Our May Meeting
YES members enjoyed the morning working on their own pieces and catching up with friends. Diane was delighted to be awarded the Chairman's bursary which is worth up to £100 to be used for a workshop of the recipient's choice. YES will be mounting an exhibition in 2025 and the theme which was most popular among members was Architextures. This will give a focus for the exhibition but all types of work will be on show. Our exhibitions celebrate members interests and skills which are very wide ranging and everyone is invited to contribute.
Rosie was making a start on a cross-stitch kit.
She fund raises for the St Leonard's Hospice where her
lovely hand made cards are popular.
Patricia was embellishing
felt with embroidery and beads to make
colourful Christmas decorations
Travelling Book
Pauline worked on the travelling book this month. She is interested in the American technique known as 'Chicken Scratch' embroidery. Chicken scratch creates a lace like effect on gingham fabric, typically made using one or two strands of thread and simple geometric pattterns. The resulting pieces show how versatile a traditional technique can be when done on different scale fabrics.
Mary Holt - Moving North from India
The speaker in the afternoon was Mary Holt who had travelled across the Peninnes to talk about Indian and Nepalese textiles and fibres. Mary has been travelling to Asia since 2015, exploring the textile heritage and buying from artisan weavers and craftspeople in order to support traditional skills. She was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide bringing out examples of a wide range of woven and printed fabrics, shawls, felt and fibres. A small sample is shown below.
Mary has become increasingly interested in Nepal, which produces a diverse range of fibres spun from yak fur and goat hair and others made from bamboo, banana, hemp, nettles, silk and organic cotton. Traditional techniques include block printing, hand colouring with black ink, kantha and tambour work. She also showed Dhaka which is a cotton fabric traditionally woven on wood and bamboo hand looms. In more recent times felted items have been made and new colourful blends of fibres have been created for hand knitters. We were delighted to be able to handle old and new items and see how skilfully they are made. Many items made for the tourist/export trade, although bright and fun, lacked the subtlety of older techniques and colourways.
In lieu of a fee, Mary asked that we make a donation to Nepal-ease, a small charity that works directly with communities in Nepal, supporting sustainable charities identified by them. You can read more here: https://www.nepal-ease.org.uk/
Mary Holt Unravel mary@unravelcrafts.org.uk
Next time ...
Our next meeting will be on June 1st. Visitors and new members are always very welcome.
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