December Meeting - Rachel Terry

Our December meeting was our Christmas meeting and had a bit of a party atmosphere. We had a lovely speaker - Rachel Terry - who makes rag rugs, but instead of just listening to her talk, where she gave us a history of rag rugging, we also got to have a go ourselves.

Busy at work (and chatting and eating cake)

Naturally, we didn't have time to make a rug each - especially as there was a mid afternoon break for some very lovely Christmas cakes - but we did have a go at using the proddy technique with a split peg to create a corsage each.

Some of the corsages under construction

We were mostly engrossed in our task, but also had time for plenty of chat, (it was a social event) and of course, Rachel was a very good tutor, coming round and demonstrating how to complete our corsages. We also had time to vote to choose the winner of the 'Round Robin' Christmas competition.

Round Robin entries

The winning entry was this lovely robin complete with nesting box made by Pauline.

Pauline's winning Robin

Other things
Preparations for our exhibition next summer are getting underway. There is a new tab at the top of the blog, where all the information about the exhibition will appear. In the meantime, there was a request for donations of fabrics and threads in 'Spring' colours to be brought to the January meeting. These will then be bagged up in to attractive 'project' bags to be sold as fundraising items at the exhibtion.

An Early Christmas Present

Our speaker next November (yes, nearly a year away) Elizabeth Almond has been in touch with Dulcie and has shared one of her designs with us. It's a lovely blackwork design, suitable for using over the festive season.

Simplicity - Elizabeth Almond

The design is now available as a free download directly from her Blackwork Journey website and the direct link can be found by clicking here.

November meeting - Karen Parry

The talk today was by Karen Parry who works for Entaco which of course, most of us hadn't heard of, but when she explained that it was also John James, sewing needles and Aero and Millward knitting needles, then we knew where she was coming from!

Karen gave us a quick history of the manufacture of sewing needles, how the business had grown from a cottage industry based in and around Redditch to an international company that now exports to over 50 countries. The process has remained largely unchanged for over 100 years.

The needle making process, as detailed on the John James website

She talked us through all the different sorts of hand sewing needles which were available, and when to use substitutes to get better results. There was lots more interesting detail about the difficulties in making needles, especially beading needles. Open heart surgery got a mention unexpectedly! And best of all Karen brought goody bags full of information about all the different types of needles available - and the opportunity to undertake some retail therapy if we desired. A very interesting talk where we learned that the needle isn't such a humble thing after all.

Other things

Suggestions are still wanted for a destination for the proposed Branch Outing next summer. This should be related to stitch in some way.

Young Embroiderers met over two mornings last week. The results were impressive - little bags made from sequin waste. A request was put out for volunteers to help at the sessions. They run during four school holidays - February half term, Easter, Summer and October half term - for a Wednesday and Thursday morning each time. If you could offer your help please contact Diane or Judith.

Questionnaires about the direction the branch should take in the future were available for completion to be given back at the next meeting. Opinions on what format the bursary should take in future are also still sought and should be sent to Kath.

The library is back in business, though it has moved to the other side of the room! Next month (December meeting) it will be possible to return books, in fact there is a plea to return books if you have been 'looking after them' while the library situation was resolved. The library will be open as usual for borrowing books at the January meeting.

June Exhibition:

• Shirley has opened her list of Children's book titles to be turned into book covers for visitors to guess at the exhibition.
• A request was made for about 20 volunteers, each prepared to do something towards helping with the organisation of the exhibition. Stevie is collecting names!

At the Regional AGM last month the Leeds branch won the competition. Our seaside themed piece will be part of next summer's exhibition. Additions to it are welcome before then.

The following events were announced, each one involving some of our members. (Click on the links for more details)
Carol and Sandra at Ryedale Folk Museum
Decora at the Blue Light Gallery in Masham
Hippystitch having a Christmas Extravaganza and being part of York Makers Fair.

And Finally.... The next meeting is the Christmas meeting.
We will be having a guest tutor. Please bring the usual sewing kit including scissors.
A gift for the Bran Tub (wrapped and sewing related) would be welcome. There will be a raffle with the prizes provided by members of the committee.
The competition theme is 'Round Robin'.
Stitch club will proceed as usual in the morning but lunch will be at the slightly earlier time of 12.00 and the afternoon meeting will start at 1.30 (rather than the usual 2.00). There will be a tea and cake break during the afternoon session.
I'm hoping that covers everything.

Workshop - Saturday 18th October

Looking for a great idea for a Christmas Present? Come along to Pauline Tywman's workshop on Saturday 18th October at Huntington Village Hall - cost £17. Spaces are available for guests. Please contact Dulcie on 07890 299034 to book a place.

Pauline is going to show how to make a cover for a mobile phone which will also adapt to suit kindles, Ipads  and book covers. 
The session will be from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm. Tea/coffee and nibbles are provided. Bring a mug and a packed lunch. 

