A time for sharing

(Photos taken and reproduced with the permission of Margaret Laycock. Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)

Monday 20th January

Our first meeting of the new year opened with a Jacob's Join lunch.  We put aside our January fasts and enjoyed some delightful food, proving that our members are have many talents.

We also shared some of our new projects and this one caught my eye.  Margaret Laycock has started a year long project which will involve making 12 luggage size tags - one for each month of the year.  The designs reflect the colours of the landscape, nature and the weather: the sample shown is "August" with clear skies and herbaceous borders composed of delicate layers of organza.  It's still work-in-progress but when it's finished it will be cut to size and the label constructed as a double-sided piece with decorative machine cord. Margaret quipped that February will be a challenge - grey and dull!  I can't wait to see the end results!

Claire Ketteman gave an overview of the StArt in the Dales project and the exhibition of our work that is now on display at Craven Museum and Gallery (Skipton Town Hall).  See previous blog posts for more details or Jill Maloney's newsletter (accessed via the tabs at the top of this page). 

Looking forward to an exciting and challenging 2014.

Exhibition at Craven Museum & Gallery

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

Tuesday 14th January

The art of making something look effortless is probably one of the most difficult things to learn.   Skipton Branch is very fortunate to be able to draw upon the expertise of member Gail Marsh to curate our latest exhibition which will be on display at Craven Museum and Gallery.

With her trained eye, Gail went through a process of auditioning pieces, trying them this way and that, moving them around in number of permutations before finally settling on an arrangement that she was happy with.  Gail told me that in her former role as curator of the Rachel B Kay-Shuttleworth textile collection at Gawthorpe Hall, she would sometimes start with a room-full of exhibits only to whittle them down to a select few for a display cabinet.

The theme for the display is 'bright and colourful' and the chosen work shows a cross-section of skills and techniques: some traditional, some contemporary.  Also on show are the Story Cloths made by the Broughton Road Women's Group with support from Skipton Embroiderers' Guild and led by artist Jackie Lunn.

Two new display boards provide visitors with information about the work of the Guild.  Enid Pyrah and Gail worked hard to collate and arrange photographs with text.  The Guild gratefully acknowledges the support from Catherine Johnson, Arts Development Officer at Craven District Council for these boards.

With the exhibition running from now until May 3rd, there is time to change the exhibits and display more examples of our work.  Watch out for the characterful art dolls that we made on Kathryn Thompson's workshop last Summer!

We are also planning two free workshops open to all ages and abilities. They will take place on Saturday 5th and 12th April 2014.  More details to follow.

Craven Museum and Gallery can be found at Skipton Town Hall.  The exhibition is located in the museum foyer next to the Tourist Information.

New Year, New Projects

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

Wednesday 8th January 2014

Happy New Year!  2014 has got off to a fantastic start with the news that Skipton and Grassington Embroiderers' Guilds have been awarded a Community Grant of £950 by Craven District Council for their StArt in the Dales project.

StArt, short for Stitched Art, is a community project to create a large piece of textile art depicting life in the Yorkshire Dales and the route of Le Grand Depart cycle race.  It will be made by members of Skipton and Grassington branches with the help of artist Jackie Lunn.  We are inviting the local communities to add their own stitches to the project during two drop-in workshops to be held at Skipton Town Hall on Saturday 5th and 12th April 2014 which will be open to all ages.  Other workshops will be offered to coincide with the exhibition of the final piece at local festivals.

The project committee are buzzing with ideas and our initial thoughts are for a 3-D map of the Yorkshire Dales National Park made in felted wool which will be quilted onto a hand-painted calico background.  Key features of the map will be stitched separately and appliquéd onto the fabric.  The map will be surrounded by a boarder of small squares, each depicting something that makes the Yorkshire Dales special to us.  We hope that the work will showcase our many talents as well as our love for the place we call home.

Once the work is finished it will go on display at venues around the area, including:

Ingleton  Overground Underground Festival 24-31 May 2014

Grassington Festival  13-28 June 2014

Skipton Town Hall dates to be confirmed

For more information about how you can take part in this project, hear a talk from one of the contributing artists or borrow the final piece to exhibition, please contact Claire Ketteman (07904 010430).

We also have an exhibition of work at Skipton Town Hall Museum, 18th January - 2nd May 2014.  This includes the Broughton Road Women's Group Story Cloth which was made for the 2013 Puppet Festival by the ladies with additional support from Skipton Branch members.  The displays will change during the exhibition period so make sure you visit more than once.