Please note, that following the reorganisation of the Embroiderers' Guild, we have become an independent stitch group:
Grassington Textile Arts Group
For more information, or to get in touch, please visit:
Thursday, 20 May 2021
Wednesday, 7 April 2021
April
Meetings of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild 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 a fee of £10, you will be sent the link to the Talks which take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month. If you are interested contact the secretary:
GrassingtonDistrictSec@embroiderersguild.co.uk
Our next meeting will be on May 5th.
Ann Pocklington will be giving a power point presentation, "From Crinoline Ladies to Soldering Irons - a textile journey". This talk is about the changes in embroidery in the last 50 years, illustrated with her own work.
May 19th Workshop with Angelina fibres
The book, “Between the Sheets With Angelina” by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden is well worth looking at and not expensive.
Below are two shops where you can order the fibre.
Wingham Wool Works, 70 Main St, Wentworth, Rotherham S62 7TN, Ruth and Alan Gough the owners - very helpful.
Colourcraft
(C&A) Ltd 6, Carlisle Court, 555 Carlisle St E, Sheffield S4
8DT
Lots of craft supplies, including Angelina.
April 21st Meeting
This week the group chatted about embellishing with buttons from our button tins! Below are a few samples of decorative button work for you to try, all the work below has been done by our members.
Buttons enhanced with embroidery stitch around the outside are really effective.
Shades of the same colour, but all shapes and sizes of button.
Incorporating buttons into a stitched design.
Embellishing machine stitching and hand embroidered motif.
Memory buttons! Each one has a special significance. I love this idea. I have made memory quilts, but I had not thought of creating a memory button piece. This will be next on my list! I have already started sorting through my button tins and recalling garments long gone, but the buttons remain. I will also start a holiday collection of buttons! When Covid allows more freedom, I shall be collecting buttons from wherever I visit!
Yorkshire buttons embellished onto an abstract seascape.
Home made Fimo clay buttons, using a pasta maker and pastry cutters!
April 7th
This morning started with a sprinkle of snow on the ground and the loss of electric down the Dale, but nothing was going to prevent me from attending Alison Wake's zoom talk on "Painting with Threads". So it was generator on, and internet back up and running, and I was able to connect with the group for a morning of Textile Art.
Alison is a self taught artist, living in the Peak District National Park. She draws her inspiration from the micro and macro landscapes surrounding her home. Her textile artworks are hand stitched, and she tries to use locally sourced and hand dyed wools. Alison explained that whilst out walking, she takes photographs and sketches and uses these for inspiration for her textile art. She pointed out that she tries to communicate her natural experiences through the colour, texture and imagery of her pictures. We were treated to a wonderful display of her stitched pictures and smaller pendant works. Below is a sample of her work.
Alison is presently exhibiting at the Gallery in the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton and is a member of the High Peaks Artists Group.
Have a look at Alison's website to see her most recent works.
Programme
April 21st Buttons
May 5th Talk: Ann Pocklington - "From Crinoline Ladies to Soldering Irons- A Textile Journey"
May 19th Workshop with Angelina fibres
June 2nd Workshop: Ann Pocklington - Pillow Loom Weaving, making a bag with no seams to sew up. I will send a requirement list the week before.
June 16th Continuing the Textile Book
July 7th Anne Barron work packs
July 21st Patchwork
Sept 1st AGM
Chrisie Freeth: "Traditional textile crafts and exploring them as a contemporary art form"
Sept 15th Working on own projects
Oct 6th Catherine Millie
Oct 20th Own Project work and Embellisher workshop
Nov 3rd Jane Walkley
Nov 17th Own Project work and Embellisher workshop
Dec 1st Laura Edgar
Dec 15th Christmas workshop
March
Meetings of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild 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 a fee of £10, you will be sent the link to the Talks which take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month. If you are interested contact the secretary:
GrassingtonDistrictSec@embroiderersguild.co.uk
March 3rd
We welcomed Jennifer Collier, this morning, a graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University, and winner of several awards including the BCTF Award for Excellence and "Best in Show" at the London Craft Fair.
Jennifer gave an excellent illustrated zoom talk on "The Art of Paper and Stitch". Her work certainly encompasses a new dimension of Textile Art. Jennifer creates stunning sculptures from vintage recycled materials. She explained to the group how she liked to give new life to things that would otherwise be thrown away. Using the techniques of bonding, waxing, trapping, and stitching, she produced unusual paper "fabrics" which were used to breathe new life into old household objects.
Visit Jennifer's web site to see her spectacular recycling sculptures.
March 17th
An Embroidered Suffolk Puff workshop was today's activity with the group. Below are a few samples of work produced by members after the morning workshop.
