December Meeting - Mini Masterpieces

We met on the first Friday in December for our usual Christmas meeting - Quiz, delicious Faith Supper and gift exchange - this time with a difference. A few months previously we had been given a plain white matchbox each by our chairman Wyn, with instructions to bring it to the Christmas meeting decorated and filled to exchange anonymously with another member. 

Here are the fantastic results! 

And here they all are in fabulous close-up...

As if that weren't enough excitement for one evening we also had some small polystyene wreaths which we could decorate in our preferred style. We didn't all have the time or energy to complete them but here are the finished / almost finished items on the night - all completely different, and completely brilliant! 

And again in glorious close-up

(I have to confess that the robin on his nest is my sneaky favourite!)

And last, but not least, some of our members remembered to bring along their luggage labels, our ongoing Branch challenge for 2013 -14 - for full details of this, see our Facebook page where Wyn has explained it all...

Haven't we been a busy bunch! 

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a New Year filled with everything you hope for. 

Late addition -  

Sue gave her wreath to her 17 yr-old niece to decorate at home, this is her festive design : 

Inspired by the work of Karen Ruane

Many thanks to member Rona Hepton for taking these photos of what looks like a very productive "play day" in November, when those attending took inspiration from the work of textile artist Karen Ruane to produce their own pieces.

Play Days are a great way of experimenting with different styles and techniques to help you develop your skills with help and advice from other members, in an informal setting. The maximum cost for members is £5 including use of the kitchen facilities - there are several during the year, and if the subject matter doesn't appeal, you can just come and do your own thing!

BRANCH PROGRAMME 2013 - 14

THERE IS CURRENTLY A FAULT WITH THE BLOG WHICH IS NOT ALLOWING UPDATES IN OTHER AREAS SO I AM POSTING THE PROGRAMME HERE : 

THIS YEAR OUR BRANCH CHALLENGE IS TO PRODUCE A SERIES OF LUGGAGE TAGS BASED ON THE THEMES OF OUR MEETINGS

TAG 1 - AUTUMN THEME

TAG 2 - IN RESPONSE TO BRANCH OUTING TO THE SILK MUSEUM / LADY LEVER GALLERY

FRIDAY 1st NOVEMBER 2013

SPEAKER - RUBINA PORTER

A LOOK AT RUBINA'S INSPIRATIONAL CHARITY WORK IN BANGLADESH

TAG 3 - INFLUENCED BY THIS EVENING'S TALK

FRIDAY 6th DECEMBER

CHRISTMAS MEETING - QUIZ, DECORATION, 

GIFT SWAP

FAITH SUPPER -  (A-M:SAVOURY   N-Z:SWEET)

TAG 4 - GLITZY / GOLDWORK

FRIDAY 3rd JANUARY 2014

SPEAKER - ANNA GREENBANK

ANNA HAS COMPLETED A DEGREE IN FASHION AND IS GOING TO SHARE HER DESIGN WORK WITH US

TAG 5 - WINTER COLOURS, OR A RESPONSE TO ANNA'S WORK

FRIDAY 7th FEBRUARY

SPEAKER - SARAH RUAUX - GOLDEN BOOTS

+ SHOW AND TELL - EMBROIDERED TABLE CLOTHS, SERVIETTES, TRAY CLOTHS ETC

TAG 6 - HEARTS

FRIDAY 7TH MARCH 

SPEAKER - HARRIET LAWTON

EMBROIDERY GRADUATE

TAG 7 - SPRING FESTIVALS

FRIDAY 4th APRIL

SPEAKER - JUDY TADMAN - ROPE SCULPTURE

OUR OWN TALENTED MEMBER JUDY TALKS ABOUT HER IMPRESSIVE ROPE SCULPTURES

TAG 8 - COUCHED STRING

FRIDAY 2nd MAY

SPEAKER - WYN INGHAM - ELEANOR AND THE FOUR KINGS

OUR OWN TALENTED MEMBER WYN TAKES AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE

TAG 9 - MEDIAEVAL DESIGN

FRIDAY 6TH JUNE 

SPEAKER - ELIZABETH SHORROCK - HEIRLOOM BOOKS

TAG 10 - TO INCLUDE A FRAGMENT OF A MAP

FRIDAY 4TH JULY

DAVINA'S MYSTERY NIGHT - WHO KNOWS? IT'S A MYSTERY TO US TOO!

+ FAITH SUPPER - (A-M SWEET, N-Z SAVOURY)

TAG 11 - FLOWERS, OR A RESPONSE TO DAVINA'S MYSTERIOUS PLAN

FRIDAY 1st AUGUST

PRACTICAL NIGHT USING SOME OF YOUR STASH OF FABRIC!

BEACH HUTS, BUNTING AND WINDMILLS

TAG 12 - BEACH THEME

A Happy Day Out

Apologies for the lack of activity lately - building work at home means no wi-fi as we are staying elsewhere to avoid the muck and mayhem! 

We had a lovely Branch day out last Saturday (if I do say so myself). Around 20 of us set off from Halifax at 9 and our first port of call was the Silk Museum at Macclesfield. None of us had ever visited before and we were all impressed by this small and friendly museum. It is actually spread over 4 sites, but we concentrated on the Park Street mill where it was the last day of the Embroiderers' Guild Travelling Stitches exhibition. Both were well worth seeing - we all want to go back to see the silk weaving machines in action! The threads were almost unbelievably fine, even the width of a ribbon took a huge loom to weave.

The EG exhibition had examples of all types of embroidery, both vintage and modern, and it was inspiring to see all the skilful stitching, before refreshing ourselves with tea and home-made cakes. 

After we had had a quick look round the town and foraged for lunch, we travelled on to the Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight - a lovely place to visit with an inspiring collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings in a beautiful building. The cafe and home-made cakes again featured in our plans before we set off again, for the Voirrey Embroidery Centre at Brimstage, only a few minutes down the road. The centre is situated in a courtyard with several other interesting shops (and a cafe...) where we all managed to spend a little or a lot before returning to Halifax for about 6. We all agreed that we would like to make our outing an annual event and are busy thinking where we can go next year. 

National Stitch Day

Some Halifax members celebrated National Stitch Day by having their photos taken while they were sewing, elsewhere than in their workrooms. 

Here's Janice in her garden (lovely lilies!) 

Sue L is stitching at Nab End Quarry above Sowerby - she says that she took a bag of UFOs with her, but she doesn't say whether any of them became FOs!

Mandy (that's me) sewing in the aircraft hangar at West Yorkshire Police HQ - they helpfully brought the helicopter inside for me to have this photo taken because it was raining!

Anne is busy camping and stitching - she's such a multi-tasker!

Sue T just photographed the sewing she did as she didn't have anyone to hold the camera - lovely work though!

Margaret did some HUUUUUGE French knitting using Sirdar Fizz yarn

Davina says that she and "Little H" sewed together the background 

for their block of the month quilt