Christmas Meeting 2017

This was our last meeting before Christmas and so we all arrived with our contribution to the Jacob's Join, a dandy bird for the competition and a present for Secret Santa. The morning was bitterly cold and it had been a severe overnight frost making everywhere look very Christmassy.

View from the upstairs window

 We used the upstairs room which is warmer than our usual room and more cosy.
Our first task was to make a party hat for our Jacob's Join and you can see some of the efforts below which caused much hilarity in the making and trying on.

 The entries for the competition featuring Dandy Birds were set out and numbered. We then voted for our favourite which was very difficult as they were all so good.

There was a wonderful spread of food set out in the kitchen and it was hard to choose what to eat as it all looked so good, so we tended to have a little bit of everything!
Once we had eaten our fill and caught up on news it was time to draw the Secret Santa.

 We then wished everyone a Happy Christmas and set off for our homes full of food,Christmas good cheer and our present from the Secret Santa. It was a good day and thanks go to Joanna for organizing it.
 Happy Christmas to all our members!

Dandy Birds Bev Cavender November 2017

This month our workshop was led by Bev Cavender on Dandy Birds which were developed by Maggie Hickman Smith. Bev had made lots of the birds in a variety of fabrics and finishes.[See Below] The birds looked cheeky and full of character and we were ready to have a go at making our own!

  

From the pattern given to us by Bev,  we cut out the pieces in our fabrics.
We  cut four pieces for the feet and sewed two together with some stiffening between the material. Then we made a second foot.

 For the legs we wrapped ribbon/material around two twisted pipe cleaners.

 We made a special fold for the beak and then placed it in the body seam as we sewed the body. This caused a lot of hilarity as some of us muddled our back, front and top and bottom with some peculiarly placed beaks!!!!

 We then stuffed the body pushed the legs inside and  sewed the hole.The bird was finished with a big stitch through the body to give it shape and the eyes and feet  finished it off.

 We had great fun making our birds and they are definitely the dandiest birds ever seen!

A big thank you to Bev for showing us how to make Dandy Birds, letting us have fun and sending us home with a finished item!!!!!!!

      

Please remember the Christmas competition is a Dandy Bird!!!!!

Embroiderers' Guild Collection Sue Widden September 2017

This month we had our A.G.M. in the morning, followed by an early lunch, and then set up the room ready for our presentation on the Guild's collection.
Sue arrived complete with projector, computer and memory stick ready to go.

 The pieces ranged from the 15C to the 21C and were mainly English in origin.

 Sue informed us that originally embroidery was a pastime carried out by the upper classes of both sexes and it was not until later that the middle classes both men and women began embroidering.

 It was later still when embroidery became a mainly female occupation.

Sue told us a small amount of information about each piece and the members found it very interesting how embroidery had developed over the centuries.

 The members were so interested that Sue showed us a few extra photographs.
A big thank you to Sue for showing us the presentation and a look at some of the pieces the Guild holds.