June meeting

A busy day at Megastitchers with a member-led morning workshop then a great talk in the afternoon.

We started with a simple ribbonwork session led by member, Chris. This is a technique we'd not covered before and attendance was good. Here are a couple of Chris's samples:

With help from Chris, and Joy, members were soon choosing their design from three options and transferring it to fabric.  The challenge was then to secure the ribbons, either in a straight line or as petal and fish shapes. Not always easy, and there were some large needles being used! No finished pieces, as usual, but here is some work in progress:

In the afternoon, we had a talk 'Inspired by the Garden' from Maureen Sawyer, an artist who makes contemporary, three-dimensional artworks in mixed media and textiles. Maureen started by telling us about 'Southlands' in Stretford where she and her partner have gardened organically for 25 years. Lots of amazing, colourful photos from the different areas in the (very!) long, narrow garden.

Maureen then went on to talk about the development of her artworks, which include boxed pieces, those in clear cubes (which can be viewed from all angles and free-standing work. Her work is definitely not representational, but aims to capture the essential nature of the inspiration - soil, flowers, ferns, tree bank, water, seeds. The materials Maureen uses include wires, metal, threads and found objects, all manipulated into intriguing shapes. 

Just a few photos from a fantastic range of work. Thank you, Maureen.

If you want to visit Southlands, Maureen's garden, it's open for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday, 20th July 2025 from 12pm to 5.30pm. Entrance fee is £5, and address is 12 Sandy Lane, Stretford, M32 9DA.

More information, and lots of photos, about the garden and artworks can be found at https://www.southlands12.com/

 

Manchester Antique Textile Fair

It's not long to go now until the 32nd Manchester Antique Textile Fair. Megastitchers will be there, upstairs, with a display of old embroidery threads and samples from our workshops over the last few months. We'll also be selling old books, Needlewoman & Needlecraft magazines from the 1940s to 1970s and editions of Embroidery magazine from the 1960s and 1970s.

The Fair opens to the general public at 10 am, admission fee is £8 on the door or through Eventbrite.

May meeting

 Waxing lyrical ............

about a full day workshop led by textile artist Christine Stanford. Here are some of the wonderful finished articles that Christine brought to show us.

Christine, in addition to her exhibition pieces, makes a wide range of small items including panels, notebook covers, needle cases, cards, scissor cases. For our workshop, we had a choice of a panel or a cover for a notebook and, in preparation for the day, Christine had printed off personal images that each member had provided.

After a quick initial demo, we were soon applying printed papers and our images to a fabric or a card base.  As it often is in workshops, making these decisions about arrangement was one of the most difficult parts of the day!

Christine had brought a wide range of printed papers, and other resources, we were welcome to use.

After a quick lunch, we approached the more 'technical' element of the day, painting melted paraffin wax onto teabag paper, then ironing it off to create the correct level of transparancy. After the wax paper was laid over our base we could then start to machine sew to secure everything together and enhance the design.

Lots to finish off at home and lots of ideas to develop in our own way. Thank you Christine for an interesting and inspiring day.

Look out for Christine's work at exhibitions, whether as an individual or as part of the Decorum group and her courses.

https://christinestanford.uk/ , on facebook and instagram https://www.instagram.com/christinejstanford/?hl=en

April meeting

 Our 'upside down' April meeting started with an adventure story....

'Five escape Manchester'

about the Famous/Infamous Five (ie five of our members) and their September holiday and textile residential at Studio Preniac in France with Amanda Hislop. The course focussed on sketching the local landscape then using various techniques to create more abstract textile work. Combined with good food, good company and a couple of trips out, a great time was had by all.

Here are some of the resultant pieces/works in progress:

A couple of the course participants then led some of us on a session to interpret landscape photos we'd brought showing colours we found attractive.  These are a couple of the tutors' samples:

We used ready-painted transfer sheets to re-create a simplified versions of the landscapes which were then ironed off onto polycotton or Vilene.  Deciding how to then cut up these and arrange them on pieces of calico was so difficult!  But...., at least, one speedy worker started some stitching.

A relaxing and interesting day, with lots more work to finish.  Many thanks to The Five and, in particular, to Jean and Pam.

It's nearly time for .......

The Hebden Bridge WI Rag Market!

It's on Saturday, 12 April 2025 from 10 am to 3.30 pm with three venues - The Waterfront at the Town Hall, Northlight studio and the Making Mill.  It's always a great day out and a good mixture of traders, makers selling offcuts and surplus, and individuals having a stash clearout.  There are plenty of places for coffee or lunch and it's easy to get to from Victoria Station in Manchester.

https://hebdenbridgewi.com/rag-market/

 

Stitch with Megastitchers!

Megastitchers are in print! Have a look at the article about stitch groups in  the new edition (April/May 2025) of Stitch magazine for information about our group, what we get up to at meetings and photos of some of our work.

March meeting

Another cool, but sunny, March morning saw us making (loosely) Gaudi-inspired fragmented patterns using some of our stash of old transfers.  Here are Sue's 'ones I prepared earlier' samples.

  

Clockwise from top left: 'repaired' with Italian quilting, repaired (much too symmetrically) with raised chain band, Kintsugi-inspired, random pottery shard display.

By the end of the two hours everyone had made a good start on their piece, hopefully, sufficiently inspired to complete at home. Unfortunately, the tutor's photography brain was absent during the workshop, but here's a completed, Kintsugi-inspired, piece that Gill posted on the Megastitchers Facebook page. Thank you, Gill, well-stitched!.

In the afternoon, we had a talk from our member, Lynda, about her recent trip to Japan, and in particular the textile culture of the Ainu people from the north, around Hokkaido, and recent attempts to re-vitalise it. 

The Ainu had three styles of embroidery: that directly onto fabric, embroidery over strips of fabric that form 'roads' and embroidery applied over wider strips. There are different symbols in the patterns depending on where people live, but many of the patterns have been lost because of earlier attempts to wipe out culture and customs.

Lynda illustrated her talk with an interesting YouTube video, samples, leaflets and books, and items on which she had recreated some traditional patterns.

There are some good short You Tube videos about Ainu culture, including using bark and other natural materials to make clothing and household items, and links to museum collections.