Next Meeting: Wednesday 1st February, talk with Leah Higgins "My Road to Ruin and Beyond"

Our next session will be a stitch morning followed by a talk at 1:30. The raffle colour is VIOLET The Travel Page is JANUARY. We will be starting our "Backgrounds for Stitching Project", this month to be STRAIGHT STITCH.

Leah Higgins will be our guest on Wednesday and says "My art has developed from a life-long love of working with textile and stitch. The tactile nature of cloth envelopes me in feelings of wellbeing and brings with it memories of people long gone. I can trace my path from making clothes to making bed quilts, from buying printed fabrics to dyeing and printing my own. From following others to developing my own ideas. From craft to art."

January 18th, Sissix Machine and dies

Our first mini workshop involved getting familiar with a sissix machine and various dies. Die-cutting is a process whereby a die is used to cut through materials such as paper, fabric and card on a die press. The process allows you to make an identical cut into material numerous times. For each job, a die, which is a very sharp shaped blade, and can be purchased at various outlets, is used with the machine.

While some members were working on their own textile art projects a good number experimented with the sissex machine. The cut fabrics were an inspiration to be incorporated with other textile processes and gave much food for thought. This new programme of mini workshops is superb for introducing members to new techniques and for a reminder for those familiar with the processes. It is a day for bouncing ideas off one another and adding to our portfolio new and refreshed techniques.