Requirements

Pelmet Vilene (iron is best) I will bring some (if using plain, bring bondaweb)

Fabrics in colours of your choice (scraps can be used)

Fabrics in contrasting colours (for lining)

Hand stitching threads

Machine Stitching threads (metallic if you like)

Embellishments. Beads, sequins, fancy threads for couching etc...

Press stud

Sewing machine (I will bring mine for anyone to use)

Extension lead

Huntington Memorial Hall

46, Strensall Rd, Huntington, York,

North Yorkshire

YO32 9SH.          

01904 750258 ‎ · www.hmh.org.uk 

October Meeting - Meridith Towne & AGM

Our October talk was full of intrigue. It was given by Meridith Towne who is the little girl to the right in the photo.

Meridith grew up to take a degree in archaeology and she is now a Costume Historian and Dressmaker. Her talk 'Romance in the Raj' followed the exploits of Marjorie and her 'Fishing' expedition to India to 'catch' a husband during the late Edwardian era.

Marjorie and the Man she 'caught'.

Marjorie made a very good catch - and Meridith gave a very good talk outlining the trials and tribulations of several weeks at sea travelling to India, discarding knickers along the way, and then finding a suitable husband whilst coping with the restrictions and social conventions of the time. The talk looks at the fashions over twenty years, both in India and back home, and Meridith brings examples of the costumes that would have been worn which, together with her gifts for humour and story-telling, really bring the talk to life. And of course, there's a twist in the tale at the end of the talk - but I couldn't possibly say what it is!

Other Matters
The triennial branch exhibition will be next year - June 18th to 21st. Branch members have been invited to make an entry for the visitors competition. The entry must take the form of a dust jacket for a book. The cover must depict (in as cryptic form as desired) a well known children's book. The definition for 'well known' is that Shirley must have heard of it!! She will be opening a list next month - titles are on a first come first served basis, so if you've got a really excellent idea, make sure you're on the list!

The branch bursary scheme has not attracted any applicants for the last two years. In light of this, it is proposed that the money ring-fenced to fund this bursary should be applied differently. There was a discussion during the meeting of possible options. To allow the committee to consider all suggestions, please make your suggestion (even if you raised it at the meeting) in writing to Kath (her email address is on the About Us page) before the next meeting.

There will be two 'pop-up' shops (or sales tables in old speak) at the next branch meeting. Jo will be selling items for papercrafts, and Helen will be selling recycled and vintage craft materials and threads. 10% of takings will be donated to branch funds.

It is hoped to run a branch outing next year. Please let any committee member know if you have ideas for a good (stitch related) day out.

Tickets for the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate (20th - 23rd November) will be available at the November branch meeting at the discounted price of £10 per ticket.

The AGM was held before the branch meeting. There are spaces for another couple of people to be on the Committee. Committee meetings are held in the morning before the branch meeting. Please consider if you could help in some way, and contact a committee member for more details.

And finally...
held over from last month, the winner of the name badge competition was

Keen readers will remember that she also won the Christmas competition. This Christmas the Competition theme is 'Round Robin'. There are prizes to be won - Anne won a Hobbycraft voucher for her name badge - What are you waiting for?????

September meeting - Ruth Brown

The Speaker at this month's meeting was Ruth Brown of Stone Creek Textiles.
Ruth's talk was illustrated with examples of the textile techniques she has explored since she moved away from working in IT.
She was first captivated by the effects that could be achieved by painting and manipulating dyes on silk (her business used to be called Stone Creek Silks but she has branched out since then). She moved on to working with Indigo and shibori, then blue prints, or cyanotypes, on fabrics.

'Ivy' One of Ruth's cyanotypes

She researched the subject thoroughly and discovered that there was very little written on the technique aimed specifically at textile artists, so she wrote the book! That was then followed by a book on Digital Imagery on Fabrics, drawing on her years of experience in IT.
Ruth then talked about Stone Creek itself - an open wilderness at the edge of the Humber estuary - and how she has a barn which has been converted into a workshop space where she teaches many of her techniques.
Ruth had also brought along examples of her work and it was lovely to be able to see these techniques at close hand.

Other things...
The theme for the Christmas Competition has been announced as 'Round Robin'. This can be interpreted in many ways and I believe there are prizes!

Moira was awarded the Ida Barber trophy this year. The judging of the badge competition to make a name badge incorporating a City of York EG badge (see the July post for more details) has been held over until next month - so there's still time to make a competition entry.

The Regional AGM is on the 11th October. Further contributions for the secret stitching project to be unveiled at the AGM were requested - bring them to the branch meeting/AGM on the 4th October.

The New Programme for 2014 - 15

Perhaps there should be a drum roll at this point.....The Programme of Speakers and members' days for 2014-15 had been unveiled and is now available by clicking on the tab above.