Skill sharing session

Today's skills sharing session produced some Christmas decorations and Indian inspired bags. These red tree decorations use simple running stitches as used in Kantha embroidery.  Carol Condliffe provided members with written instructions, red linen weave fabric and some wadding. Five members took on the challenge and here are 3 of the half finished along with Carol's example.

Meanwhile on the other table Chris Harris was introducing an Indian mini bag as featured in a Stitches issue from 2010.

Everyone who took part made a good start but took them home to finish off.

Nikki Parmenter

Nikki Parmenter gave us a very interesting talk about the way she up cycles such a wide range of items in her art work.

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This peacock was the centrepiece of an exhibition at the Silk Museum, Macclesfield.

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS

A selection of our hand embroidered Christmas tree decorations displayed at St George's Church, Heaviley Stockport.

Maria Walker From Rags to Riches

Maria gave us a very entertaining account of the history of her textile art practice from the early days of City and Guilds through to her finishing a MA at Chester.

Her chance discovery of a bundle of letter from the 1930s led her to develop a body of work called the Lightfoot Letters on which she collaborated with a poet whose family life was chronicled in these letters. This exhibition is now on tour and currently at Salford Art Gallery. Well worth a visit. 

Maria bought a full range of samples of her work and was more than happy for us to handle them.

AGM news

Our AGM this month was full of national, regional and branch news.

It was followed by a talk from Ann Ford entitled 'Cutting Edge'. Ann was fascinated by the wooden edging to the roofs of small local railway stations in Cornwall. She sketched them and at a later date used them as design elements for her work.

But the exciting news is that we voted in favour of changing our day to day name to 'Silk Town Stitchers'. This came about after our successful day standing at the local monthly market in Macclesfield in July as part of National stitch Day and the comments from visitors to our stall.  It is a more inclusive name and should dispel any elitist notion that the word Guild implies.

Here we are in the height of summer !!! Left to right, Margaret, Maggie, Ann, Jackie and Ann.


Despite the rather wet weather we stoically sat and stitches even though our fingers were like ice.

Folio Study Day

Here are two of the interesting pieces of embroidery from the Guilds vast collection. In March we had the opportunity to study these wide ranging examples in detail taking photos and making sketches so that we can interpret the designs, colours or shapes in our own style. These will then  be part of the June meeting when they will be on show to all members and a vote will be made.

 

 

 

 

 In May we had a study day when members came and worked on their designs along with any on going work they were involved in.

 

There was a wide range of work going on and a far amount of chat as well!!!!

OCTOBER 2014 Lorna Knight

What a delight this re scheduled talk turned out to be. Dorothy our programme secretary pulled out all the stops with only a week to find a new speaker after the speaker for October had to pull out at the last minute. 

Lorna enthralled us with her life journey within the textile world from a degree followed by teaching in a middle school to working for Terry Fox and finally taking the big step to opening her Sewing Academy. 

She shared some of the secrets of the haute couture world and with a full range of examples gave us tips galore on how to improve our sewing results so that home made doesn't look home made.

Lorna also teaches a full range of workshops at Bambers Eccles

This is the tweed jacket that Lorna was whisked over to the States to make a video for Craftsy, the online workshop website.  It was extremely light as it only had two layers. The tweed right side and the silk lining, these were then quilted together. 

Lorna brought along some of the books that she has had published and she explained the process involved in getting a book published from the initial concept to the final layout. 

THE ROSE BOWL 2014

This year's Rose Bowl winner was a contemporary take on white work. Margaret Steeden used vintage table linen as the base of a mini cushion covered in a range of embroidery stitches in varying cotton threads. These four pictures are close ups of the surface of the cushion.

PEOPLE AND PLACES - RACHEL GRANT

RACHEL GRANT

 

What an interesting talk we had when Rachel grant came to talk to us in May about her journey back into art after having her children. It was all sparked while she was walking her youngsters around her neighbourhood in the 'Potteries' North Staffordshire. She was intrigued by the internal walls of half demolished houses

This inspiration led to these beautiful canvases that reflects everyday life.

Rachel's website is well worth a visit to see what she is up to now.

JANUARY MEETING

Just a quick reminder to members that on the 16th January 2014 as well as Carole's talk about her most recent trip down the Danube it is the name badge competition. So make sure you get stitching and produce a stunning badge. Members who produced one for the last competition can still submit that one if they don't want to create a new one.

The latest programme is now included in the blog for easy reference if you can't put your hands on your paper copy.

October Guest - Liz Almond - Whitework

On the 17th October we were delighted to welcome back Liz Almond to our group. This time Liz was to share her passion for Whitework instead of Blackwork.
She was ably assisted by her husband who was model, display assistant and shop keeper.

Liz entertained us, amazed us with her skill and educated us as to short cuts and the use of 'modern' alternatives that she employs in her work.


The first two images show the centres of small quilts that Liz has made using a limited amount of colour. She regularly uses crochet cotton for this backstitch work in her quilting.

This knotted stitch or 'Liz's stitch' is a variant of Palestrina stitch which gives a raised relief to your work.

The lid of this box utilises simple straight stitch cleverly worked with beads to produce a floral effect.

