Sunday 6 December 2020

December

Meetings are continuing to be virtual and not at the Rugby Club.

If you are not already a member of the Grassington District Embroiderers' Guild Branch and would like to watch our Zoom Speaker Meetings you are now able to do so. For or an annual fee of £20, you will be sent the link to the Talks which take place on the first Wednesday of each month. If you are interested contact the secretary:

GrassingtonDistrictSec@embroiderersguild.co.uk


December 16th

This was our last meeting of 2020, a virtual Christmas celebration with a sewing quiz. Below I will keep updating our programme for 2021. Our first discussion topic for 2021 will be "Twin and triple needles" ! Please have your samples ready to show if you are familiar with these, or be ready to take on board a whole new meaning to machine stitching.

The year has ended with some excellent news. Kathleen Carlisle has been the recipient of the National Embroiderers' Guild Trustee Award.

The first records we have of the Grassington & District Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild begin in 1980. A group of ladies met in a house in Arncliffe.

In 1983, Kathleen joined this Branch of the National Embroiderers’ Guild in Arncliffe. She saw the group relocate to Grassington Town Hall, Grassington Church House and finally to Threshfield Rugby Club. She has now embraced modern technology and despite hearing loss is an active member of our zoom meetings.

 For thirty-eight years she has been steadfast and committed to this group of needleworkers. Her hand embroidery work is exceptional and inspirational to all those who see it. She has spread the word of the Guild through her talk “My Journey as an Embroiderer” and through her Needlework success, every year, at the prestigious Kilnsey Horticultural show.






Kathleen is a quiet but valued member of our Branch, but she is always willing to share her expertise, ideas, and knowledge with others. She is an extremely competent needlewoman and produces outstanding work. 

As Secretary to the Branch, I thought a good Covid activity was to sort, and file electronically, all the old records I had inherited with the job. I came across the original Branch registers and realised that Kathleen was our most long-standing member and her contribution for all those years to the National Embroiderers’ Guild and to our Branch activities, should be commemorated in some way. 

What I had not discovered in our old records, was that Kathleen had been a member of the National Guild for far longer than 38 years. Prior to joining our Branch, she had been an active member of the Skipton Branch for at least 5 years.

It was Kathleen who argued very strongly for the case of re-joining all our members to the National Guild in September and supported you in a way you would never have heard about. This is the sort of honourable woman she is.

 She has been a wonderful mentor for me, and without her, I know that our Grassington Branch would not be the friendly cohesive group that we are today. Her long-standing experience has always quietly steered the committee in a positive direction. She has not been on the committee herself, but her quiet advice has been invaluable. 

Congratulations Kathleeen and we hope that you will continue to enjoy many more years with our Branch.



Dec 2nd

Zara Day was our speaker for our first meeting in December, with a talk: "It is never to late to be what you might have been", followed with a workshop: Stitching and embellishing a lettering sample. 

After studying a BA (hons) in textile and fashion design, Zara freelanced for several printed textiles companies before training as a teacher. She taught textiles, art, and design in secondary and further education establishments for over sixteen years, delivering GCSE, A-level, International Baccalaureate and HND courses.

She is now the founder and creative director of Rosemaryrose, bespoke embroidered textiles which  specialises in the embellishment of fabrics for luxury residential and commercial properties.




Whilst running Rosemaryrose and during this Covid period, Zara has continued to share her love of embroidery and teaching, by offering Zoom embroidery courses and talks. Her Zoom talk and workshop with the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild this month was a thrill to be part of, and our members thoroughly enjoyed two very stimulating and interesting hours. Her beautiful and innovative free flow design work work was illustrated with a  Powerpoint presentation and we were able to see her wonderful ideas and techniques.




A big thank you to Zara for a really refreshing needlework morning. Please visit  Zara's instagram page to find the courses that Zara is now offering on line.

Over the last few months our members have been busy with free knitting:

A Geology Time Line




 and Lanterns for the Christmas tree.

I hope members will continue to send photographs for me to include in our Blog each month


Our next meeting will be December 16th. A discussion on all things Christmas, a festive drink and a mince pie.

