November 2024 Winter Social and Stitch Competition 2024
Our festive Winter Social for 2024 was held in November, comprising several different types of activities. The Sampson family Christmas craft stall was filled with items made by various members of the family and the MEsG sales table had lots of books and materials for making our own projects. The Raffle was huge with lots of donated prizes; it took ages to draw all the tickets; most people went away with at least one prize and some with two. The refreshment stall offered delicious items made by some of our members including cakes and other sweet and savoury items, as well as coffee and tea. On display was member’s work from workshops held during the past year. Additionally, a competition of pieces completed during this present year was held. Two mini-projects (folded-felt Christmas tree decorations and Dorset button gift tags) were available; they proved popular as a chance to make something and chat to both old friends and visitors. Towards the end of the event a quiz was held to test our knowledge of favourite board games, films, songs and Christmas traditions. At the end, all were wished a Happy Christmas. We look forward to seeing everyone at the January meeting. Michele xxx
October 2024 A.G.M. and Talk “My Needlework Journey: from Loathing It To Loving It” by Sarah Lowes
The October meeting began with our Annual General Meeting, where our elected officers were voted in to serve for another year. Following the AGM, Polly Moseley from The Scouse Flower House showed the large, and mostly completed, “Let it Bee” banner for which some of our members contributed stitched bees. We then enjoyed a delicious and plentiful shared lunch.
The day finished with a presentation by former long-standing member, Sarah Lowes, who regaled us with a talk entitled, “My Needlework Journey: from loathing it to loving it”, complete with many items of stitch work of significance to her. She explained that as a youth she was encouraged to try various sewing projects, all of which seemed to end in disaster, including a smock for which she used thick stiff furnishing fabric; hence, she loathed it. Her love of stitch started and grew as the result of a friendship with a person passionate about the art. Sarah showed some pieces that she had designed and stitched, most of which were complete except for framing or doing something with them; many of us could relate to this. One of the pieces is a representation of the deuterium atom and its subatomic parts including forces and tracks. A nuclear physics lesson accompanied this showing and reflected Sarah’s hobby of reading nuclear physics. Sarah is a relaxed and entertaining speaker who told her story with passion and great connection with her audience. Sarah is a former teacher, a published author and has written and performed several one-woman shows. She left the group a few years ago when she moved to Yorkshire, where she now resides with her husband.
September 2024 Talk “Launch of New Group Project”
At our September meeting we saw the launch of our exciting new group project, which will be to embroider a new altar frontal for the 150th Anniversary of All Hallows Church. The altar frontal has been designed by Gill Roberts and it is a depiction of the church and the surrounding area. The design consists of individual motifs to be embroidered by members and the appliquéd to the background, and there are enough motifs for each member to have one to work on. We cannot show a photograph of the design yet as it has yet to be unveiled to the parishioners of All Hallows Church, but it is stunning! If you were unable to come along to the September meeting, then please attend our AGM in October and collect a pack with details of a motif for you to embroider.
August 2024 Workshop with Kim Parkman “Quaker Stitch”
Quaker stitch was designed by Ann Wynn-Wilson, the designer and instigator of the Quaker Tapestry, specifically for the lettering that was used to explain the panels. The Royal School of Needlework named it ‘Quaker Stitch’ because of its links to this special piece of work, which can still be seen in Kendal at the Quaker Tapestry Museum today. The flexibility of the stitch lends itself to so much more than lettering.We experimented with Quaker stitch to see where it could be used in our work to add texture and depth. We worked with crewel embroidery wool and embroidery silks on small pieces that can form part of a stitch book or be used as part of a larger work.
Quaker Stitch workshop at Merseyside Expressive Stitchers Group with Kim Parkman. Selection of students samples.
July 2024 Workshop with Kim Parkman “Scraps with Meaning”
Do you have scraps of material that hold a meaning for you? A favourite piece from a dress or a sewing project; household linen that has seen better days, or a load of tiny scraps rattling around in your stash collection? Bring them along and create a new work, using a variation of the quilters’ log cabin method. If your pieces are too precious to cut up, bring them and tell us the story behind them, and why they mean so much to you. Then help yourself from a selection of fabric bits and make something new.
June 2024 TALK and WORKSHOP with Emma Summerscales “Sustainability Day”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the factory collapse in Bangladesh, where over a thousand garment workers were killed.They were all making clothes for Western fashion brands. The textile industry’s climate impact is also a cause for great concern: it drains natural resources, pollutes water sources and over-produces garments that then end up in landfill. Emma believes that we all need to fall in love with our clothes again as a way to reduce consumption and will suggest inventive ways that we can do our bit.
May 2024 WORKSHOP with Tina Saunders “Hardanger 2”
Following the success of the March hardanger workshop, we held another session with Tina Saunders, an RSN-trained tutor. Those who attended the previous workshop, or who have previous experience of hardanger, could learn a new technique with a new kit. Those who need extra help to finish the previous kit, or who are new to the technique could start with a hardanger heart.
April 2024 WORKSHOP with Gill Roberts “Wrapped and Stitched Trees”
The technique of ‘wrapped trees’ is an offshoot of drawn thread work. Instead of just a few strands of fabric being withdrawn, a block of threads are removed and the remaining strands then wrapped and stitched into, using blanket stitch, buttonhole stitch, both plain and textured threads to create the illusion of trees. These can then be further embellished with other stitches such as French knots, beads, and laid over either a plain background, a piece of painted silk, or further layers to create a landscape.
March 2024 WORKSHOP with Tina Saunders “An Introduction into Hardanger”
In our March Workshop Tina Saunders, who trained at the Royal School of Needlework and has worked for the Royal family, returned to introduce us to the Hardanger technique. We each made a heart shape as a foundation for further work for our own designs.
February 2024 TALK with Katie Tyson “A Journey Into Pattern and Print”
Katie Tyson, a very talented local textile artist, based on the Wirral, was showing some of her work. The talk, entitled ‘A Journey into Print and Pattern’ traced her development from painting on textiles to designing materials for sale in made-up pieces for Etsy and exhibition sales. Her work has featured in the Oxton Art Fair.
February 2024 WORKSHOP with Miranda Farby “Exploring Dorset Buttons: Flowers and Trees” (photographs by Michele King)
We explored Miranda’s colourful and modern take on the traditional craft of Dorset buttons.
January 2024 WORKSHOP with Kim Parkman (photograph by Michele King)
We gathered together for a spot of ‘hygge’. This is a Danish word that means ‘a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being’ (Oxford Languages). That sounds like our group! We were told “Come and meet up with others, share a cuppa and a chat and add to your stitch collection.” “So come and polish up your eight-pointed stars and patterning. We have over one hundred to try, if you are keen!” We looked at traditional stitches, based on the famous red and white knits. We slow stitchers developed our own designs, with different materials and threads.
Group samples from Norwegian stitching workshop , January 2024