​2020 is the year when my diary had more Tippex than ink. All the group meeting and courses cancelled, what to do with myself?

I initially collected all my UFOs and WIPs and got going on them. Pieces got finished, mounted, framed.
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I also took the plunge into purchasing a Judit Pócs video tutorial to make a hat. Not just any old hat, something of a statement hat.

This turned out to be an excellent idea as I could do as much or as little as I was able every day. In all it took me about two weeks to complete, and is felted with the inclusions of sequin material for the decoration.
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It was an advanced level of work but being able to access the videos when I wanted/needed and to be able to stop/start and rewind made taking on this huge project attainable.

​Since then Zoom workshops have been done with great success, but I am still looking forward to doing workshops in a room with others.

At our December meeting we welcomed Steffi Stern from The Makerss. Steffi presented a mini workshop via Zoom, and participants made a cute little needle-felted Christmas gnome, from Nordic folklore, called a Tomte.
The meeting was very quiet as we all sat industriously stabbing away at our felt. A few fingers were pricked along the way, but a good time was had by all, and at the end of the evening there were 26 mischievous little Tomtes, complete with curly beards and pointy red hats!

Jessica Grady joined us on Thursday 5th November to talk to us about her work, and the fascinating journey she had taken to evolve  into the renowned textile artist that she is today, exhibiting across the world.
We were therefore very excited to be joining her the following Saturday for our first ever Zoom workshop.
What a huge success! 
We all had such a lovely time learning how to recycle everyday items and waste, into beautiful embellishments that were arranged and stitched to create beautiful floral explosions of colour.

Jessica has a website where you can purchase online pdf workbooks and kits, you can also keep in touch with exhibitions and events that she is taking part in. Jessica also offers Zoom workshops and has an online shop where you can buy her work.
www.jessicagrady.co.uk

MACHINE STITCHING WITH METALLIC THREADS

RULE NO. 1- ALWAYS USE A TOPSTITCH NEEDLE

USE a Topstitch 80/12 needle for fine metal threads and
Topstitch 90/14 or 100/16 for thicker threads.

Metallic thread is a decorative thread and so needs to be seen on the surface of the fabric. It is more fragile than normal sewing threads and so needs to be used with care.

Always use a Topstitch needle – a Topstitch needle has a much larger eye than a Universal needle and so is kinder to the thread as it goes through the larger ‘space’.

Loosen the top thread tension a little and use a fine (cotton or polyester) thread in the bobbin (No. 50 or 60). Thicker threads (e.g. YLI Candlelight) should be wound onto the
bobbin by hand.

With a thicker thread in the bobbin, stitch from the back of fabric/quilt and loosen the top thread tension.

Stitching with metal thread on soluble fabrics – you will need metal thread in the bobbin as well and the bobbin tension should also be loosened a little.

Don't stitch too quickly - treat it gently!

If the thread wants to coil and knot itself put a few of Pauline’s Patent Threadholders at strategic places on your machine and thread the metallic thread through them to help straighten it. (Blutak & very small picture ring)

Pauline Barnes
www.paulinebarnesquilts.co.uk
2020

Whilst the pandemic continues to force us into isolation, our monthly meetings will continue via Zoom.
At our last meeting we had over 30 members join us to welcome Linda Miller who gave us a lovely talk about her working practice, and presented an inspirational slideshow of her work.

If any members would like to join in with our Zoom meetings, but feel unable or uncomfortable in doing so, please email: [email protected] and a committee member will give you a ring to see if we can help smooth through the process and help you to get on board.

You can now vote for your favourite entry for the Chairman's Challenge.
Go to Chairman's Challenge page, put the member's name in the box and click 'submit'

Once they are installed on your device, Facebook and Instagram are quite easy to use and to upload images to.Facebook instructions can be found here: 
https://www.facebook.com/help/118731871603814
Instructions for uploading to Instagram can be found here:
https://help.instagram.com/442418472487929

Its important that you get a good quality photograph of your work. Excellent tips for photography with a smart phone can be found here:
​https://cathyjackcoupland.com/a-checklist-for-photographing-your-own-textile-art/

Very soon, you should all be receiving a sketchbook as a small gift from the committee.
Our aim is to set you a challenge. Each month we will give you a prompt to create a page in your book. 
The purpose will become clearer when you receive your newsletter, but for now, we suggest that you decorate your cover in any way you like. 
​A few ideas can be seen below. We've used crazy felting, sketching, lino printing and doodling. Use your favourite technique, or make use of samples you have lying around from workshops. It's entirely up to you.
​Have fun :) 

While we’re all self isolating/hibernating we thought it might be nice to set you all a CHALLENGE. A little something to keep you busy using your vast range of CREATIVE TALENTS.

Using the theme of BIRDS please create a wonderful piece of work in any medium, with whatever technique you like, there is no limit on size.

There is an uncertain time-limit on this project. We suggest that you bring the completed work to our next meeting, whenever that might be?

We will create a gallery on the website and any images you’d like to share of ‘work-in-progress’ or completed pieces can be emailed to Julia Green at: [email protected] and she will upload them.

This project is, of course, additional to our Chairman’s Challenge of Up-cycle/Re-cycle, which is scheduled for our September AGM.

It will be wonderful when we can all meet up again to celebrate getting through this and share the marvellous Birds and the Up cycled/Recycled works of art created by you during this time.
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There are quite a few free or reduced cost on-line activities taking place all over the internet. Julia mentioned a few of these in her newsletter.
For those of you on Facebook, there are links to a few of these activities on our Sutton Coldfield Creative Stitchers facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SCCStitchers/, including stitching, sketching, museum tours etc.  Please note that this Facebook page is not private.
If you find any more on-line activities that might be of interest to other members, please email them to info@suttoncoldfieldcreativestitchers.co.uk and we will add them to the list.
I hope you are all managing to stay safe, healthy, active and creative, and look forward to a time, hopefully quite soon, when we can all get back together again.