April workshop - Stumpwork

Our April workshop was with Anne Read who came to teach us the intricacies of Stumpwork.

She kept everybody very well occupied ...

throughout the day. We were inspired by some of the exquisite things she had brought to show us ...

... pictures ...

... and boxes ...

... fuschias ...

... and bags ...

... dragonflies ...

... requiring very careful stitching.

There was lots of help and assistance from Anne to help us over the difficult bits.

And, of course, the 'girls in the back room' were hard at it as usual.

And here are our Young Embroiderers' finishing off their entry for the Regional Day.

The good news is that they won! Again!!!

As did our own Jackie Cardy who came away once again with the Coats prize for Embroidery.

March Meeting - 'Beryl's Buttons' and 'The Future of Handmade Textiles'

Our March meeting was one which we had looked forward to for a long time. Here is one smart and very fashionable lady wearing one of her special garments. Yes, our very own 'Queen of Wearable Art' was going to do a workshop on how to transform our clothes with her very special buttons.

Beryl had brought along many samples of buttons and fastenings for us to look at.

Too many for some people to decide what to do? It was hard to choose which of the many techniques to 'have a go' at ...

... but Beryl was at hand with advice - and instruction. In this case - crochet. (Sorry, Beryl, I'm going to have to have a private lesson!)

A busy morning followed ...

... and many and varied were the techniques being used ...

The Young Embroiderers' were able to join in ...

... and enjoyed the session very much.

Such concentration!

A very productive morning, girls!

And such glamour from the older 'girls'! Our Christmas party will be all a-dazzle!

After lunch we had a very interesting and thought-provoking talk from Jim Gaffney about 'The future of hand-made textiles'. We 'oohed and aahed' over the stunning batiks from Java and ikat weavings from Indonesia and kilims from Turkey.

Diane presided over the 'shop' with wonderful fabrics, unusual clothes with an ethnic flavour ...

... and the most tempting range of silver jewellery and beads. A feast for sore eyes!

I can feel a visit to 'Textile Traders' in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, coming on!

'Arsenic and Old Lace'

Our February Day School was 'Arsenic and Old Lace' with Suzanne Shaw. Suzanne brought us lots of her own work to inspire us ...

... and then took us through the various different techniques - dyeing, transfer printing, machine and hand embroidery - that we could try out to achieve similar effects.

Suzanne used an interesting variety of 'starting points' - old photographs and postcards ...

Choosing which materials and techniques to use made for difficult decisions ...

... a lot of thought went into it!

Fragments of old lace and embroidery were painted and dyed and joined together to give an antique look to the pieces ...

... which were then stitched by hand ...

... and machine ...

Beads, buttons, ribbons and silk carrier rods were added and an amazing variety of textiles were ready to be assembled into pictures, cushion covers, bags, purses and book covers ...

... which we hope will be brought in to our 'show and tell' at our March meeting.

We were left with many techniques and ideas to try at home.

Suzanne also brought a huge array of tempting products and materials - fabrics, threads, lace, etc. - for us to buy! Shop 'til you drop!

As well as our activities in the main room, we are lucky enough to have the space to accommodate a lively and productive group who 'do their own thing' ...

... with all kinds of talents being displayed.

Ask a question here and someone will happily share their experience with you.

And we have our own shop, run by Sue Shepherd, where you can buy lots of 'goodies' too!

Our next workshop - on 6th March - is run by our very own 'Queen of Wearable Art', ex-Chairman Beryl Carr, who is going to show us how to make wonderful buttons, which can be used for fastening or decoration. I, for one, can't wait!