WA Craft Fair 2017 - TAAMMI Challenge and Display

One of the highlights of my year is going to a craft show, and the August one is quite special because I participate on the TAAMMI display stall.

Dorothy and I manned the stall on Saturday morning and had a great time meeting so many lovely people who came over to chat and have a look at our display and competition pieces.  We were blown away with the response this year which is rewarding after the amount of work that goes into it.

Each year we have a Challenge and a Display for our members to enter - this year the Challenge was to create something relating to music and what music means to you, and the display theme was "Doors".

We had two generous sponsors this year who donated prizes for the Music challenge - Halcyon Steppe and The Teddy Tree, with the winners being Wendy Burgess and Trudy Boyce.

We also had a people's choice award for all pieces created over both displays, and I offered, as Thimble Fingers, to donate the prize this year.  The public are encouraged to vote on their favourite piece and write the number on a slip of paper placed in a box over the course of the weekend.

Of course, the craft fair is much more than just our display, there are many fabulous stalls and artisans demonstrating their talents, along with quilt displays, demonstrations, and a fantastic wood work show at the other end of the hall to keep the husbands amused.
Not to forget Dale Rollerson's The Thread Studio stall which is always a big draw card for me to buy up lots of lovely textile supplies.  It's so easy to get carried away and want one of everything!
Caroline Sharkey was a guest artist and her work is simply amazing, really capturing the colours of Australia.  Attending one of her workshops is definitely on my bucket list.  Another lovely lady was Elizabeth Dubbelde from Berry Quilting Retreat NSW showcasing 6 different textile art exhibitions.  I was especially taken with her One Red Thread theme.
I digress ... back to TAAMMI.  So, the following weekend at TAAMMI we had our open day welcoming all the new visitors from the craft fair, and scored 4 new members.  Welcome ladies! We love to see our group growing each year.
Before the open day exhibition and Wendy's texture on textiles demonstration the winner of the People's Choice award was announced.  There was I with gift in hand ready to present it to the winner and whose name was called out  .... yes, mine!  Oops, awkward. Note the look on my face.

I was totally thrilled that my Door piece won, as its my first win, but I could hardly keep my own prize, so it was presented to Wendy who was the 2nd and 3rd place winner for her entries in both categories, and deservedly so.  Well done Wendy.

Next week we decide on the theme for next years challenge, giving us plenty of time to plan, prepare and create but of course we always leave it to the last minute don't we - it's the pressure that really gets the creative juices flowing.  I left my music challenge piece until the day before entry, I found it quite a hard theme to work with.  Hopefully the next theme will be easier.

Now my door piece has been revealed I'll be busy this week putting together the instructions on how to create it.  My minds already running away with lots of ideas for the next design - yes, my mojo's back.  Yayyy!!!

Michelle Mischkulnig workshop

As a member of TAAMMI (Textile Art & Mixed Media Inc) we're always looking for new tutors to inspire and guide us in our creative journey, and recently our workshop co-ordinator Penni introduced us to the vibrant textile art of Michelle Mischkulnig.

Luckily for us, Michelle was happy to come over from Victoria and conduct two weekend workshops for our group, and for non members from other textile and embroidery groups.

What a brilliant weekend we had.  Michelle is very open to sharing her vast knowledge and techniques with us all, and is an extremely friendly and warm person.

Michelle showed us how to create a colourful garden theme, using machine embroidery on printed fabric of Michelle's design and layers of fabric and thread to give dimension and depth to the piece, adding 3D pieces to develop texture and volume.

The two days flew by and we all had a ball.  Unfortunately no-one finished their work in the time frame, but they were all about 80% complete by the end of the workshop.

Mine is still sitting in my workroom waiting for more attention - and after a weeks holiday next week I'll be getting down to some serious stitching.  Watch this space .....

Corset creation

It's been a long time since I made clothes and even when I did they were quite basic, but recently Art a'Peel (the local textile group I'm a member of) challenged the members to create an artistic corset.  It was interesting to see each members approach to the theme - some did two dimensional designs which were framed, or on canvas, and others created actual corsets in varying sizes.
It's always inspiring to see how each person interprets a challenge.  For me I threw myself wholeheartedly into creating a full size corset with no idea at all what I was doing, as lining and boning were new techniques.  However, I have to admit once it was done I was quite thrilled with the end result.  It's good to push your boundaries and try something new - we never know what we're capable of until we try.

I started off with some Osnaburg fabric I'd previously rust dyed, as it had good strength but was soft and manageable, and lined it with Quilters Muslin.  The embroidery was hand stitched and on an evening sitting attaching the many sequins was quite relaxing.

The rings for the lacing are metal curtain rings, heated with a heat gun and dipped in embossing powder to coat them with a colour to match the sequins and embroidery.  It was fiddly but worked well and tied it all together (pardon the pun!).

My grandson asked me if it was for me, or a young person - I've learnt to smile sweetly and not take offence.

I'm back .... with exciting news

Well time certainly slips by and it's shameful to see how long it's been since I last blogged, but I'm back and intend to keep you up to date with all that's happening at this end of the world now that I'm getting a handle on social media.  I've definitely got a lot to catch up on but that doesn't mean I've had idle hands - there's been quite a bit of textile and embroidery work getting done in the background and in the next few weeks I'll be telling you all about it, but in the meantime my exciting news is that my new website has been launched and I hope people find it easier to use and navigate around.  Be sure to visit me at Thimble Fingers and have a look around.

 I'm also up and running on Facebook if you want to follow me: Thimble-fingers Australia - I'd love to hear from you.