This rare chance to see selected items from the Guild’s vast national collection is not to be missed! The ‘Finest Stitches’ exhibition is coming to Norwich for three days in August – more details here – make a note in your diary now.
Chelmsford branch are holding a workshop on 26th May 2012 with Dawn Thorne for which there are still spare places. Dawn currently holds the position of Course co-ordinator and tutor for City & Guilds Certificate and Diploma at East Berkshire College, Windsor.
The workshop involves the use of transparent fabrics, waxed papers, wax, trappings, wire and glazes, working to a fairly small scale using hand stitching. Dawn also draws upon the use of photography and plastics to convey a sense of depth, with the addition of a light source, further hidden imagery are brought into the composition.
The workshop will be held at
The Link, Trinity Methodist Church
Rainsford Road
Chelmsford
9.45am – 4.00pm
If you would like to attend please contact Margaret Garrood
The cost of the workshop for Chelmsford branch members will be £22 and non-members £25.
South & East Essex Branch are participating in the Westcliff on Sea Art Trail, having made work under the theme of “Swish of the Curtain” to compliment the location - Venue 29, Danceland at Dalby on the London Road. Please see the Trail website for more information.
FABRIC BOWLS WORKSHOP AT SUFFOLK EAST WITH SHEILA CETTI
Suffolk East Branch have places left on the workshop with Sheila Cetti on 23rd June 2012. The bowls will be made using craft vilene and decorated with scraps of fabric and embellished with silk papers, beads and embossing powder. Sewing machines will be used using straight stitch and zig-zag. Sheila is a member of the Quilters’ Guild of Great Britain and has the reputation for being an experienced, popular and entertaining tutor.
Fabric bowls workshop
The workshop will be held at Rushmere Village Hall, Humber Doucy Lane, Ipswich, IP4 3PD and the cost will be £25. It will be from 10.00-4.00. Tea and coffee will be provided. Bring a packed lunch.
Stitched fabric bowls workshop
Contact Norma Moore to book for this workshop on nemoore2002@yahoo.co.uk or 01473 273884
Hertfordshire Branch have been invited to demonstrate and exhibit at Living Crafts at Hatfield House again this year. So, if you are planning to attend ( 10th – 13th May), come along and say hello! We will be in the Arts in Herts marquee (A). We look forward to seeing you.
At our March Meeting, Penny Free joined us as a new Member. She has been along to our Meetings in the past, and indeed has tutored practical sessions for us. Here’s her report on her first Meeting as a Member.
When I was ten years old, I went on a school trip to Snowdon in Wales for a week. Upon arrival, I began ‘collecting’ sheep wool, found during a variety of walks and climbing activities. During the week, my school friends and even the teachers joined in by happily collecting pieces of wool from the fields and bushes to add to my collection. By the end of the week, I had a good sized bag of wool pieces I remember being so proud of. Upon my return to school, I showed our Headmaster, Mr. Swinscoe, my treasured bag of wool and, to my amazement, he offered to turn the small, torn, cream coloured tufts into a ‘proper ball of wool’ as, he advised, he had a spinning wheel at home. Sure enough, several days later, he produced a wound ball of wool, which, to this day, I am convinced was indeed the product of my/our careful collection. The wool certainly felt right and was the same colour. I turned my ball of wool into a ‘pom pom’ for the top of my bobble hat, which unfortunately, has not survived long enough for me to be able to present it to you! I was therefore thrilled that, during my first Saturday as a member, rather than a visitor of the Embroiderers’ Guild, there was a guest speaker: Celia M. L. Gwynn – ‘The Spinning Lady’.
The extremely knowledgeable Celia delivered a wonderful presentation, laden with interesting and often humorous information, together with highly skilled spinning demonstrations using a spinning wheel and hand held wooden tools, to our captivated audience.The most memorable piece of information Celia shared with us for me was the origin of the word ‘Spinster’, as I cannot remember her exact words, I have sourced the information via the internet, as follows:
‘A “spinster” was a female spinner of thread. Spinning was done by unmarried women, hence the word came to denote “unmarried woman”.’ Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-%22spinster%22
I would like to thank you all for giving me such a warm welcome to the Embroiderers’ Guild, again I apologise for winning the raffle…’Beginner’s luck!’…and I look forward to seeing you all in April.
Penny Free
Monday 19th March
Sarah Brownie is visiting, she is a computer artist and her work could provide wonderful inspiration for textile art. Her talk ‘ Using Computer Paint Programmes to Develop Textile Designs’ should give us all inspiration and confidence with this less familiar design tool.
Monday 16th April
Mini Workshop Night – Funky Chunky Jewellery
Members of the committee are going to lead mini workshops, creating jewellery using a variety ot Textile Techniques. Please bring, in a colour range of your choice – Fabric scraps, squares and strips, beads etc., thin wire, threads and a handsewing kit.
