Barbara, in her role as chair was asked to put a few words together to go along with our Moldove postcards:

If anyone has any photos of these I would appreciate them so they can be added in here

Sporting Postcards

Chesterfield Branch

After what I thought was a slow and shaky start the Chesterfield Branch members turned up trumps. Initially I thought we might struggle to produce even 9 postcards however I underestimated our members and in the end we produced 18, 2 strips of 9.

We have Branch members with a variety of embroidery styles, skills in design and favourite stitch techniques.

The process was started by encouraging members to research MOLDOVA ---- yes most said “Where is it” but via the internet and library services we quickly learnt lots of interesting facts about the country both in its previous Soviet days and post-independence. Facts including geography, architecture, demography, economy and sporting successes.

We had a great evening with Anne Menary, a textile artist well known for, amongst other works, her fabric postcards. Anne’s knowledge and enthusiasm fired the imagination of our members and 17 of us began stitching and comparing notes at branch meetings.

The designs represent, mainly, landscape and architecture but with postage stamps, maps and sportsmen as well. Putting these pieces together was an interesting experience, trying to give the strips some sense of balance.

I am proud of all our branch members and it would be invidious to single out, for mention, any particular individual postcards as they all represent a shared effort to produce a  great textile homage to a country and its people.

Barbara Meeke,

 Chairman, Chesterfield Branch