October Meeting

Saturday was rather a grey day but there was plenty of colour in the hall with a wide range of stitched and embroidered work being done.  Some members brought their own projects to work on whilst others joined a stitch group to try something new. 

Maggie's group continued to experiment with printing.  Vintage glassware was inked up and printed onto fabric with acrylic paint to create textural images that could be embellished with stitch.

                                         Maggie's printed and stitched piece

Lynne's work in progress

Sharon's group continued working on their embroidered colour wheels using satin stitch, colonial knots, french knots and pistil stitch.

A display of members' work was set up in the hall. This showcased an inspirational and very varied range of work that had been made during the past year.  The photo below shows just part of a serene improvised piece Eileen created to reflect her love of the Greek coastline.

In the afternoon the AGM took place with reports from the Chair and Treasurer.  In summary the group is going from strength to strength, welcoming new members, running a varied programme of speakers and workshops and maintaining financial stability.  The Ida Barber Trophy was presented to Jacqueline for the lovely piece of crewel work that had been chosen in September.  Chris (outgoing Chair) and Jacqs (outgoing Programme Secretary) were thanked warmly for their dedicated service to the YES.  It is to be hoped that they will be able to enjoy more stitching time from now on!  Diane,  Angela and Jacqueline joined the committee.  Liz remained as Treasurer and Nicky took on the Chair role so the YES looks to be in safe hands.  We look forward to an interesting and companionable year ahead.  Visitors and new members are always welcome.  

Chris and Jacqs

Our September Meeting

 What a great meeting on Saturday! Two new stitch clubs. Sharon’s group began their embroidered colour wheels and Maggie’s their block printing. Both groups got down to work quickly and with obvious enthusiasm. 

After lunch our speaker was Nicola Jarvis, well known RSN trained embroiderer and designer. Her traditional embroidery is beautiful and, not surprisingly, incredibly skilful. She is delightful, and gave a very interesting talk about the 17th century raised work project at the Ashmolean Museum which she oversaw, and for which she created some stunning designs. The gorgeous caskets were then exhibited in the museum, and later at The Knitting and Stitching Show in 2018. 

Nicola brought some examples of her work but photographs can’t really do justice to them. 

At this meeting we also had our competition for a piece of work based on the member’s own design. Members were asked to choose the piece which appealed to them the most. In terms of design and stitching all the entries were of a high standard,  but it was Jacqueline’s crewel work picture which had most votes. 

                                           

Altogether a very busy, enjoyable day for YES.
Sent from my iPad

Our August Meeting

At our August meeting we had the last session of the current stitch clubs with Jose and Chris B. These have been very successful. They were much enjoyed and produced some super work. Many thanks to them both. There are some photos below, along with some of the other pieces members were working on during the morning.  

After lunch we enjoyed a super presentation by our secretary Nicky and member Liz B. They told members about their experience in undertaking the foundation degree course in Textile Practice, at Bradford School of Art. Nicky has completed the first two years and Liz her first year. Nicky was inspired by another YES member, Mary W who had posted online about an open day, and who had also contributed content for the presentation.  For all three it has been challenging and demanding but hugely enjoyable and worthwhile. As well as examples of their work and Mary's they had brought their sketch books which were were not only interesting in content but beautifully produced. 

At the September meeting the new stitch clubs will begin with Sharon’s colour wheel and Maggie’s block printing. Members will also bring their entries for the competition for an original piece of work. 

Chris S

Members' work

Work from Mary, Nicky and Liz

Our July Meeting

Another busy and enjoyable meeting on 1st July. Stitching during the morning with Jose and Chris B’s stitch clubs and the fantastic Nikki Parmenter was our speaker in the afternoon. Nikki’s textile based mixed media work is astonishing. Her designs, complex and with meaning and symbolism, are turned with great skill into fabulous textured works of art using a sewing machine and a variety of unorthodox and often recycled materials.  The results are stunning.  Vibrant, intriguing,  it’s difficult to do them justice in photographs. She brought lots of examples and was  generous with her time and response to members’ questions. 

Jose and Chris have one more stitch club session next month. Beginning in September Sharon and Maggie will lead three sessions. At the meeting members signed up for Sharon’s embroidered colour wheel and Maggie’s block printing on which to embroider. They also signed up for our visit in October to the Bankfield Museum and Shibden Hall. 

At the August meeting two of our members Nicky and Liz (with input from Mary) will be our speakers, talking about their Foundation Degree inTextile Practice, which they are doing at Bradford School of Art. The talk is called ‘Becoming a Textile Student after Retirement’. They will bring along sketchbooks and some of their work for us to see. 

Chris

Here are some pictures of the lovely and varied items members were working on on Saturday morning, with some of Nikki Parmenter's work below. 

Nikki Parmenter's Work

Our June Meeting

The June meeting held on the 10th was a busy stitching day with our two stitch club groups working during the morning session. Chris B’s group continued with their fabulous embroidered dolls and Jose’s group worked on their  charming miniature pieces. Very different work but equally delightful and skilled. After lunch members were invited to try their hand at  some decorative darning. I am very grateful to Annie who stepped in for me and led the session. There were books about and examples of this type of embroidery, and information on its origins along with lots of appropriate, colourful wool available. 

At our next meeting on 1st July we’ll continue with Jose and Chris’s stitch clubs, and the speaker after lunch will be Nikki Parmenter. She will give a demonstration of her techniques and there’ll be project packs on offer. Nikki is an experienced, widely exhibited artist whose work is textile based mixed media. Complex in its production it is colourful and richly worked. This will no doubt be very interesting and something to which we can really look forward. 

Chris

YHEG Summer Gathering

A very enjoyable meeting of the Yorkshire and Humberside Embroidery Group at the Regen Centre, Riccall, on Saturday. Two excellent speakers and lots of members from the various groups in our region. The committee which once represented all the EG branches in our region has been working hard to establish this new independent group and another successful meeting was the result. 

Many, if not most, of you will know Janet Browne and her highly original, charming and skilled machine stitched appliquéd pieces. Her maps as she calls them. These capture her walks around her village, car journeys from Yorkshire to Cornwall, a variety of places in Yorkshire or sometimes simply her garden. Stopping to draw and photograph what interests, intrigues or amuses her, she then creates a stitched journey, always based on reality and what she saw. Her work is lovely to look at and very technically accomplished. Though the subject matter may be unsophisticated its creation is anything but. A popular speaker, she is a well liked and respected member of  the stitching community in the north. You can catch Janet on the Making Stitches podcast, episode twenty. 

The afternoon speaker provided something definitely different. David Morrish, aka KingFly, entertained us with a super talk about his very varied career in textiles  beginning with art school, going into tailoring with a twist, teaching fashion and pattern cutting at Sheffield Hallam University, acting as a consultant for high end designers including Vivienne Westwood, discovering machine and hand embroidery, gaining an Embroiderers’ Guild scholarship and winning the Hand and Lock prize twice! Oh, and he was also Wilcome digital embroiderer of the year. Twice.  There is so much to David and his work I can only recommend that you learn more about him online. He was great fun and took time to answer the many questions from members who were obviously very interested in his life and work. David features on the BBC TV programme Make it to Market. 

Add to the above, embroidery supplies to buy and friends to meet up with at coffee and lunch, it was a good day.

Chris