All meetings are held at 7.45 to 10pm. Venue – main hall, Christchurch, New London Road, Chelmsford, CM2 0AW
Non Members £4
An anxious committee prepared for our January Members Night – Why anxious you may ask. Well, we decided to try a new format for the evening, this would either be a complete success – or not!
Tables and chairs were organised and members started to arrive. Suddenly the room was humming as people explored and then dabbled at all the activities. Nikki, our Chair, struggled to make herself heard as she tried to welcome everyone, introduce the evening and explain the programme for the night.
Sharne and Margaret displayed a wide variety of book covers they had made and were very generous with advice on the skills and techniques used to create the different effects.
Denise Gannon demonstrated foiling techniques and encouraged everyone to have a go.
Lynda Monk demonstrated how to create amazing leather-like surface on which to stitch.
Libby Smith helped people learn to construct the fiendishly complicated bead star Christmas decoration, which some people almost managed to complete.
Most people managed to have a go at the practical activities and investigated the different examples at the demonstration activities. Books, threads and material were bought and sold and although everyone admired the old hand sewing machine being sold by Chris Brazier, no-one had space for it. Tea and coffee were enjoyed and everyone managed to find space for at least one piece of cake, despite Christmas excesses.
The committee presented Shelagh Woods and Avril Ellis with flowers to thank them for running our sales table every month.
A relieved committee and members decided the evening had been a complete success, despite chilly weather and post-Christmas illnesses.
The “Stitched Drawings” workshop tutored by Shelley Rhodes at the Regional Residential Summer School is already fully booked! You can still book a place at one of the two other Summer School workshops – “A Machine Embroidered Garden” with Alison Holt or “Altered Books” with Angie Hughes. But be quick – places at the Summer weekend are going like hot cakes!
Beth Sugden describes her fantastic experience at the recent Regional Winter Workshop below. Don’t forget to book early for a place at the Summer School – places are going fast!
I was one of the lucky few who attended the winter residential last year so, when the opportunity came around again, I knew the standard would be high. Going in with such high hopes, you’d think I might have been disappointed, but the weekend lived up to – and exceeded – all expectations.
Even before the weekend began, we’d already benefited from Jackie Woolsey’s superb organisation and early details of the weekend agenda. Arriving on Friday evening, I was immediately whisked through to a reception with wine and refreshments for all the weekend guests and the tutors. The excitement in the room was tangible as we couldn’t wait for the workshops to start. Our tutors for the weekend were Sue Leonard, who provided us with guidance and expertise on incorporating metals and metallic effects into our embroidery, and Sandra Beech, who led the hand embroidery of sumptuous velvet bags.
The two workshops couldn’t have been more different! Magic Metals was almost manic in intensity, with lots of raw materials, lots of people being all over the room and doing lots of different things. Sue rounded us up from time to time to give yet another technique demonstration and then we were off again! Sandra’s workshop, by contrast, was much calmer – starting with gorgeous designs and lovely hand-dyed fabrics, following through with trapunto in a granite stitch effect, decorated with dense rows of French knots, and finishing by making the embroidered items into evening bags. We even had time to chat!
Belsey Bridge itself delivered on its previous performance too: lovely rooms with all you needed and the glorious food! We knew we had to be on time for meal times and coffee and tea breaks, but I think we were all amazed at the generous helpings of incredibly tasty food. Tea times were especially a treat with freshly baked cake squares and biscuits.
On Saturday night, we had a wonderful opportunity to attend a lecture by Mal Reynolds, who specialises in framing fabric art to conservation level. He said at the beginning that he felt like he was in a lion’s den having to talk to Embroiderers’ Guild members. What became clear was his passion for fabric art, and the fruits of his labours to establish a recognised specialism in framing fabric art within the Fine Art Trade Guild. We cringed at the examples Mal showed of what NOT to do when framing work. Mal took us through the steps that good framers should take in protecting our work, but that we also had a responsibility in using linen-covered hoops to reduce tension, keeping our embroidery clean, tidying the back of the embroidery, leaving a sufficient margin of fabric to frame, and, most importantly, not to ‘invest’ in cheap framing materials. Finally, Mal recommended an excellent book, ‘Framing and Presenting Textile Art’ by Annabelle Ruston, that we can use to learn more.
The weekend seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, with the last hour on Sunday seeing us gather together to display our work. What struck us all was the incredible talent of everyone that attended, and how much can be achieved in such a short time. We all made a commitment to complete work still in progress, so we could bring and show it at our next branch guild meetings.
All that is left to say is a heartfelt thanks to Gill, Jackie and the supporting cast at Eastern Region for arranging the wonderful weekend, our tutors Sue and Sandra for your patience, guidance and generosity, the staff at Belsey Bridge for making our weekend exceptional, and lastly all of the weekend attendees who were warm, friendly, ever so talented and willing to share their own ideas and techniques.
