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

Margaret's Regional Day Success!

Despite a high number of entries and the exceptional quality of the competition, our Programme Secretary Margaret Walton won not one, but TWO prizes out of the seven on offer at Regional Day on 8th June.

Margaret won the prestigious Yorkshire and The Humber Region Challenge Cup for her 3D effect picture of dry stone walls on the theme of "Regional Heritage". Margaret will keep the cup for a year until it is handed to the next recipient (hopefully also from the Halifax Branch!) and she also won a cheque for £50. 

Margaret was also thrilled to hear that she had won Third Prize in the Coats Anchor Award for her witty take on the theme of Underground, with her appliquéd carrots and their lovely feather tops. Her prize was a certificate and a smashing box of threads and stuff kindly donated by Coats Anchor. 

The competition was judged anonymously by the morning speaker Rubina (Ruby) Porter from Merseyside, who was telling us about her inspirational work with orphans in Bangladesh - read all about her at www.megonline.co.uk/sree-pur-refuge/

June Meeting - Brooches and Homes

Unfortunately our booked speaker couldn't make it tonight due to illness, but luckily we had a few days notice - just time for Wyn to put together some lovely little packs of fabric and buttons for us to make a brooch each. Amazingly, we nearly all finished them too, despite the excitement of voting for the winners of our Annual Branch Challenge and news about all the exciting exhibitions, shows and fairs coming our way! 

Anyway, these are the results of our labours, which I'm sure you'll agree are right on trend!

Our 2013 Annual Branch Challenge had the theme of "HOME", for which we all bought a canvas of the same size (about 8" square) so that they would make a cohesive display in a future exhibition. 

We voted for the winners by putting 20p in a saucer next to the ones we liked the best. There was no limit on how many times you could vote, and proceeds went into our Branch funds. There were first and second prizes of £30 and £20 - worth making the effort for!

Our runaway winner was.......Anne Brooke with her lovely stitched collage. 

In second place was Jan Webster with her colourful garden-themed canvas.

In joint third place and no particular order, were all the others! 

Davina's crazy patchwork :

Sue Morgan's appliquéd coffee break :

Julie Turner's felted and funny washing line : 

Cynthia Smith's atmospheric collage with tricky edges :

Margaret Walton's imaginative seashore:

Sandra Wallace's (last minute!) pretty patchwork house :

Janice Townend's family-themed collage : 

Jane Clayton's quirky cartoon man and dog :

Sue Bellamy's ribbon-work Yorkshire Rose :

A big thank you to all the members who took part in the challenge, and to those who haven't quite finished theirs yet - don't give up! 

Saltaire Arts Trail - May 2013

Apologies for the lack of recent news - I've had to miss a couple of meetings due to work. 

Here is a photo of Anne Brooke, our Treasurer, with her packed stall at the Saltaire Arts Trail last weekend - I'm sure it was much emptier by Monday afternoon! 
If you didn't manage to get there - it's well worth a visit next time, with three huge rooms full of local artists selling their wares at the Victoria Hall and lots of local open houses too - providing plenty of inspiration (as well as spending opportunities...)

Small but perfectly formed...

Some of us had a fun day working on our own projects or on competition entries for Regional Day at the Maurice Jagger Centre last Sunday. And some of us accomplished more than others, as you can see from the attached photo - it's surprising how long the "design stage" can last...that's my excuse anyway - that and the trip to Marks and Spencer...
Anne worked on some pieces to hang in a gallery in Brighouse
Jane worked on her Cardoon
Janice worked on her Yorkshire Heritage piece
Wyn worked on Eleanor of Aquitane
Mandy worked on her Columbine
Davina worked on mentally packing her case for her trip to New York on the following day! 

March Meeting - Anne Brooke from A-Z and back...

A chilly March evening saw us settle down to a talk from our own member and treasurer Anne Brooke. Anne is head of art at a local high school, mother of two girls, and producer of a prodigious amount of textile art! 
Despite the best efforts of her father, Anne left school and did a foundation course in Art. Being short of funds, Anne tried to use available materials and recycle where possible, and this aim has remained with her - even now she is to be found prowling the aisles of DIY stores "recovering" wallpaper samples and reusing clothing found in charity shops. 
Abandoning her initial aim to become a primary school teacher, Anne began her teaching career at a secondary school in Lincoln. This led to her doing a photography course and also exploring felt-making, which piqued her interest in textile art, an area she had not previously explored in any depth. 

Several years of workshops and experimentation later, Anne came across a City and Guilds stand at a textile show, and started a distance learning course which allowed her to use up many of the UFOs (unfinished objects...) that we all have lying around. She showed us some of the felt vessels which had been her reaction to criticism from her tutor about using muted colours (above).
Learning that the textile course was being wound up, having to complete four modules in three months led to Anne concentrating on the kind of work she liked. This piece, using limpets as a theme, saw her return to the use of puff paint - a favoured medium. You can see from this picture that Anne's work is multi-layered and uses many techniques, along with hand and machine embroidery. 

Since completing her City and Guilds, Anne concentrated on seed pods as the main theme for her work - as subject which has always fascinated her. 

Working in mixed media, she has entered her work into many exhibitions which has led to her being invited to exhibit in galleries throughout the country. She has also had stalls at such shows as Art in the Pen in Skipton, where she described her excitement at finally selling her first "big piece"!

Below, you can see an example of one of Anne's workbooks - she says that keeping written and illustrated notes on a daily basis helps to develop her ideas. 

Frankly, I do not think there was a member present who was not left feeling shell-shocked (and in my case, inadequate!) by exactly how much Anne manages to cram into her life. Sleep must be a stranger to her! 

She also has a shop on Folksy, a blog (see link on the side bar of this post), and a website, using her working name, "H-anne Made". She continues to work full-time and is currently preparing for further exhibitions, shows and workshops. 

Bearly Snowing in British Columbia

Member Sue Tebbutt, who is currently working away in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, has sent us some photographs to remind us what REAL snow is like!

Sue is going to pay a visit to the Kelowna Branch of the Embroiderers' Association of Canada this week to make up for missing our Guild meetings. It will be interesting to find out what we have in common (or otherwise) with our Canadian counterparts. 

And for those of you wondering just where Kelowna is, I hope this will help!