What's happening, April & May

Members' Day, Saturday 9th April

Our next meeting will be Members' Day on Saturday 9th April, which will run as usual from 10 am to 4 pm at St Mary's Church Hall.

We have a mystery stitch project planned (requirements were emailed about a week ago, but shout if you need them again), which will be an ideal way of using up some of those appealing oddments of fabric you've been holding on to.  If you prefer, though, feel free to bring other work to do.

Please bring your work for the Capability Brown project and the form to go with your entry.  

We would also love you to bring along any items you have made recently, 

including the Travelling Books.

Lunchtime is a chance for a break and a natter over a bring-and-share lunch.

Entrance: £5 for the day

Friday 6th May: "My Journey through Stitch", Kirsty Whitlock

Kirsty will be talking about her work in mixed media textiles.  Embroidery is the primary signature of her work, along with discarded household items (... an excuse, if we ever needed one, to hoard those interesting bits and pieces of ephemera).

Visitors are welcome - please see 'About our Branch' (top right) for details.

Capability Brown Festival 2016 at Charlecote Park

17 MARCH – 30 OCTOBER 2016

Leamington & District Branch is one of three branches of the Embroiderers’ Guild who will be exhibiting textile works based on Capability Brown’s landscape at Charlecote Park over the next few months.  The exhibition is now open, so do try and take a look if you can - details are shown below.

Solihull Branch exhibition: Thursday 17 March – Tuesday 24 May

‘Drop in’ days: Thursday 24 March; Saturday 2 April; Friday 8 April; Thursday 21 April; Sunday 1 May; Tuesday 10 May; Thursday 19 May, Sunday 22 May.

11 am - 3 pm on each day

Leamington Branch exhibition: Wednesday 25 May - Wednesday 10 August

‘Drop in’ days: Friday 10 June; Tuesday 28 June; Monday 4 July;

Saturday 6 August (National Stitch Day).

11 am - 3 pm on each day

In addition, Leamington Branch’s Junior Embroiderers will be displaying their work in the Summer House, and they will hold an Open Day on Saturday 11 June.

Birmingham Branch exhibition: Thursday 11 August – Sunday 30 October

‘Drop in’ days: dates to be announced

‘Drop in’ days are an opportunity to see a demonstration or to sit and stitch for a while (activities may vary).  Visitors are invited to participate in stitching a 'Charlecote Bayeux' by adding a few stitches to an image of Charlecote.  At the end of the Landscapes of Capability Brown exhibition, the ‘Charlecote Bayeux’ will be on display in the Education Room at Charlecote Park.

The Embroiderers’ Guild welcomes new members.  If you would like more information about any of the branches, please use the following links:

Birmingham:  http://birminghamembroiderersguild.blogspot.co.uk

Leamington & District:  http://leamingtonembroiderersguild.blogspot.co.uk

Solihull:  http://solihullembroiderersguild.blogspot.co.uk

Transfer Painting Workshop

Following her Friday evening talk, in which Mary Gamester took us through a whistle-stop tour of her textile travels in India (and which left us exhausted!), Mary led a workshop that was packed with activity.

We were divided into two groups on arrival.  One group was set to paint and stamp as many papers as possible with transfer dyes ...

... while the other group painted detailed pictures provided by Mary:

After an hour or so, the groups swapped over.  The level of concentration needed was reflected in the fact that it was a very quiet morning - there was just no time to waste!

In the afternoon, Mary showed us some of her many beautiful samples and explained how different effects were achieved.  This was a real eye-opener.  We were let loose then to iron our designs onto fabric, which gave us lots of samples to take home for further play, experimentation and stitching:

By the end of the day we were exhausted, but happy to have spent a very productive and inspiring few hours.  Besides our samples, we took away a wealth of ideas for new techniques.