October Meeting

Our topic for the meeting was 'cushions' presented by Tricia.  She had numerous examples of cushions she had made and each one had a story.  Other people brought along their handmade cushions, ancient and modern, and we talked about them all.  I din't take photos of this part of the meeting.  I did snap the show and tell though.

These linen mats of June's are so perfectly finished they could be used on either side. The yarn is a '3 cord mercerised linen' which has been maturing in the back of June's stash for some time. The mats were displayed at the Area Exhibition in Westport and looked lovely.

Also displayed at Westport was this cylindrical tapestry of Jan's.  She had gone to a great deal of trouble to mount it in this fashion and was surprised to learn that for the exhibition it was deconstructed and displayed flat - after which it was painstakingly reassembled the way Jan had sent it!  Those who saw it displayed said it looked superb.

Our newest weaver, Jen, has taken a giant step up and threaded her widest and finest warp yet.  This is a teatowel made with 8/2 unmercerised cotton and you can see from the close-up that she has been clever with designing stripes and changing direction of the twills. We all thought the colours were lovely too.

Tricia's garment is a work in progress. The fabric is the first she wove when she came to Blenheim and each time we see it it has been enhanced in some way. Note the shaping of the shoulders. Joan, who is modelling it here, was impressed with how comfortable it is to wear.  Tricia has added the embellishments as ideas have some to hand from various sources, and says there is more beading to come.

 This wrap is made by Rose with panels of alpaca and silk in plain weave and panels of lace weave in 16/2 mercerised cotton. The weft is also the mercerised cotton.  It has been notoriously hard to photograph as it is a really dark navy.  The panels are outlined in fine silver thread, each end being finished off with a little square 'diamond' purloined from a bracelet when the right beads could not be found. These are shown in the photo below but you will have to excuse the washed out colour of the wrap.

Another piece was the large throw rug shown in the previous post.

Joan also showed us some treasures she brought back from her travels and I will post photos of them next time.

From Mountains to the Sea

 Mountains to the Sea was the theme of the Australian & New Zealand Exchange tapestries which were on display at Festival.

 They are quite small (most approx 15 cm square) but many of them are amazingly detailed.

 These are just a few close ups that appealed to me and I thought our tapestry weavers at home might like to see.

 There were about 60 tapestries in total.

 This one is by our Jan Hannay.  Well done Jan for getting it finished on time.

I'm sorry I didn't note the names of the weavers or the individual titles.

Tapestry News

Recently our Tapestry Weavers welcomed Lesley Longhurst from Wellington to a couple of their gatherings when she was here on holiday.  Lesley was working on a small tapestry she wanted to enter in the Port Nicholson Handweavers'  exhibition and had to get it finished by the time she returned to Wellington. We can now report that it did get finished, handed in at probably the last second, and in due course was accepted. It is now on view (but not in a real fireplace) with the rest of the group's exhibition at the Blue Pacific Gallery at Pataka in Porirua. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement.

Four Directions in Tapestry

Greetings fellow weavers.  We have a wonderful opportunity between now and 6 May to see the work of four renowned tapestry weavers. And it's lots of work. The whole of the Yealands Estate Gallery (that's the Art Society Gallery on High Street) is full of tapestries large and small, all expertly woven. Don't miss it.