The sales table where Liz had on sale fabrics, threads and kits which members eagerly bought.

 

Liz is a big advocate of placing monograms in the centre of fabric and cloth to personalise items. She regularly bids on old linen on eBay to which she firstly washes in the washing machine with Bold and then embroiderers additional motifs. She admitted that one of the best fabrics she  uses is Marks and Spencer's polycotton. She buys sheets and cuts them up. We were also let into her methods of fabric marking and ways of tackling issues such as project management and she gave me some personal advice on ways of dealing with arthritis and embroidery.

 

Liz's website is full of free patterns, tips and advice and well worth a visit.

 

Pinterest is also a site that Liz recommended.  It is an internet site that allows you to 'pin' any image you find on the internet to your own 'pinboard', allowing you to save images in one place. You can also see what other people are saving and 'follow' them if you choose. Useful if you have the same interests. I warn you now that it can become very addictive.

 

ADVANCE WARNING

The next meeting will include a craft table for members to bring along and sell their goods. In good time for Christmas. Let Catherine Leighton know in advance what you intend bringing, label and price up your goods.

Louise Gardiner

Following our meeting yesterday and the discussion about Louise Gardiner and her involvement in the joint challenge by Kettle Chips and Kirstie Allsopp I am posting a link to the Youtube video showing Lou creating her Kettle Chips piece

Click here to see the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGLL1NJ6OIY&utm_source=Full+Mailing+List+March+2013&utm_campaign=cf9a510df8-March_Newsletter3_18_2013&utm_medium=email

Louise website is also worth a visit http://www.lougardiner.co.uk/index.html


This is the link to the Kettle Chips website for those interested in entering. http://www.kettlefoods.co.uk/latest-news/kirsties-craft?utm_source=Full+Mailing+List+March+2013&utm_campaign=cf9a510df8-March_Newsletter3_18_2013&utm_medium=email

Happy Stitching

Margaret

Vivienne Brown - Following a Tradition

On the 21st February members greeted Vivienne Brown and were treated to an hour of interesting facts and visual artistry.
She started by informing us that she had been giving talks to Embroidery Guild branches for 30 years now, and that she only came to the world of embroidery in her 40s. Originally a Science teacher she admits that she likes to analyse her work but had hoped that embroidery would allow her to 'loosen up'.
Vivienne enlightened us as to the origins of free machine embroidery with the advent of the sewing machine as far back as the beginning of the twentieth century when the likes of Rebecca Crompton were experimenting with artistic ways of using the straight stitch treadle machine.
She shared with us her journey through the use of machine embroidery, the contemporary utilisation of old pattern transfers of crinoline ladies and the innovative use of machine embroidery on paper.

 

Members were genuinely impressed and Vivienne told us of her prestigious exhibition at the Bankfield Museum, Halifax. 9th March until the 6th May 2013 where her botanical ilustrations will be alongside her textile pieces.

http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/leisure/museums-galleries/museums/details.jsp?museum=bnkfld&event=769&tab=X#subcontent

Members were reminded by Catherine , the Chair, of the 'tie challenge' and encouraged to think of innovative ways of utilising old ties ready for the next meeting on the 21st March.

This Blog has moved

As from now the blog of the Macclesfield Embroiderers Guild can be found at http://silktownstitchers3.blogspot.com/

JUNE MEETING - MARGO SINGER

Margo's talk on talk and slides on the use of embroidery throughout history led her into an interesting account of her work within the field of textiles. For many years she has been in education where she has encouraged her students to push the boundaries of textiles. Her role in the Textile Society has in the past meant she has had the huge role of orgnaising the Antique Fair in Manchester and for anyone who has attended this event will know what a feat that must have been.

This velvet scarf has been wrapped aound a pole before dyeing resulting in this distinctive design. This Arashi technique is common in Japan.

Margo has been involved in two published books, with Mary Syrou on 'Textile Arts - Multicultural Traditions' and more recently as sole author on 'Silk and Velvet'. It was this area that she expanded on during the latter part of her talk.

This is a sample of foiled velvet, a technique that Margo favours in her work.

Printed and stamped velvet that has been made into a bag.

Again foiled velvet that has been made into a handbag which has been machine embroidered over the top.

APRIL MEETING DIANNE BATES - BABES IN BEADS

Diane Bates – what a character! Wearing her signature black hat and exhibiting her ‘Babes in Beads’ installations, she entertained our April meeting with stories of her childhood and education.

Then she described how her corsets, costumes and panels are created in intricate 3-dimensional machine embroidery, encrusted with beads and sequins. Often Diane incorporates unlikely materials such as plastic snowflakes and combines them with quality Madeira threads to create her special effects.

None of Diane’s work is ever sold and she does not take commissions as she believes they would be too restricting. Much of her inspiration comes from the natural world and she stressed the importance of revisiting old artwork and embroidery to combine previous ideas with new techniques.

At the website www.175heroes.org.uk/diane_bates.html there is information about Diane’s 34-year career in teaching at Bradford School of Art, her qualifications gained at Goldsmith College and Birmingham and her international exhibitions.

Some of Diane’s exquisite drawings and embroidery samples


Photos and examples from Diane’s costume creations