April's Meeting: "Collaborating with Nature" a talk by Jane Hare

I must begin the Blog this month with some sad news. Carol Brown, one of the founder members of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild, slipped away peacefully on the 15th March after her battle with cancer. Carol was a proud and deserved recipient of a Trustee Award, and I know this acknowledgement from the Embroiderers' Guild gave her and the family a few hours of pleasure at this very difficult time. She will be sadly missed in Grassington. We send our deepest sympathy to Carol's family at this time.

"Although it's difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, may looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow"

We will be remembering Carol with an exhibition of her needlework displayed in Church House, Grassington on June 23rd/24th as part of our annual exhibition and contribution to Grassington Festival.

On a much brighter note, a second member of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild will receive a Trustee Award which will be presented at our monthly meeting, as yet to be arranged. What an honour for two of our members to be considered as worthy applicants.

The recipient is Sheila Gudgeon, who has been a member at Grassington for well over twenty years. She has been Chairman of the group and her name appears year after year on the committee member list. When I was elected as secretary it was committee member (tea lady), Sheila, with her quiet composed character that guided us in the right direction through those initial meetings. She checked we had covered matters of importance in a very unobtrusive way. It was not until I had begun to record the history of our branch that I realised that Sheila and one other member, were the next longstanding members of our group after Carol. In my initial year, I noticed it was Sheila who left last having completed washing all the cups up in the kitchen and it was Sheila who helped to tidy the room so we could leave it as we found it. Although Carol's and Sheila's contribution to the Branch were quite contrasting, I would certainly have been lost without the help and advice I received from both of them. Both are very worthy recipients.

Yesterday we had a super talk from Jane Hare.

Jane explained, "I was taught to stitch at a very early age but my real interest in textile art began when I inherited my mother's tin of embroidery threads. With the help of a bursary from the City of York Embroiderers' Guild, I completed a four year City & Guilds Diploma in Embroidery Craft and Design during which time, I explored the natural environment through stitch, looking in some depth at trees, leaves and bark. This is where my passion for working in collaboration with nature began; creating beautifully printed papers and fabrics using leaves foraged from the garden and local hedgerows."

Jane's slide presentation illustrated with fabric samples held us spellbound all afternoon. A fabulous introduction to "Collaborating with Nature".

For those who did not catch the title:
Wild Colour by Jenny Dean was suggested as a good reference point for natural dying.