Junior Embroiderers' Ruby Banner

Our young members produced a banner to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of Young Embroiders in 2014 which has since been exhibited at various Embroiderers' Guild events.

Each member began with a 9” square of calico which was tied, folded or scrunched and dyed red.  The resulting piece of fabric was embellished with hand or machine stitching and finished with beads, sequins, etc. The resulting pieces were then assembled and stitched onto a background and finished with hand-made cords, paper beads and appliqued flowers. The final result shows a wide range of skills which our young members are developing.

If you were at last year's West Midlands Regional Day, you may remember that Michael Brennand-Wood had some very positive comments to make about the banner.

It is still ‘travelling’ but it will be back in Leamington to display at Regional Day on 20th June.

Christine Plummer workshops in May

Mixed media artist Christine Plummer will be here in Leamington to lead not one, but two workshops.

On Friday 8th May there will be a mini workshop
to make personalised gift cards and tags for those special presents.  This promises to be a fun evening, and quite a change from our usual talks.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please contact Janet: j.seaton@open.ac.uk, since we will be meeting in the upstairs room at St Mary's Hall on this occasion, and want to ensure we make room for everyone.  

Times are 7 - 9 pm.  Member's fee: £4, Visitor's fee: £5.

Requirements list

• Thread, needle & pins, scissors
• Kitchen knife for cutting paper (pre-coloured paper supplied by Christine)
• Luggage tags - any size (Christine will have a variety for sale)
• Buttons or found objects small enough to fit on your tags.
• Christine will also bring her sewing machines, so you don't need to bring yours!

This links well with the
Saturday workshop on 9th May, 'Recycled Books'
                     - the requirements list for this has been sent to attendees separately.

Christine is a member of Lincoln Bailgate branch of Embroiderers' Guild and runs their Junior Embroiderers' group.  She also belongs to Jeudis, an exhibiting group who are often to be seen at the NEC and other venues.

Working primarily with papers, fabric and thread, Christine dyes, paints and prints them to give a cohesive colour palette.  They are then assembled into patterns and abstract designs which form the basis of pieces of work based on or around a theme.  She has a special interest in books and collecting items to go in them, so quite often her work reflects this.  The covers are embellished with buttons, beads, overprinting and stitching to create unique personal journals and notebooks.

April - Guild AGM at Birmingham Library

There will be no branch meeting this month.  It was due to be a Members' Day on 11th April, but in view of the date clash with the Embroiderers' Guild AGM* at Birmingham Library, it was decided it would be better for everyone to have the chance to attend the AGM, especially as it's almost on our doorstep this year.

We do hope as many members as possible will take the opportunity to go and hear firsthand the changes that are being proposed to the Guild structure.  Remember, though, that entry is by ticket only, so you need to book up beforehand - there's still just time.

Hope to see you there!

*Note: the national AGM is quite separate from the Branch AGM, which will be held in September.

"Homage to Van Eyck" wins Julia Caprara Award

For the second year running Leamington member, Sue Cooke, has won the Julia Caprara Award for Use of Colour in the Guild Members' Challenge 'All that Glistens'.

Homage to Van Eyck, Sue Cooke

You may have seen "Homage to Van Eyck" if you went to the Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show at the NEC recently, where it was on display on the Guild stand.

Sue says, "I used the pomegranate motif because this is popular in Renaissance painting.  I'm also fascinated by the way these artists reproduced gold just using layers of paint, so this seemed to tie in with the competition title.

"The background paper was stitched in white before painting and then some transfoil added. The applied motif was machine stitched onto vanishing muslin, burnt to achieve the distressed look of Renaissance fabric before wrapped cords were added."

Congratulations (again), Sue!

Travelling Books

Leamington Branch has two avid Travelling Books groups, who swap books every month.
One of the groups has just finished their first year and is looking forward to starting again in May. Everyone is very pleased with their book, which now contains several mini works of art.

Although no themes were stipulated, some members decided to follow their own theme, such as countries, flora or day school inspiration.  Others created as the mood took them.

