Thursday 3rd May et al

Hi all quick note to remind you the next Guild meeting is coming up Thursday May 3rd 7pm coffee for 7.15 start - Jo Owen is coming to talk about her artists books - a taster for next year's programme.

Jo is a member of ATT and Alive and stitching

 

Jo was also one of the tutors on our current Kickstart programme for 2011 - the exhibition opens soon:

 

I am off to The Festival of Stitch Saturday 28th near Northampton to launch the next kickstart, along with  Barbara, Jean and Toni - you can preview the new kickstart book here.

 

 

 see below for info on exhibitions if handmade books take your interest:

Cath Ray Books are out and about this Spring/Summer and some BEAUTIFUL leathers have found their way into my green shed over the last few months...

Sat 2nd June - Southwell Minster Jubillee Craft Fair - 10am-4pm

On-going displays at: The Harley Gallery, Welbeck
                                Thoresby Gallery                         and  The Mac Gallery, South Parade, Doncaster

 

Postcards for Moldova by Guild members

April meeting Thursday 5th

As Beryl has abandoned us in favour of a trip down under, Barbare Meeke will be leading a workshop on coiled baskets. Please bring your usual sewing kit and a bodkin. Some cord and fabirc and wools will be available but if you do have any you would like to bring along please do

Sculpted Surprises - Stitched, slashed and burnt...

20 people took part in the workshop organised by Chesterfield Embroiderer's Guild on Saturday 31.3.12 at Calow. Most were guild members but we had a few visitors making up numbers. Alysn Midgelow-Marsden led the group in working with fine metal mesh fabrics in copper, steel and bronze, adding layers of sheer man-made fabrics with stitch. Some worked by hand and most with machines, to create grids and free flowing forms. The sheers were cut , folded and beaded to expose the metal mesh base, or burned away with heat guns. The mesh gives the final piece structure and can be formed into tea light holders, moulded around shapes or just left free. Have a look at the photos to the right. If anyone has anymore to add to this, particularly detail of your own work please let me have a copy to add to the album.
It would be great if those taking part could also bring their pieces to the meeting on Thursday 5th April.

Alysn Midgelow-Marsden Workshop

*Reminder*Alysn Midgelow-Marsden Workshop Saturday 31st March 2012, 10.00am – 4.00pm
Calow Community Centre
Allpits Road
Calow
Chesterfield
S44 5AT
There is a phone number at the hall – 01246 201366
Carole Hodges will not be attending - Penny Marsden will be there on the day 07892854979
Remember to take a packed lunch!

ECO Centre Information and courses

For those few of you who make it here to see what is happening in the guild you might be interested to know thateach post I write gets only a few views - i.e. people looking at it - but the item entitled 'fish and chip babies' with the knitting pattern had 140 page views! So I need some snappy and contemporary titles to get people looking! - Answers/ideas on a postcard please...

Anne Menary is running a 5 week course starting in April at the Ecco Centre

Details here:

Hand Stitch & printing using recycled materials Thursday afternoons for 5 weeks, starting Thursday 19^th April at the Ecco Centre

Course includes

Stitching and layering on a variety of fabrics

Layering and applique techniques

Creating textured surfaces

Mark making with hand embroidery stitches

Students will be encouraged to develop their own skills and knowledge and follow their own interests to create individual, personal and expressive art work

Course fees - Band A - £48.00, Band B - £42.00, Band C - £19.00

Further details contact the Ecco Centre 01629 533038

A Wool and Craft Fair is taking place at the Eco Centre Wirksworth on the weekend of 14^th and 15^th April 2012 11am to 4pm; an exciting, interesting weekend with lots of activities for all the family, art works, foods or textiles from locally sourced materials.Hand spinners, feltmaking and lost of other related activities. The Babbling Vagabonds will be enacting the Derby Ram using props made in association with pupils form Anthony Gell School

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