Embroidery 5 quilting 0!

We are a long way away from the mainstream here in Cornwall, but the local branch of the Embroiderers Guild is very active, unlike the Quilters Guild, which isn't. So having been part of the QGBI and the CQ group for a long time and a member of two lovely active quilting groups back in Leeds, it was sad to feel that I'd lost out by moving away so I went along to an EG meeting just to see what it was like.

Actually, it felt like coming home! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and not only was the programme inspiring, there are lots of get togethers outside the meetings and a  wide range of talents and tastes. So I joined and haven't regretted it.

When I saw that Jean Littlejohn was booked for a two day workshop in May, my mouth really started watering, but sadly there were no places left. I was encouraged to put my name on the waiting list but didn't hold out much hope of getting a place. Still, I had a ticket for the talk she was due to give and thought that at least I'd get to see some of her beautiful work.

But then, I get the phone call a couple of days ago. A place had come free and would I like it? Would I like it? You mean you felt I needed to be asked!!!

So I duly got everything on the requirements list together and packed it all in. We were going to be using an embellisher, which I don't have, but I do have an embelleshing attachment for my sewing machine, so I got that fitted and off I went to the talk.

Jean is a lively and entertaining speaker and very generously shared lots of information about techniques she and Jan Beaney used. She mentioned the requirements for the following day and said, don't bother to bring loads as I have just about everything with me!

So after I got home, I repacked my bags leaving out a lot of stuff that I thought would be essential and realised I wouldn't need and putting in some more yarns that I could see would be useful. In the end, all it used was a bit of my yarn and my scissors! I really needn't have taken anything else at all!

So after an introductory talk we got going on the stitching. Jean showed us how to use stitches to create texture and this is central to her work. She asked us to use just one stitch, raised chain band but to have a design in mind. Mine was based on a drawing of tree bark and  used some very thick knitting yarn which took me way out of my comfort zone.

This is work in progress and not a very good photo I'm afraid.

The next technique Jean showed us was to use Solusheet, which is a dissolvable fabric, to create a background for further stitching. The idea is to cover the fabric with large stitches making sure that the stitches cross over each other. Then the stitching is worked on using an embellisher which has the effect of creating a "felted" surface. The piece is then put in water to dissolve the fabric and once it is dry it can be stitched into and further embellished.

Taking this further, Jean showed us how to make a rich surface by ironing bondaweb onto the stitching and adding gold foil. This was then covered with a nylon scarf before distressing it all under the embellisher. This opens up a world of possibilities for making rich and complex surfaces that can then be stitched into. Both Jean and Jan use this method to make very large pieces of work but our pieces were very small. I wasn't very happy with the way my first piece turned out. My initial stitching was so dense that it took a long time for the embellisher to get it distressed sufficiently and then it wasn't possible to wash out all the Solusheet.

The lttle piece on the left is my attempt at building an embellished surface and I used detached chain stitch as the final stitching.

All in all an exhausting couple of days, but lots of new things learned and lots of fun with some lovely people. One thing I did learn is that my embellisher attachment can't cope with this kind of surface which is a bit of a shame because it means that now I just have to get a proper embellisher! The things we are forced to do for art!!!!

One tip Jean gave us which has really made me think and this was to do what you love, otherwise you won't finish it and it will languish in the UFO box. So although I love quilting, at heart I think I'm truly an embroiderer. I'm glad to have got that sorted out at last!!!