Incredible Inchies

On our recent outing to Slattery's, Platt Hall and The Whitworth Gallery, members were given a 1" square of felt which they were asked to use as the background for an inchy on which to stitch something to remind them of the day out. 

As you can see, everyone had a different memory! 

Sue M

Sue L's chocolate

Sue K's Lemon Meringue Pie!

Judith

Abi tried some knotting

Catherine W

Kathryn W

Jane C

Vanessa

Jen

Lesley

Maureen

Cath M - Schiaparelli

Jacqui

Margaret

Wyn

Sue T

Rona

Liz B

Janice

The inchies will eventually be mounted and exhibited as a memento of our lovely day out. Hopefully there will be some more to add to the collection!

November Meeting - Rachael Singleton - Textile Thoughts and Inspirations

"Textile thoughts and Inspirations" was the title of Rachael's talk, and she certainly inspired us, her fellow members at Halifax, as we travelled with her along her textile journey. 

Rachael comes from Basingstoke but has decided to put down permanent roots in West Yorkshire (very wise). Artistic blood flows through her veins, with a milliner grandmother and parents who have followed many different artistic pursuits, including fully fitting out a large and complex doll's house. 

Rachael explained that she had spent some time as a painter, but found the completion of pieces very stressful, worried that she would spoil what she had already done. She has tried many other craft disciplines, but likes textile art as it combines different media, especially paper and fabric, both of which she loves. 

Rachael says that she is drawn towards using lines in her work, especially vertical lines, and this is a theme which is repeated through her portfolio. Throughout her career as a teacher, Rachael has continued with art as a hobby, and a few years ago completed a year-long Experimental Textiles course with Kim Thittichai, based in Birmingham. 

Since the course ended, Rachael has been looking for ways to fill the void, and as well as joining the Embroiderers' Guild, is also in a group mentored by Kim, "Out of Line", and is a founder member of the Hillstone Textile Art Group. This has led to her most recent work, a series of pods. 

To add to the excitement of seeing all of Rachael's work, we also had our colour-themed raffle - this month, purple, which as you can see, led to a large number of Cadbury's chocolate prizes! 

*There is a link to Rachael's Blog, Folio and Fibre, on the right-hand side of this page. 

A Grand Day Out - The (Almost) Annual Trip

The Halifax Branch Trip this year took us westwards across the Pennines to Manchester. Safely negotiating our way out of Halifax (unlike last year, when we spent half an hour touring the highways and byways of Wheatley and Mixenden), and following a prize draw with lucky winners taking home prizes ranging from chocolate sewing kits to sequinned bottles of Babycham, our first stop was at Slattery's chocolate and bakery emporium, a wonderful place to spend a morning. 

Unfortunately we only had half an hour, so members had to forsake the little slice of heaven which is the Slattery Café, and make do with emptying the shelves of the amazing shop of its supplies of fantastic cream cakes, chocolate novelties, and cake decorating paraphernalia, not to mention the many foodie-type gifts. It was just as well we ordered the big coach! 

A quick trip round the M60 took us to Platt Hall, the Costume Gallery of the Manchester Art Gallery. Housed in a grand 18th Century house in extensive parkland, it is home to an exquisite collection of clothing ranging from 17C to the present day. 

A woman's bodice, and a close-up of the beautifully embroidered fabric

This is a child's jacket, embroidered and embellished with stump work. 

Examples of fine cut work decorating bonnets and tunics

 Some of the 17th century costumes on display

A pocket book with ribbon embroidery

The "spots" on this dress are made from beaten silver wire and are individually hand stitched onto the fabric, which was made in India

There is also an extensive collection of buttons at Platt Hall - 

look how small those linen buttons are! 

Examples of different kinds of Dorset buttons

The second cultural visit of the day was to The Whitworth, an award winning museum situated just up the road from Platt Hall. Feeling a bit peckish by now, many of us headed straight for the restaurant. Undaunted by the half hour wait for food, we enjoyed sitting in the glass-sided dining room, or on the patio, and enjoyed the surrounding wooded parkland and its many sculptures. The food was lovely too! 

The museum, despite holding thousands of textile pieces, has a disappointingly small number of them on display, although there was plenty of thought-provoking artwork to keep us busy. 

For a start, there was John Travolta!

Fabric of a kind - the beautifully sculpted robes of an effigy of 

Eleanor of Aquitaine

"Bear Work Wear" by Brian Griffiths

And finally, an artwork that I expect we could all replicate! 

The highlight of the return journey was a raffle for Kate Lycett's new book, "Lost Houses", which raised £55 for Overgate Hospice in memory of Halifax member Sheila Butterworth.