A - Z with Anne Brooke

The speaker for our June meeting at the Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild was the talented, friendly and very bubbly; Anne Brooke of H-anne-MADE.
Some of you may remember her from the 2014 NW Regional Day at Rochdale. While her talk had the same title and she still has her popular signature 'seed heads' in some pieces; her work has developed into other exciting and inspirational avenues.  Take a look at some of the many she brought with her for us to view/touch etc.

 A wonderful Dandelion in a beige, brown and cream colour scheme.

Paper, maps and simple hand embroidery stitches combine to create a floral piece in calming colourways.

Meet Tallulah :-) below

Love her red hair and purple outfit.

These fascinating wooden blocks have been coloured with Koh-i-noor dyes, collaged, painted and had holes drilled into them to allow for stitching. 

 A fluffy fibrous piece inspired by nature and bursting with texture.

 The vessel above was what Anne called her 'triangular tower' and the green was more vibrant in real life but the colour got bleached out by the over head lighting. Still very lovely to look at even in this photo.

Here is a little peek of a wall hanging in a blue colourway. Have you spotted the large bobbin that is holding it up?

To see more of Anne's work 'stay tuned' for the next post :-) or if you cannot wait click here onto Anne's website or Facebook for all her latest doings (there is even a mention of the Halifax Embroiderer Guild).

It Started with a Circle

Last Saturday a group of members from the Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild attended our Annual Regional Day held this year at Haigh Hall in Wigan. 

The first display of work to feast our eyes upon were these colourful Mandalas that had been started on an afternoon activity of the previous Regional AGM in Garstang held in October 2015.

Hand dyed pieces of fabric were used for the backgrounds of stitching on a theme called 'It Started with a Circle'.

Here are the Mandalas en masse.

And a little closer up.

 Sunny yellow, purple and blue - above. The Spiderwebs give it extra texture.

 Using rings and Blanket stitch to great effect on a green marbled background.

 Hand-stitching edged by a machine stitched border.

A project this size can use very simple stitches to make a stunning piece and be completed in a relatively short space of time so its a great idea to try if you are stuck for time.
You may also remember this Mandala from a previous post of our Sewing Day in February this year.
Perhaps these few Mandalas have given you some inspiration to design and sew (or even Doodle) one of your own.

Postcards from Our Edge

Regional Day comes but once a year.... and we are set a 'challenge' by our Regional Chairman. For 2016 a page for The North West Regional Travelling Book was required featuring Stitched Postcards picturing scenes or landmarks of our area.
Here is a map showing our location on the 'edge' of the Ribble Estuary.

Here is our Postcard Page, below.

First Postcard, top left corner, is the famous Windmill on Lytham Green with the old Life Boat House in front of it. 
If you come to visit you can see the wooden life boat that men used to row out to sea in to rescue poor unfortunate crew members. It looks very large in the boat house but out on sea...thank goodness for engine powered boats, and of course, the brave men/women who volunteer their time to man them.
Our windmill is also open in the summer on select Thursdays and Saturdays (see the Heritage Centre on Henry Street in Lytham for details of open hours). 
Come and climb up to the very top!

Detail of Life Boat House and Windmill Postcard

The White Church, Fairhaven. This featured in an episode of Coronation Street some years back (the one where Bet Lynch decided not to get married to Alec Gilroy. I think they did in the end though but not at the White Church ).

The model Spitfire by Fairhaven Lake. I have been told that it is to scale! but it seems so tiny... oh the bravey of those who flew them.

 One of the Pagodas on the Square in St Annes.

 A Sandhill at St Annes. It  really does look like sand and I love the texture of the grasses.

The 'real' sandhills run from Fairhaven Lake to the Beach Cafe just before the Ornamental Gardens and then again after the Pier. You can easily get sunburnt on a sunny day so take some sunblock.

 The Pier at St Annes.

 Lythams very own golf course. Again another lovely textured piece.

 Above is a detail from the structure around the gate at the newest park in Lytham; Park4View on Station Road. 

Whilst Lowther Park was laid out in Victorian times and is a traditional; Park4View started with an idea of a local mum who got together with some friends, raised funds to build the modern park, a Cafe with a Herb Garden, Nature Trail, Seaside Themed Playground, a good Adventure Playground, Skate Park and a BMX Track. 
Plenty to amuse children and teenagers and a place to grab a coffee and a bite to eat.

A lovely Beach Hut. The stitching seems to depict a lovely fine day but a little windy too. Just like our weather here.

Well, that is all the 9 postcards from us here at the edge of the River Ribble by the Sea. I think that you will agree that the ladies who stitched them did a sterling job and they really do make you want to come and see the sights for yourself. 

If you do, and it happens to be the 3rd Wednesday of the month, please drop in at our meeting and say "Hi". You will be warmly welcome. See address on sidebar.

Applique Trees by Lizzie Wall

In this last post featuring applique, quilted pieces by Lizzie Wall, are a few trees that you may get to make if you book one of her workshops.

A tree in the spring time. 

Summer time - notice the quilting on the tree trunk. 

Lizzie says that some students want to leave their pieces at the applique stage but as she points out 'the stitches bring the whole thing together, adding depth and texture'. 

We think that her pieces really demonstrate the truth of this.

Autumn time
 ( or maybe late summer).

Again nice quilting on the tree trunk.

A tree in Winter. A lovely background in fuchsia pink and white and aqua branches really make this piece special.

We hope that you have enjoyed seeing Lizzie's work as much as we did. I am sure you will agree that her pieces really are amazing.