We are a group of women (but men are welcome!) who have an interest in textile art and embroidery. We are of mixed abilities and there is no need for you to be able to sew to come and join us - there are no tests!
New members are always welcome - why not call in and join us as a guest for a few months?
Meeting fee for visitors is only £5.
Our meetings vary - we have talks and workshops, show and tell - we also have lots of weekend workshops and playdays. For details of what's coming up (and what's been and gone!) check out our programme below...

Tuesday 7 February 2017

February Workshop - Print, Collage & Stitch - Anne Brooke

We are very lucky at Halifax to have such talented members, many of whom are successful textile artists in their own rights. 
One of those is Anne Brooke, who is a hard woman to pin down! As well as being a school head of department, Anne has just opened her own textile studio in her garden, as well as giving talks and workshops to other groups, and demonstrating at shows such as Art in the Pen at Skipton, so we are grateful to her for sparing the time for her fellow members! 
Here they all are, hard at work...
















And here are the photographs of the (huge amount of) work done at Anne's workshop on Sunday. 















Members said how much they enjoyed the workshop and several went home and carried on working until they had finished their hangings! 

This is Janice's : 



And this is Lesley's :



And here is Liz's : 



Anne has a website which can be found at http://www.annebrooke.co.uk, as well as a blog, a Facebook page, and Instagram with the tag hannemadebyanne. 


February Meeting - Valerie Wartelle

The speaker at our February Meeting was the talented felt maker Valerie Wartelle. Born of French / Scottish parents, Valerie had what many of us would consider to be an idyllic childhood, living in Paris and spending the summer in the south of France at her grandparents' home, before moving to New Caledonia, a small French territory to the east of Australia. She returned to France in 1974 to attend High School. 
Valerie's first foray into the world of textiles came when she did an Art Foundation Course at Braintree College, then continued to a BSc (Hons) in Textile Design at what was then Huddersfield Polytechnic. Because this was a science degree, there was great emphasis on understanding the materials, and technical expertise, including the dyeing of fabrics, and different finishes. 
For her final piece, Valerie "rescued" a door from the yard of her student accommodation and kept it in the workshop, assiduously spraying it to keep the mossy finish it had gained from living outside. She loved the layers of peeling paint and they were the inspiration for her body of work, including this cardigan, which you can see is a different colour on the inside. 


After working for 10 years as a knitwear designer, Valerie moved away from direct involvement in textiles, returning in 2012, having been introduced to wet felting by a friend. Valerie told us that she likes responding to what the fabric is doing, rather than working towards an end point.  


As well as using wool to create shape, images and colour, Valerie uses it to trap other fibres and fabrics in an almost invisible way, using the techniques of Nuno felting to "stick" different textures to each other. She often uses pre-felt as a backing and attaches silk organza or chiffon pieces, trapping hemp or flax fibres to "draw" on the surface. She adds details to her pieces in several ways, including photo transfer and machine embroidery.


Initially she worked from her kitchen table for 3 days a week, meaning that the family had to have a lot of takeaways! In 2014 she was able to give up working for Kirklees Council to concentrate on her art, and now has studio space at Artworks, Halifax, where she is able to do more experimental work using a large printing press and screen printing. Her current body of work illustrates Valerie's interest in fossils and insects. 


These pieces have a subtlety not usually found in felted work, which comes from the work being printed and then re-felted. 
In 2015 Valerie was named "Best Emerging Textile Artist" by Embroidery magazine and awarded "Best Picture in Show" at the Great North Art Show in Ripon*. 
She is currently running workshops at Word of Mouth in Hebden Bridge, and a Artworks, Halifax. 

Valerie's talk was followed by our stupendous colour-themed raffle...


*This year's Great North Art Show is held at Ripon Cathedral from 2nd - 24th September. 

Friday 3 February 2017

Inbetweeners - Going Round in Circles

Last month members held a Playday based on "Circles". 
Sue M has sent a photograph of her finished piece, based on images of Mandalas. 

If other members have finished pieces, send them to me and I'll add them to the post.