Welcome to our May blog, this year seems to be flying by with so much happening at NCEATA but I feel we are finally catching up with our blog posts and I think you may be lucky this month and get two posts!
I hope you enjoy revisiting all that has happened, getting a sneak peak behind the scenes of the Craft alive setup and seeing all the completed hoops together in our virtual gallery at the end of this post.
At our first meeting of the month Wilma shared her knowledge using shrink plastic to make embellishments.
Kits were available and they contained some unusual materials that react to heat in different ways to create some very interesting textures
Some of the materials included :
Wilma demonstrated how to prepare the stink plastic, adding some holes with a hole punch so that the finished piece can be stitched to another surface as an embellishment or for a brooch back or other fastening added.
The plastic can also be coloured with permanent markers but the images with contort as the plastic sinks under the heat gun.
Once everyone had chosen a kit, they cut and stitched using the selection of fabrics and threads provided.
Under the careful guidance of Wilma and with a bit of team work to hold those pieces in place under the heat guns, the magic happens and the shrink plastic and materials react to the heat.
There were many beautiful pieces made throughout the morning and gave all participants another technique to add their creative practice for future projects.
Thanks Wilma for sharing your extensive knowledge and beautifully prepared kits with the group.
Here is a small selection of the finished pieces.
Also happening in May is Craft Alive at the Broadmeadow Race Course. I put my hand up to help with the setup and had a great time as you can see from the photos. I’ll leave it to Ann and Rhonda to determine if I was a help or a hindrance as I was having far too much fun, but the stand came together really well I think.
From all accounts by the volunteers over the three days, the NCEATA stand was well attended. The hoops made by the members were admired by many although Wendy’s spider caused a few raised eyebrows with its life like appearance.
The slow stitch kits were a big success and opened up the conversation as to what NCEATA is about and the great community they have built.
Talks are already underway as to next year’s theme and I can’t wait to see it, it’s going to be GREAT.
As promised, here are all the hoops displayed at Craft Alive. They have been cropped and reduced to fit into the blog post so not clickable to see in more detail.
I am hoping for another post this month covering the Textile Tasters Day. Until then, keep stitching.
