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Monday 10 April 2017

April Meeting

Back by popular demand - a repeat of the mini workshops from earlier in the year. Two this month and two before the Summer break. Not everyone had the chance to try more than workshop last time so we thought we would run them again. Today Sue rolled out the Rolling Landscapes again and the shaving foam made another appearance for marbling fabric with Sally. The sketchbook project continued with drawing techniques led by Margaret Laycock and some just brought their own stitching to be working on.

It was great to see some new faces and we hope they enjoyed joining in with the activities on offer. Everyone is welcome to join us - you don't need to be Royal School of Needlework standard! There are plenty of people to help if you need it and we all have a wide range of interests and skills to share.

We were joined in the afternoon by Pauline Heywood, Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Region Embroiderer's Guild. She brought a slide show for us on the history of the Embroiderer's Guild which was detailed and very interesting with lots of lovely photos from the Guild collection. The talk chronicled the Guild's history from it's beginning with sixteen members in 1906 when it was known as The Society of Certificated Embroideresses of the Royal School of Art Needlework - quite a mouthful! Thankfully we became the the Embroiderer's Guild after World War 1. The first catalogued piece, EG1, in the collection was a pair of 16th century doeskin kid gloves; the collection now holds around 5 000 significant pieces and 11 000 catalogued items which are now all curated at the Bucks County Museum Aylesbury. We are lucky to be able to access some of the collection through the Folios.  Pauline talked us through some highlights of the collection from the oldest Coptic embroidery 6th-10th century up to the latest pieces such as the beautiful Millennium Casket by Roy and Barbara Hirst. There are also items held from various corners of the globe. It brought back many memories of the City and Guilds research year for me! We were reminded of the breadth and quality of the Guild collection that we are so lucky to have.


(Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)