Here is a small sample of some mouthwatering pages:

Leamington member reaches 100

Leamington Branch Member, Win Barry, celebrated her 100^th birthday on February 25^th in the company of her many friends and family.

As a Life Member of the Embroiderers' Guild and a Founder Member of the Leamington & District Branch (which also celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year), Win has fond memories of past and current members and their activities.  Although she regrets that she can no longer join us for meetings, she remains an active member of her local Quilters group close to her home in Coventry.

During the 1980s Leamington & District hit a low point, and the committee prepared to close the Branch due to lack of support and funds.  Win, together with a few fellow members, decided that this could not happen, so they formed a new committee, made a fresh start and Leamington & District Branch was re-born.  Our thanks go to Win and her colleagues for their commitment at that time.

Apart from being a highly skilled needlewoman, Win has been and still is a friend to so many of us.  Loved for her patience, friendship, loyalty and good humour, we must join her Majesty the Queen in congratulating her as she celebrates this very special birthday.

We wish her health and happiness for more years to come.

Some pics from the Embellished Fun workshop ...

What a lovely day we had making our quirky little hangings!  Annette Emms is a very relaxed and helpful tutor, and she patiently guided us through the making process with great humour.

We started by making the felt/scrim background, of course.  Whether using a full-blown embellishing machine or a hand-held needle felting tool, great results could be produced satisfyingly quickly.

Annette showed us various ways to create a focal point, in most cases either a bird or a figure/angel (glad she was able to help with the face!) - stitching or felting it onto our prepared background:

After lunch, we had great fun adding to the picture - felting in extra elements and hand stitching details. Annette was always on hand with constructive suggestions about ways of adding balance and interest.

We were grateful, too, to 21st Century Yarns for providing a sales table of their mouthwateringly-dyed felt, scrim and wool roving bundles, to supplement any gaps in our own supplies.

And finally, home to spend a few happy hours adding more stitches and the finishing touches ....

Thank you, Annette, for providing an inspirational day.

Saturday 7th March, "Embellished Fun" workshop by Annette Emms

There are a couple of places available on this workshop next Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm.

We will use an embellishing machine or hand-held needle felting tool, and scraps of scrim, lace, calico and wool fibres to make a small, quirky wall hanging.  Finish off with beads, hand or machine stitch, and learn how versatile needle felting can be.

If you would like to take up a place, please call Leamington Dayschool Secretary, Jenny Archer on 01926 338987 or email jennyarcher401@gmail.com.

Member fee: £22.50; Visitor fee: £25.00

"Finding the Magic" - a talk by Annette Emms, Friday 6th March

Annette is a textile artist, living and working in the beautiful Vale of Evesham.  From being a child, she has played with fabric, thread and stories.  Her work combines this with a fascination for the natural world, old churches, history and local legends.


As Annette explores the countryside around her, she loves to weave stories around her work, re-discovering the many legends and secret places full of magic and mystery.  She aims to build layers of fabric and stitch which form interesting textures.  These are then used to create dimensional pieces through which she hopes the observer can glimpse 'a little Magic'.



Inspiration and forgotten stories can appear in the most unexpected places.  Annette likes to think that there is 'magic' everywhere - we just have to look!

Find more information about Annette's lovely and whimsical pieces on her blog:

http://annettestextiletales.blogspot.co.uk

2015 De Denne Award for Leamington Junior Embroiderer

  
Leamington Junior Embroiderer, 12-year old Elizabeth Wilson, is the proud winner of the Second Prize in the Guild's 2015 De Denne* Competition: Age Range 11-16 years, 3D Object.  The theme for 2014/15 was "All that Glistens", which encouraged lots of great entries.  The competition is judged on interpretation, skills and originality.

Elizabeth won a prize for her snake .....

... which is made up of bands of material sewn together on the sewing machine.   These were covered with a piece of netting, and beads and sequins added between the two layers to make it shinier.  Elizabeth sewed the whole thing together by hand, adding  little bells to the tail.

This lovely slippery snake will be on display at The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia on 5th-8th March.

 * The competition is named after the founder of the Junior Embroiderers section of the Embroiderers’ Guild.