Next Meetings
We are still finalizing the January and February speakers and discussion topics.

January 6th        Helen Wray: "Gam Farm Rare Breeds Wool Shop Grassington"
January 20th       Discussion topic  Sewing machine twin needles and triple needles, sharing work so far in the Travelling Books, working with Angelina fibres.

February 3rd      Laura Edgar Textile Artist
February 17th
March 3rd         Jennifer Collier: "The Art of Paper and Stitch"
March 17th
April 7th            Alison Wake: "Painting with thread and yarn" 
April 21st
May 5th             Chrisie Freeth: "Traditional textile crafts and exploring them as a contemporary art                                                              form"
June 2nd             Helen Robson

November

Meetings are continuing to be virtual and not at the Rugby Club.

If you are not already a member of the Grassington District Embroiderers' Guild Branch and would like to watch our Zoom Speaker Meetings you are now able to do so. For or an annual fee of £20, you will be sent the link to the Talks which take place on the first Wednesday of each month.

If you are interested contact the secretary:

GrassingtonDistrictSec@embroiderersguild.co.uk


Unfortunately our speaker for Nov 4th was cancelled due to illness and we hope to reschedule Deborah Mullins in the New Year. 

Deborah is a hand embroiderer, working predominantly on themes related to Palestine and using traditional Bethlehem tahriri designs and technique but in innovative and modern ways. She was awarded a gold medal by City and Guilds and by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers on the completion of her C&G studies a few years ago. She staged her first solo exhibition in Haworth, W Yorks in 2017. Deborah is possibly the only embroiderer specializing in this field in the UK, and enjoys sharing both traditional techniques and her own creative response through talks and workshops.

Read more about Deborah's work on her website.

November 18th meeting was a members discussion session "Transferring photos, prints and patterns to fabric". Members shared their experiences of using Reynolds Freezer Paper to stabilize a fabric which enables it to be put through a printer, using Inkjet printable silk sheets and PPD Inkjet transfer papers.

We were able to see the progress of  some of our Travelling Books. Below are pages from "Hay Meadows"









Next Meetings

December 2nd - Guest Speaker Zara Day


On-line Textile Events, well worth a visit to these websites. Click on the links in blue below:

"Woven" is about celebrating our textiles heritage.

 Stitchery Stories is an embroidery and textile art podcast, hosted by Susan Weeks.

Textilia Exhibition is at Farfield Mill, 3rd Nov - 4th Jan

Textile Snippets

A visit to Sue Hawkins Needleworks by one of our members found the thread cutter: Details.

Glow in the dark threads can be purchased from Minerva Fabrics.

For all those interested in Freeform knitting have a look at Fibre Artist Jenny Dowde's Blog. She is also the author of numerous books.

Have a look at Chris Gray's work as a textile artist, author and tutor. 

The Yorkshire Button Kit has been a great hit with our members.

TextileArtist.org is a place for textile and fiber artists to be inspired, learn from the best, promote their work and communicate with like-minded creatives. A number of our members have joined and are enjoying the challenges of this group. Have a look at the web site for further details.

Emma Herst, a university of Huddersfield student has won a prestigious Wool Week design competition to create a coat.

100 years of Textile Designs and Fabric

Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn are selling a hundred years of textile designs and fabric samples from two private collections. Curator Harriet Hunter Smart said: "These two private collections of fabric samples and textile designs are an extraordinary treasure trove of pattern, colour, and design."

Pop into the Singer Outlet shop for a look at all things sewing! I especially like the Christmas 2020 Advent calendar 24 piece sewing kit!!  Or into Scraptastic for all kinds of craft ideas.

Here is a list of fabric retailers sent in by a member:

Amo Threads sell fabrics that would otherwise go to waste.

Polin Fabrics are an online store but low in price.

The really useful textile company Calico Laine.

Shop on line at the Yorkshire Fabric Shop.

 Interesting gadgets to check out!

Cocoknits row counter

Free from Google Play, Knitting Genius is an app with video tutorials, a row counter and several free knitting patterns. Might be worth a look.