibres into a unique piece of seamless felt.  She was keen to learn more and since then has been privileged to attend workshops with some of the best International feltmakers including Dagmar Binder, Gladys Paulus, Marjolein Dallinga and Annemie Keonen.

She has always found herself drawn to texture and often works with a limited colour palette to allow the texture to be the key element.  Working with mixed media means she can combine hard and soft, smooth and rough, whether she is creating a pendant, a wall hanging or a wearable.  For her the tactile element plays a huge role in the design process.

Nature provides a never ending source of inspiration for her work, from trees and leaves to fossils and found objects, some of which are used as “inclusions” in her work.

She is a member of the International Feltmakers Association and runs workshops, one to one or group sessions, in Feltmaking and Textile Art both here in the UK and in France. 

Examples of her Work

 

June Meeting

Two successful events to report for June.  Our speaker Gail Lawther not only addressed our Wednesday evening audience but she also held a workshop the previous day.  The title was Doodle Birds and Doodle Bugs and was enjoyed by those who attended.  They picked up valuable tips as well as producing their bonded applique designs.

On Wednesday Gail explained the development of her style of applique including her method of stained glass patchwork.  She brought lots of examples of her designs which we were able to examine closely at the end of the talk.  It was interesting to hear how she developed her techniques and designs.

June Speaker and Workshop

Our June Speaker is Gail Lawther.  Her talk is entitled Birds of a Feather.

She began working full-time in fabric and thread about 20 years ago and can't imagine a better way to earn her living. She designs and stitches quilts for books and patterns and also creates larger pieces on commission.

She travels all round the UK and further afield, giving talks about her quilts and teaching workshops and several times each year she does residential workshops in different places.

Her workshop is entitled Doodle Birds and Doodle Bugs and is on the 31st May 2022 at Ashby Village Hall.

May Meeting

Indian Kantha embroidery was the topic for our May meeting with local guest textile artist Gill Greany.

Gill had collected many varied samples to show us and explain their origins and traditional patterns almost exclusively using straight stitches.

Some of us who had previously tried this technique were intrigued to see how fine and small the stitches were even on large areas of fabric.  Often two old saris were stitched back to back in an over-all pattern.  If contrasting colours were colours were used for each sari and thread the two sides of the finished piece could result in surprisingly different effects.

Many members then enjoyed a mini practical session in which they tried their hands at a chosen design using these tiny stitches which led at least to the beginning of some lovely pictures.

Fabrics brought by Julie Chapman were also a delight and temptation for many!

Kathy Francis

East Bengali Kantha

West Bengali Kantha

Bottom Left Gold Work Kantha

Old Saris joined together with overall patterns

Julie Chapman's fabrics

  

May Speaker

 

We look forward to welcoming Gill Greaney a local textile artist, who you may know as the lady with the yurt. After a short talk on kantha stitching, Gill will be running a mini workshop on Indian embroidery, which we hope you will join in with. Materials for the workshop will be provided for those who book beforehand (charged at £2) so please reserve your place. You will need the following sewing equipment - fabric marker, ruler, embroidery thread, scissors, needle if you wish to take part.

There will be a chance for you to replenish your stash as Julie Chapman will be here selling fat quarters and yardage of fabrics including batiks, all at reasonable prices.

April Meeting

The speaker at our April meeting, Phillipa Naylor, acknowledged that one of the requisites of her visit was to entertain.  I think we all agreed that she certainly did that!  The format of the meeting was a Question and Answer session but it was so much more.

We learnt about the development, over lockdown, of her on-line classes which have become popular not only in this country but many countries around the world.  There were plenty of examples to see of quilts including miniatures but also original  clothing designs.

Those who know Phillipa's work and have been to her classes before will know how precise she is with preparations, instructions and her finishing.

She full answered not only prepared questions but also ones from individuals in the audience on a wide range of topics giving very specific details and lots of tips.

Miniature Quilts

April Speaker

The speaker in April is Philippa Naylor.  This will be our Quilters Question Time when Philippa will be answering sewing related questions put by some of our members.  We sent our questions over to Philippa recently so she has time to prepare for the event and are looking forward to an interesting evening.

Please bring any completed projects for the Flower Blocks and 6" squares that we plan to use at the Big Textile Show in the Autumn.

We are pleased to announce that Gill Greany a local textile artist, who you may know as the lady with the yurt, is our speaker for May.  Following a short talk she will be running a mini workshop on Indian Embroidery (Kantha), which we hope you will enjoy taking part in.

We also will have Julie Chapman with us in May selling fat quarters and yardage of fabrics including batiks, all at reasonable prices.

March Meeting

 Our meeting on 2nd March was certainly a feast for the eyes.  

Contemporary quilt artist, Greta Fitchett, showed and explained her intricate designs on quilts and wall hangings inspired by her travels around the world.

Most were full of detail and as the title of her talk indicated "inspired by colour" and vibrant in colour.  Many were densely quilted.

Many places had inspired her from Japan to Cologne and Morocco to Hong Kong.  Reflections were also a particular interest.  Each quilt had a story and we learnt of her design and planning process often assisted by photographs she took herself.

