Suffragette Hearts and Monet's Garden

The Manchester Branch of the Embroiderers Guild have been busy stitching hearts as part of their 2018/19 Commemoration Project. These were on display at the Creative Crafts Show at Events City near The Trafford Centre at the end of January early February 2019. 
Here are some of the hearts that they brought in to show us at the 2018 NW Regional AGM. They are made in Purple, White and Green the colours of the British Women's Suffrage Movement. Sashes of  purple and green were worn over a white dress.

Some hearts have the slogan Votes for Women 1928 and others say Deeds not Words. 

Dame Millicent Garret Fawcett was the sister of Britain's first female doctor and supported many peaceful political activities supporting women's rights. In 1890 she was made president of the 
non-violent NUWSS which stands for National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. Read more about her here.
A statue of Millicent was erected Parliament Square, London in April 2018.

The WSPU that you can see on one of the  smaller hearts  in the middle with a white centre stands for Women's Social and Political Union founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and which used militant tactics to agitate for women's suffrage which was granted in a limited way in 1918.

I am sure that we are all grateful for these brave women for working to improve the rights of women in this country and others who still work tirelessly to change things for the better for women and girls the world over. 

On a lighter note, another project that was on display was a work based on a painting of Monet's Garden at his home in Giverny and which was the main focus of his artistic endeavours for the last 30 years of his life . Am sure that you will recognise the distinctive Monet style.

The picture was divided into 20 equal size squares and each member worked it in their own style producing the matrix of colour shown below. Sadly the description did not say which Branch made this lovely piece but the Monet fans among us really enjoyed their efforts.

Many thanks to all the members who brought in work for display on the day. It really enhanced our enjoyment of this years NW Regional AGM.

Felted Lovelies from Summer School 2018

These are some of the fabulous felted pieces made during the Felt Making class led by Tutor Valeria Wartelle, at last years Summer School  at Waddow Hall in Clitheroe.

Felting is a great way to make wonderfully natural looking textile landscapes or go wild and go abstract as in this eye catching red and grey piece below.

You can use your felt to create structured pieces like this awesome Vase above, or to make accessories such as beads for necklaces or hats and bags like these two Clutch Bags, below.

The Clutch above, has a Velcro closure and the one below is folded to make a flap. Not only do they make a unique accessory that helps your outfit to look fabulous, I bet they are also a lovely way to keep your hands warm on a cold wintry night out.

Thanks goes to everyone who displayed their felted creations for us to enjoy.

The Lace Books of Summer School 2018

We all love to see the work of members of our own and other Branches of  the Embroiderers Guild in our Region so here are the results of the  Lace Books class with Julia Tristan during Summer School 2018.

Here is a pretty Lace Panel made using sewing different strips of lace and fabric together before cutting into squares, reassembling and adding embellishments.

Two Very Lovely Lace Books

They were both very chunky as you can see from the pic below, and filled with fancy pages of lacey goodness.

Here are some little peeks of the inside pages. Sorry but I do not remember which pages belong to which book.

Paper Doilies are a good source of  inspiration for making lace patterns and pages from paper. String comes in handy too! :-)

Use Card Making Punches to make lace or as embellishments for your lace pages. You can also try making prints from lace using white emulsion paint.

Thank you to everyone who brought in their Lace Work to show us at our NW Regional Day.

The Anne Boleyn Collection

The speaker for the evening of  the 35th Anniversary of Lytham St Annes Branch of the Embroiderers Guild, was a very nice lady called Val Hughes who brought in the dresses she made for her Anne Boleyn Collection. 
After filling us in on her background getting a First Class Pass in Art and Design and how she came to work in Textiles, Val gave us an insight into her inspiration for her collection.
When visiting significant historic buildings such as Hever Castle on the Surrey, Sussex, Kent border and Hampton Court Palace in London, Val was most interested not in the houses themselves but the people who lived there. For her the figure that most stood out was Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII.
The 10 outfits in black, red and gold where inspired by various events in Anne's life leading up to her climbing the scaffold to her death.
With names such as Desire, Possession, Intrigue, Rejection, Desecration, Immorality, Incarceration, Iniquity, Masquerade and Charade; these dresses have a powerful impact and a strong message about the feelings and emotions that Anne Boleyn must have felt during her time at the Royal Court, her marriage to the King and her trial and arrest for crime that she most likely did not commit.
How did Anne feel during her time in the Tower wondering and waiting for the man she loved to come and visit her or send  the Pardon - which never came - to set her free?

What emotions and feelings does this dress, below, stir in you?
The tubes on the skirt are stuffed with wadding to give a 3D effect that  may signify all the intrigue and games, betrayals at the court. Like being in a snake pit full of vipers out to bite you and send you to your death.

Here is a close up of the bodice - the red could signify fire as Anne was accused of being a witch. If unlucky enough to be tried and found to be a witch you would be burned alive.

Below, a close up of the wonderful tubular skirt. What name does this dress conjour up for you? Intrigue or Incarceration or Desecration perhaps?

Now this dress, below, had the most effect on me. You can feel the hurt and pain where the fabric has been ripped and shredded. 

The bodice is boned to give it structure and there are openings in the stomach and skirt area that remind you of the miscarriage that Anne Boleyn suffered and how she was blamed for losing a male heir to Henry. Is this the dress called Rejection? What do you think?

The flash has captured some of the details and made them look even more gruesome and heart wrenching. See the opening in the heart area, below.

You may notice that there is quite a lot of free machining on this dress also.

The Tudor period is for many a fascinating time in history and one that we are most thankful not to have lived in. Despite the opulence and extravagance of the Court of Henry VIII there was much plotting and manipulation by people seeking to gain power and riches and the price of being on the wrong side was heavy.

Val has created another collection inspired by Anne Boleyn, in white, that is called the Haunting Collection and one about Elizabeth Woodville, aka The White Queen and grandmother to Henry VIII.  Other works include Alice in Wonderland and Cave Art. If you would like to see this or another collection for yourself, get in touch with Val via her website here.

Many thanks to Val Hughes for bringing her inspiring dresses for us to view. We enjoyed hearing another side to the life of the famous woman and Queen that was Anne Boleyn.