Monday 27 November 2017

November at Nunnington Hall

This month I was stewarding at Nunnington Hall for our exhibition there and what a lovely day we had.  It was a bit chilly sitting at the top of the house but we had wrapped up warm and weren't too uncomfortable.  Apparently it wasn't as busy a day as usual but there were a lot of events on all over the county.  However, we had a steady stream of visitors from all over the world including Germany and Canada as well as from all over England.  Several of them had a go at Colleen's lazy daisy stitches and took a piece of work home with them.  I demonstrated Angelina fibres and how to use them.  Everyone who visited us was very complimentary about the work on display and it did look lovely, very well arranged around the two rooms and a corridor.  I didn't take any photographs I'm afraid, but you can still go and have a look at it yourselves before it finishes on the 17th December.

Sunday 29 October 2017

October Meeting

We had a really good meeting today, lots more work coming in for the exhibition at Nunnington Hall and lots of little white decorations that everyone had done to hang from the tree branches that Christina provided.


I managed to get a bit closer so you can see a few of them a bit better.

We had a really good talk by Janet Browne who told us all about how she got involved with her style and topics that she works in.  She brought lots of her birds and maps for us to look at as well as sketch books and samples.  We had a lovely time afterwards looking through them all.

Here are some of the pieces she brought and lots of eager hands rooting through them.


Our next meeting will be just a Members Day and Val and Angela have a small kit for people to do if they want to.  I shall be at Nunnington Hall all day doing three demonstrations of Angelina Christmas cards, so if you want to meet me and see what the Branch members have been up to, come along to Nunnington Hall.  Dates are above.

Sunday 8 October 2017

September Meeting

We had a full house nearly at our new venue in Snainton.  It is a lovely big room with plenty of light although the ceiling is high which makes it a bit noisy but we have all seemed to settle in.  Today was also our AGM which we went through as quickly as possible so that we could listen to our speaker, Andrew Clay who gave a very enjoyable talk on The Royal Jewels.  Going back to Queen Mary, he explained the difference between the Crown Jewels, jewels that belong to the Royals and the Queen's private collection.  The photographs were stunning, the amount of jewellery worn by Queen Mary and Queen Alexander was incredible and the dresses were just as impressive.  A really good talk that kept everyone discussing it afterwards.  Shame he didn't have any samples to show us!  Andrew is the Manager of Woodend Creative space in Scarborough and does two or three different talks and they are all very good.
We asked Andrew to judge our annual Rose Bowl Competition, the topic of which was Pantomime. There were a number of entries but the winner was Nikki Brown with her beanstalk interpretation.  I would love to have taken some pictures but didn't have a camera with me but I hope to get some from other members to put on this page as soon as I can.
We are all bringing together work for the exhibition at Nunnington Hall which is coming up very soon.  The dates for the exhibition are on the side panel, please come and look round a lovely house and see all the work we have been doing.
The Mystery Stitchery is moving along, people are getting the hang of what we are doing and are making plans for how to put the various pieces of work together when they are all finished.

Sunday 23 July 2017

Quilting Workshop

We have just had another quilting workshop with Jackie, this time making a zip round bag with pockets and rings for all your projects and work.  I am going to use mine for my travel journal and all the leaflets, maps and tickets that I keep from my holidays.  We had the opportunity to quilt our fabric ready before the day but I didn't get time to do mine so I had to spend the morning catching up. As it happened this proved to be useful as I have thought of a couple of changes I want to do to customize mine, putting a small ticket pocket and maybe a place for a pen.  It was a good day with change to meet a couple of new people as well.  Here are some of the bags that were made.


This is the inside of Cynthia's bag.

Elaine chose this lovely deep coloured fabric for her bag.

Hazel's bag is nearly finished.

Monday 26 June 2017

June Meeting

We didn't have a speaker today but Val and Angela ran a workshop doing some random canvas work which all started to look very interesting.  Pictures below.
During the business it was decided that from September we will be moving venue to Snainton village hall.  This is because the disabled facilities at Wrelton are not very good and the room is now at capacity for our membership.  The vote to move was more or less unanimous so we can now look forward to a new home.
Everyone is now getting the hang of Laureen's Mystery Stitchery and it sounds as though the pieces of work are coming along fine.  One or two have cheated and shown each other their work but generally speaking we are all keeping it secret.


This is the type of work that Val and Angela have done and the sort of thing we were all trying to do.


Here are some of our efforts for the day.






Thursday 22 June 2017

Regional Day

As always, Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Day was a great day out and a good time to catch up with friends in other Branches.  The morning got off to a good start with a talk from Dr. Jennie Batchelor who spoke about the Lady's Magazine in the era of Jane Austen.  The articles in the magazine were provided by the subscribers and it was surprising how topical they were and how interested women were in science and world affairs, quite the opposite of what the men of the day would have you believe.
After the usual delicious lunch we had the presentation of awards and here, Ryedale was represented by Anita Cassedy who won a 'runner up' prize in the Challenge Cup category.  The topic was Hull and the Humber and she did a roll of fishes, inspired by the 'Fish Trail through Hull City Centre.
In the afternoon we went even further back in history with Meredith Towne who joined Nell Gwyn for a day at court.  She wore an eighteenth century style dress that she had made herself - by hand - and gave us an insight as to how astute Nell was in looking after her own and her families future.
The day was rounded off by two of Ryedale's members winning in the bag raffle.  Ten members from the branch attended which was one of the largest contingents we have sent I think, so well done to us!