Kathy Francis

Hong Kong Reflections

Tabgha 

Inspired by the above town in Israel

Speakers for later in the year

It has just been confirmed that our speaker in September will be Kate Finlay and she will also be running a workshop  Also Linda Chevell will be the speaker in October.

Gail Lawther's workshop will be on Tuesday 31st May as the Jubilee celebrations will be starting on the Thursday.

March Speaker

Our speaker on the 2nd March 2022 is Greta Fitchett.  Please note that the meeting is in the afternoon 2 pm until 4pm.  Her talk is Inspired by Colour this shows how colour has inspired her work with design ideas from many sources.  These include a summer garden, fishing boats, the city of Barcelona, travels to North Africa and South American textiles.  There are some quilts, but also embroidered wall hangings and three dimension pieces.

Her textile history began with garment making skills, continued with creative embroidery, followed by patchwork and quilting. She teaches embroidery and quilt making to adults, writes for magazines, and has 2 books published.

She makes a small journal quilt every month to trial design, materials or techniques. She makes wall hangings using applique, piecing, mixed media and quilting skills, and smaller pieces in machine embroidery. Inspiration comes from modern and medieval architecture, patterns in tiles and textiles, and she uses bright colours.

Examples of her work.

Docklands

Lava

AGM Minutes 2022

Minutes of Cosby Quilters AGM

on Wednesday 2nd February 2022 at 2pm

Gina welcomed everyone to the meeting and said how good it was to see so many here today. She then proceeded to go through the relevant health and safety issues.

Apologies were received by Sue Kerridge, Chris Burton, Jean Waterfield, Alison Caputo and Theresa Kane

Jan read the minutes of the AGM of 12th of February 2021 [previously circulated and on the blog] which was held by zoom . There being no matters arising she asked that the minutes should be accepted as read and this was proposed by Helen Parker and seconded by Pam Morris.

Gina presented the Treasurers report [also issued in advance and on the blog] as follows;

There being very little financial activity due to Covid she explained her report would be brief.

INCOME

The Accounts were presented in the usual format with the key items as follows;

Subscriptions were carried forward from 2020, so with income from raffle and sales this gives a total income for the year of £220.80.

EXPENDITURE

Group insurance was carried forward so there was no charge for 2020. This was renewed in 2021 and we are covered now for the year to 30/06/22

Speaker costs shown are for one speaker only due to the restrictions imposed due to Covid. It is interesting to note that some speakers are moving on to online speaking which may impact on future bookings!

There were no costs for the Church Hall in 2021 as this was carried forward from the previous years payment. Costs for 2022 are expected to return to the usual level.

This year a total of £300 was donated to 2 charities for young people

Rainbows £250 and Zoe's place £50

The costs of refreshments this year is higher than usual as all outdated stocks were disposed of when meetings resumed and it was thought necessary to provide individually wrapped bars.

A bursary of £500 was set up using the legacy from Joan Smith and this sum is included in the accounts; £100 being allocated for two winners in 2021 [not yet spent] with the remaining £400 being awarded in the coming years.

The closing position is a reduction of £486 this year with total funds of £3105. Despite the disruptions of the past two years our financial position remains strong. This enables us to offer membership fees for 2022 as follows;

Renewal for existing members £15

New Members £25

Charges for visitors £5 for speaker meetings and £2 for non speaker meetings

As there were no matters arising Viv Denscombe proposed that the accounts be accepted and this was seconded by Jo Turner.

Nominations+ Election of new Committee Members

Ann Cope is stepping down this year and Vicky Cooper too. The committee and members would like to take this opportunity to thank both of them for their help during the past two years.

Pam Morris was proposed to serve as a new committee member by Pat Screaton and Seconded by Bronwen Leonard.

All other members of the committee have agreed to stay in their current posts for another year.

Gina thanked all those presently on the committee for their hard work during the past year and was pleased to report that they have all agreed to stand again in their present roles

Chairs Closing Remarks

Gina closed the AGM saying that this year, our 33rd year, we had once again been somewhat curtailed by Covid restrictions but that we managed well and adapted to

zoom for last years AGM and monthly meetings until we were able to meet up again in September. She said it had been heart warming to see members again and in particular some new faces and thanked them for their continued support.

Gina explained that the club were formatting a survey as to how to schedule meetings in future and will be asking members for their thoughts on the matter and how meetings and activities can be improved.

Pat is still working on the remainder of the year which will be advertised on the blog when complete.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

As a final thought Gina went on to say that Cosby Quilters is about the members and the committee would like to thank you the members for their continued support and enthusiasm, for contributing to group activity and also sharing handiwork at the “Show and Tell .”

There being no other business Gina closed the meeting at 2.19pm. 

February Meeting

We held our AGM on the afternoon of Wednesday 2nd February 2022.  

 It was well attended and business went smoothly with reports on the past year, our finances and outline plans for the future.

It was followed by an excellent talk by local textile artist Sandra Jenkins and a much appreciated workshop she led on needle felted brooches.

After a lovely social afternoon everyone had at least the beginnings of an attractive unique brooch.

Examples of Sandra's felting projects.

Everyone enjoying the workshop