The Embroiderers' Guild and Capability Brown

Leamington and District branch of the Embroiderers' Guild are very proud to be partnered with Charlecote Park to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.  We will be exhibiting from Wednesday 25^th May to Wednesday 10^th August. During this period there will be ‘Drop in’ Days: on Friday 10^th June, Tuesday 28^th June, Monday 4^th July and Saturday 6^th August (which is also National Stitch Day), all from 11am - 3 pm. These drop in days are an opportunity for visitors to see a demonstration, to sit and stitch for a while, or 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. 

Our Junior Embroiderers have a display in the summer house, and they will hold an Open Day on Saturday 11^th June, 11am – 3pm. 

Please note that normal National Trust admission fees apply.

As a charity, we aim to promote and encourage the art of embroidery and related crafts. No longer just the domain of fabric and thread, textile art now embraces the world of mixed media, dyeing, print and videos. We aim to nurture an enjoyment of embroidery and enable anyone to participate, whether a young person learning to stitch, someone building on their skills, a professional artist wanting to challenge and extend the boundaries of textile art, or someone who simply appreciates fabric and thread. We believe textiles are as relevant today as they have ever been, and there is a place for traditional hand stitching alongside bold and contemporary machine work.

Leamington & District Embroiderers' Guild and the Junior Embroiderers’ Group meet once a month, if you would like to know more, please email: jennyarcher401@gmail.com or 01926 338987 or talk to one of the Embroiderers’ Guild stewards at the exhibition.

Workshop with Kirsty Whitlock, Saturday May 7th.

On Friday, 6^th. May, we had a fascinating talk from Kirsty about her journey with textiles. It seems she had little stimulus from home to work with textiles and at school found the sewing machine frightening, a feeling many of us may have had!

It was at university where her love of textiles and her relationship with her sewing machine developed. She described how she explored the medium and we were introduced to the gerbils that had eaten their way through books for the books to become textile pieces.

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Layering paper then tearing away.

Work in progress.

On Saturday, we had a workshop entitled: Stitching on unusual surfaces”. We had the opportunity to experiment with a number of techniques. First we layered papers, stitched them and then took parts away. Then we moved onto newspaper and stitched and then distressed it with water to wear it away and leave a fall of paper and stitching behind.

Hard at work.

Saturday was a hot day and so the smelly part of the day was left until after lunch. We then fused and stitched plastics, using carrier bags and all sorts of oddments of plastic. It was also possible to capture other found objects within the plastic.

Stitching into the fused plastic

Regular breaks were needed during the afternoon to get fresh air. It was only when we returned to the room that the extent of the fumes was obvious.

We finished the day with a “show and tell” where members explained what their pieces were about. It was a very interesting session.

Completed work

Fused plastic

Some of the stitched paper pieces

Layered papers torn back after stitching         

Fused plastics

A fused plastic landscape.

In all, an excellent day.

                                                       April Members Day, 9 April

Gill and Lucy, our programme secretaries, arranged a surprise day for us. Members will have received an email now with details of the seasons project that we will be doing over the next four members day.

Our task on Saturday was to make a book or other holder for the seasons project.

Gill had detailed instructions and was very helpful during the day.

Busy at work.

Our new member enjoying the day.

There was also lots of time to chat.

Some examples of the CB300 work were brought along. Members were also handing in their forms about the pieces they intend to show. If you haven't already done so, please email your form to Sue.  Please also let her know which days you can steward the exhibition.

 At the end we showed the frames that we had made. As usual, it was amazing how different the work was. The books now need to be completed ready for September when members will be tacking "Autumn".

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and a shared lunch up to the usual standard. At the end of the day we felt relaxed and had a sense of achievement.

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.