February 2014 Meeting

WEST LULWORTH WI  MEETING FEBRUARY 2014

How many of us, at some point, have washed a garment at too high a temperature to find to our dismay that the precious item has been transformed to something crumpled, matted and completely unwearable? Using the properties of materials was the basis of our speaker, Chris Scholes’ talk on “Textiles and Pictures” at our February meeting.

Firstly Chris introduced us to the basic vocabulary of her creative work- line, shape, form, colour, texture and design. Then she shared some of her exquisite work with us and explained the process she uses to arrive at her pictures using techniques such as

v  reducing plastic, felt , man-made materials using heat

v  sandwiching silk, lawn and cotton together and washing at high heat to shrink

v  stitching together old pieces of fabric backed with lawn then heating

v  using paper- cutting into mosaic then  sticking, inking and shrinking

v  using  versatile scrim, pulling it apart, stitching and overlaying it

v  making fascinating mesh works using aquabond

Chris emphasised the importance of experimentation as different materials when shrunk give totally different and intriguing effects. She also recommended keeping a record of the outcomes and assembling a scrapbook of ideas which might be used in later projects.

We thoroughly enjoyed Chris’ fascinating talk and being able to look at and handle some of her beautiful designs.

Our collection for the Dorchester Food Bank was gratefully received. Members are being asked to bring an item of food to our monthly meetings during this year.

The other highlight of the month was our annual jumble sale. Thanks to the generosity of all who donated goods, we had a huge amount of items on display. Selling was brisk and we were delighted to raise £276. Very warm thanks to everyone who supported the event.

At our next meeting on Wednesday 5^th March, we plan to get a little physical as we will be participating in a Tai Chi Chuan demonstration (loose clothing and soft shoes to allow freedom of movement are recommended). Do come along and join us, everyone is welcome.

Halina Simpson