3rd January 2018
Our first meeting of the year got off to a great start as we came together on our first Member led workshop of the year to explore and experiment with Block Printing and Poor Man’s Pewter.
Janet demonstrated the Block Printing that she has done on her travels to India and at home and showed us samples of work completed by ‘professionals’ who do this for a living. There was much ooh-ing and aa-hing as we thoroughly enjoyed picking through both Janet’s printing blocks and those brought by other members. Various combinations of prints were explored and our technique was perfected as we explored the effects of ‘overprinting’ and colour combining. We used paper and fabric-some of which members had previously dyed in various ways (ice dying was especially effective). Janet then went on to demonstrate a simple folded book which would look great if the printed fabric or paper were to be used as a cover.
Jean shared some of her examples of Poor Man’s Pewter, many of which look amazing as book cover and gave a demonstration on the process using a range of ‘shapes’ to create the desired effect. We were all amazed at how simple but effective this technique is and how we could apply the finished work to a project such as a box lid to create a special gift. I for one will be rushing out to get my ink and rummaging for suitable objects to use in my patterns to explore this further.
Most members had a chance to have a go at both activities and we look forward to seeing how the work has been continued or used over the next few months.
Next month we have a Stitch Morning and a Talk: "Knitted Settle" by Cate Holland.