Here are some of the entries in the competitions.


Medusa won the Myths and Legends category

The Blue Man was the winner of the Challenge Cup.

As always, the Young Embroiderers' have some outstanding entries.



Some of the entries for a flower beginning with G


Friday 2 June 2017

May Meeting

A very warm day at the start of the half term holidays - there's something unusual!  We did get a short thunderstorm mid afternoon but nothing to spoil our fun.

Our speaker this month was Heather Gatt who as you probably know, produces the most wonderful batik pictures.  Today she gave us a demonstration on how to layer up your colours when doing batik, something I have difficulty with.  As always, Heather was very giving of her knowledge and is such a lovely person.

In the morning we spent some time making small kits for the Regional Day and other stands as a fundraiser for Region.  The Christmas tree embroideries are still coming in and everyone seems to be a bit more settled with Laureen's Mystery Stitchery as she brought some 'Inspiration' ideas in to show us.

These are the pieces that Heather created for us during our meeting.





Sorry about my feet!


Sunday 7 May 2017

April Meeting

Well, I did remember to take my camera for photographs this month but then I got tied up with making teas and missed the opportunity to take any.

Our speaker this month was our own member Janet Lewthwaite who has had an amazing life in embroidery.  She learnt under the tutelage of Beryl Dean so you can imagine the wonderful work she produces, especially ecclesiastical embroideries.  She told us some amusing stories of lessons in the local college and how one piece of her work was copied by 'Penelope' after it had been on display at an exhibition.

The Christmas trees are still coming in and we have now started on a new venture.  Laureen has devised another 'Mystery Stitchery' for us to work on.  We each pay £2 for a set of instructions which is for just part of the finished article.  Each month we buy the next set of instructions and working at home so no one else can see, we gradually work towards a finished piece.  The trick is, you don't know what the finished piece is going to be.  A number of members took their first instructions so it will be interesting to see next year, what we have all finished up with.

The exhibition at Nunnington Hall in November/December looks as though it will be really good so check out the dates and come and see us.  On some dates there will be workshops for children to make a felt snowman with kits costing £1 (adults can join in too).  On all the dates there will be members stitching and talking to visitors.

Wednesday 29 March 2017

March Meeting

I was away last month so was not able to do a blog as I didn't see our speaker but from what I hear, Phillipa Joad was excellent and gave a very enjoyable talk as well as bringing lots of things to see and buy.
The same could be said of this months speaker, Katie Chaplin.  Many of you will know her company Japancrafts and Katie gave us a wonderful talk about some of the many different types of textiles that are produced in Japan.  She also brought lots of samples for us to pass around and look closely at as well as feel the textures.  Afterwards, we were able to indulge ourselves at her sales table which was full of the most tempting fabrics and threads.
There was a lot more decorated labels brought in for passing round at venues and exhibitions and several people have finished their christmas trees for the exhibition at the end of the year at Nunnington Hall.

We have welcomed two new members recently and we had a visitor this month who will consider joining us so as a branch we are managing to keep our numbers at least static.  Participation in Guild events is quite high for a branch our size, we have four members going to the AGM in Edinburgh and nine attending the Regional Day.  Several go regularly now to either the Summer School or Stitching in the Dales - or both!

These are some of the Christmas trees ready for framing.



Some of the items brought by Katie for us to look at.


A beautiful Japanese wedding kimono that Katie brought for us to look at.

Thursday 2 February 2017

January Meeting

We are all back now after the Christmas break and ready to get into the swing of stitching again.

Looking forward to our exhibition at Nunnington Hall in November/December we are preparing to make a piece of work based on a Christmas Tree.  We have our templates and instructions and Val and Angela had prepared some samples to give us ideas.  I didn't photograph them as we want you all to come and see them at Nunnington.

We have also been doing some little cards to hand out to people interested in joining the Guild.  Laureen gave us this idea which uses up old embroideries that you don't mind cutting up and bits and pieces that you have trimmed off pieces of work.  On the back we have stuck information about the branch and who to contact.  Everyone will have a few of these to hand out and the rest will be used at exhibitions and events.


Colleen did these using some fabric scraps and buttons.




These were all on the radiators for the glue to dry.

There was interesting work going on around the room as this was a members meeting and we didn't have a speaker.  Some had brought in previous work for us to look at.


Colleen brought in these wonderful boxes.  They are made from cheese boxes that she begged from her local deli.

You could try doing a 'Guess the number of french knots' competition with this one.


This one is so colourful.

Liz has been continuing her workshops learning how to use her new sewing machine.



This has been created by Cath Featherstone who runs the Bandroom Beaders group and does workshops around the area.  Next one is in Pickering at the Memorial Hall if you are interested.