Well it was actually at the end of November but to all intents and purposes it was our Christmas get together! There were four activity options for those that fancied making Christmas cards, a Christmas competition and festive refreshments. We were grateful to the members who so generously shared their threads, fabrics, ribbons and beads (as well as their ideas and skills). Our particular thanks go to Marina, Diane, Nicky, Angela and Liz.
One option was making felt trees embellished with ribbons and beads.
The second option involved stitching onto patterned fabric and then cutting out a festive shape to attach to a card.
The third option was a counted stitch technique, using Rhodes stitch to create diamonds that formed trees.
The fourth option was 'prick and stitch' directly onto cards.
The Christmas competition theme this year was for a decoration and we had many lovely entries. Voting is by 'button in the bag' and members can vote for more than one entry. As always it is hard to judge such different styles of items. Well done to everyone who entered and we enjoyed looking at all the entries and taking inspiration from them.
Our eventual winning entry was Christine's lovely embroidered wreath. It was colourful and beautifully finished. We admired her skill and variety of stitch techniques.
Second place went to Marina for her fun and very neatly stitched folk art wool garland.
Third place went to Angela for her delicately stitched softly coloured festive pieces.
Not everyone chose to make cards, and there was much busy activity in the room with members working on their own projects. This month I enjoyed seeing Chris' festive Robin take shape. The image and instructions were from Emillie Ferris' book 'Paint with Thread: A Step-by Step Guide to Embroidery: Through the Seasons' The silk shading technique was worked using a single strand of floss and long and short stitch. The painterly effect was really effective and she was enjoying the slow process of bringing the bird to life.
Robin stitched by Chris from a pattern by Emillie Ferris
In the afternoon we enjoyed festive refreshments including mince pies, Swedish spiced cake and fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese. It was a lovely way to get us all in the Christmas spirit.
York Embroiderers and Stitchers next meeting will be on 3rd January in Haxby Memorial Hall. Visitors and new members are welcome to come along. We will be there between 10.30 and 3.30 so feel free to drop in. The programme for 2026 can be found by clicking the tab at the top of this page so do have a look if you are interested to see who our speakers will be.
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