Grassington Embroiderers' Guild Programme:
April 7th Alison Wake: "Painting with thread and yarn"
April 21st Buttons
May 5th TBA
June 2nd Helen Robson - "Sustainably creating, mending and repurposing"
June 16th Continuing the Textile Book
July 7th Anne Barron work packs
July 21st Patchwork
Sept 1st AGM
Chrisie Freeth: "Traditional textile crafts and exploring them as a contemporary art form"
Sept 15th Working on own projects
Oct 6th Catherine Millie
Oct 20th Own Project work and Embellisher workshop
Nov 3rd Jane Walkley
Nov 17th Own Project work and Embellisher workshop
Dec 1st Laura Edgar
Dec 15th Christmas workshop
Wednesday, 3 February 2021
February
Meetings of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild 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 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
One of our members has just noticed this from Samuel Taylor Fabrics and Crafts:
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February 17th
This morning we had an excellent mini workshop by our Chair-lady "Creating a Textile book and Exploring Stitches". Chris discussed the various ways of creating a fabric book and sent out instructions and information to our members so we could begin to stitch during the workshop.
Chris suggested having a look at "Stitches: New Approaches" by Jan Beaney.
Another Textile Artist exploring stitches is Cathy Reavy and it is well worth a visit to her YouTube video.
February 3rd
Cat Rowe our speaker for today at the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild, has just brightened this damp, dull, cold day in the Dales! Embracing the technology of Zoom meetings, we were able to book an inspirational textile artist from Redruth Cornwall.
Cat initially studied Art History and continued to obtain a masters in Illustration. In her purpose-built studio, she is able to create beautiful textile pieces and offer workshops in stitch and design.
Cat explained that she draws most of her inspiration from her home County, its seaside and rugged landscapes providing never ending images.
She prefers to create small works of art drawing the viewer into the picture created from pieces of fabric. She explained that she loved rummaging through her stash of fabrics, new, recycled and vintage, looking for just the right piece, matching its colour, pattern or texture.
We were treated to a view and talk about her new ambitious piece of larger circular work which was about four foot in diameter. What a sensational piece of textile art, and we look forward to seeing the eventual finished piece.
Cat explained about her slow stitch approach to sewing as a more mindful and more environmental method of using what you already have. She explained about her inspiration by the simple yet beautiful stitching techniques and ethos of Indian Kantha, Japanese Boro, quilting, visible mending and simple embroidery stitches.
She likes to use a combination of machine embroidery and hand stitching, and combining new and old fabrics to give her completed work a super textural finish.
Cat offers a number of zoom workshops and can be contacted on her web site.
Thank you Cat for a super and really enlightening morning, just what we needed to brighten up our day.
Grassington Embroiderers' Guild Programme:
March 3rd Jennifer Collier: "The Art of Paper and Stitch"
March 17th Patchwork techniques.
April 7th Alison Wake: "Painting with thread and yarn"
April 21st Building the Book
May 5th Chrisie Freeth: "Traditional textile crafts and exploring them as a contemporary art form"
June 2nd Helen Robson
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
January
Meetings of the Grassington Embroiderers' Guild 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
January 6th
Helen Wray from the Gam Farm Wool Loft in Grassington was our first guest speaker of the new year.
The farm, on Moor lane, is the home to many varieties of rare breeds and an extensive collection of vintage agricultural machinery and farming implements. It also includes a wool shop, “The Wool Loft”, which is full of yarns and wool products produced from the sheep that are born, reared and sheared on the farm.
Helen has designed the “Loft”, not to be just a shop, but rather a venue to buy beautiful wool in a bye-gone age. She invites her customers to come and squish the lovely soft rare breed yarns which are minimally treated to preserve the natural qualities of each breed.
The wools include:
Versatile Whitefaced Woodland, super-soft Shetland, lustrous Wensleydale, dark, rich Hebridean, and the rarest of the rare Boreray.
Helen explained that the long curly locks of the Wensleydale are ideal for the felting enthusiasts, although felting with all types of this natural wool will give wonderful results.
Look out for workshops held in the Loft when we are all clear of Covid.
January 20th
Our topic for the second meeting in January was "Using twin and triple needles on a sewing machine" .
Wiring twin needle channels created 3D mouldable textured leaves. Below shows a piece of work in progress. A background is yet to be painted around the traditional crewel work embroidered sparrow. This will then be surrounded by a mass of foliage using the twin needle wired technique. Some of these leaves will be hand stitched on top of the wiring.
February 3rd Cat Rowe Textile Artist
February 17th Working with Angelina and patchwork.
March 3rd Jennifer Collier: "The Art of Paper and Stitch"
March 17th Pintuck and flower feet for machine work
April 7th Alison Wake: "Painting with thread and yarn"
April 21st TBA
May 5th Chrisie Freeth: "Traditional textile crafts and exploring them as a contemporary art form"
June 2nd Helen Robson
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.
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
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