12 November 2014, Yulia Badian - "Woodland Boudoir"

Yulia is a member of Silkfelt - a collective of fibre artists interested in working with fairy tales, myth and folklore. Their website entices you to "play with fibres, fabrics, dyes; add soap and water, heat and time; stroke, rub, vibrate, roll, throw, tie, press, clamp, stitch, fold or cut. And let us use our creativity freely and find out what IS possible". Yulia herself is a self-confessed "ditzy" mother of two girls and a felt fanatic, and if her talk is anything to go by, if you do a workshop with her, you will have a day full of surprises and giggles.

Yulia first took us through an installation project entitled Woodland Boudoir which was shown at the Knitting & Stitching Show 2013. The idea had come about over a glass of wine (or three) shared with friends during a stay in Yorkshire. As can be the way when a group of creative women get together, they decided to work together and share their skills to create an installation project which would tell stories of their lives through fairy tales. Whilst you may think of the surface innocence of stories from Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, such tales often had undercurrents running through them where the woods stood to represent female sexuality, a place that young girls could get lost in but which was inhabited by mature women in tune with both nature and themselves (at least that’s how these ladies chose to view it !!)

© Silkfelt

Yulia finds working in a group very inspirational and she worked with 7 others to create this work which includes not only felt but woven willow (by Debbie Hall), hand painted wallpaper (Hannah Stippl and Anita Duller) and embroidery (Gilda Baron). Yulia had a good range of photos that showed how meticulously made and varied the pieces were, some being multi layered and she explained how these were done. There were technical problems along the way, but Yulia is a positive and resilient person, so found a way round them – including jetting off to Holland barely days before the show to use large-scale felting machines.

It was over another glass (or three) of wine that the next project took shape – The Mermaid Project (shown at K&S 2014). A conversation which started along the lines of "what women do to change their bodies and all for the sake of love" culminated in the idea that The Little Mermaid made the ultimate sacrifice in using cosmetic surgery to try and catch her man. "A shape-shifting figure for our own times, a tragic heroine who seeks to transform her appearance in order to get what (she thinks) she wants, and in the process destroys her own beauty and ultimately herself." There was much laughter and ribaldry at the suggested props required to turn a pretty little mermaid into a middle-aged woman…. followed by what middle-aged women do to keep up appearances (and we don’t mean elocution lessons from Hyacinth Bucket). To quote their thoughts "We all resonate with the lure of the quick fix the sweet banter of the witch. Luring us with our insecurities promising to fulfill our desire for love with her lotions and potions, shaving, lifting, filling, tucking our flesh as short cuts to a happier life."

Using felt, Yulia, Rosi and Linda addressed all these themes. I must admit to getting a bit lost at this point… I wasn’t quite sure how a piece which seemed (to me) to be seahorses and was entitled "Shotgun Wedding" came out of The Little Mermaid idea. Made from Bergschaf (wool from Austrian sheep), Teeswater curls, Silk, Horsehair, French Lace, Silicone, shells all wet felted over various armatures, it was nonetheless an interesting and clever trio of pieces. I could understand the pink legs, cross-stitched all down the back, and appreciate the full length felted and slashed Sea Witch coat, but I wasn’t sure about a twisted, gnarled and felted shape representing the witch itself. Many of the pieces are 3d and Yulia explained some of the clever techniques used to create them – such as felting around shapes which are cut out when it is dry so the 3d shape is maintained.

© Silkfelt

Now, if you embarrass easily or prefer not to know the more intimate type of other props they created, feel free to skip this paragraph. The Mermaid idea then moved into colourful phallic shapes and pale hymen-busters complete with beaded edges (cutely entitled Honeymoon Fresh) followed by a set of mounted merkins (genital wigs as used by stars of film and theatre and, apparently, a lot of oriental ladies). By now our audience had dissolved into a giggling mass of amusement, both from discovering such things existed and seeing how they were being portrayed in felt and other materials.

Obviously Yulia and her co-workers can get a lot of mileage from one idea. The phrase "impossible textiles" is one that is associated with this sort of work – the type of image that you can see in your head but wonder how on earth you will actually create it. One of her collaborators – Sue Walton – did a similar thing with Jabberwocky – "a surreal tableau inspired by the vivid imagination Lewis Carroll… where sculpted felt combines with contrasting and diverse materials". If you’ve never seen it, have a look on www.suewalton.co.uk.

© Silkfelt

There is no doubt that Yulia has an ethical approach to the materials she uses – for example, preferring wool from sheep that have lived as naturally as possible. She is a lady now comfortable in her own skin and that comes across in her work. Her presentation was natural and fun, scattered with anecdotes about how she got to where she is now, but can be thought provoking if you look beyond the initial ideas. Her Facebook page has lots more interesting stuff if you like her work and want to know what she is currently thinking about. This was a side of felt-making that I had not seen before and I had not appreciated how stunning it could look when done on such a large scale. She knows her subject, and if you’d like an evening with a capital E for entertainment, then look no further than Yulia.

20/21 Sampler - Susan Humphrey

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Susan Humphrey

Traditional gold work.

20/21 Sampler - Margaret Craig

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Margaret Craig

Traditional hand embroidery stitches.

20/21 Sampler - Jo McLean

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Jo McLean

Florentine work, also known as flame stitch and bargello.

20/21 Sampler - Jane Travis

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Amanda Smith

© Amanda Smith

© Amanda Smith

Designed using Pfaff software and then stitched using the embroidery unit attached to the sewing machine.

20/21 Sampler - Gaby Lloyd

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Gaby Lloyd

A traditional piece of embroidery featuring hand stitching in pulled thread work. The outlines are worked in whipped chain stitch.

What's on in November

When Jo Smith visited us in June 2014, she spoke about a piece she had created (the Dancing Wolf) for a colaborative project, The Woodland Boudoir.

In November, Yulia Badian, will tell us more about The Woodland Boudoir.

© Yulia Badian

Inspired by a stay in Yorkshire amongst joyful, whole-hearted, lusty older women telling tales of their lives, by fairy tales and my fellow artists skills.

In fairy tales the woods stand for female sexuality, a place for young girls to get lost in but inhabited by mature women in tune with nature and themselves. Conceptualized, designed and curated by the multi-talented, creative, Yulia Badian - SILKFELT, the boudoir combines the talents of 8 inspirational female artists in a celebration of mature female sexuality.

Ancient techniques like Shibori, willow weaving, felting and embroidery are used in new and exciting ways to produce meticulously and lovingly hand crafted pieces.

"Woodland Boudoir"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 12 November 2014
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

20/21 Sampler - Gaby Lloyd 1

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Amanda Smith

A modern, experimental piece, featuring painting and gilding on cotton fabric with the numbers applied by sewing machine using a netted fibre.

20/21 Sampler - Fiona Beresford

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Fiona Beresford

Contemporary bead work incorporating discarded pieces of modern technology.

20/21 Sampler - Elaine Steele

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Elaine Steele

© Elaine Steele

© Elaine Steele

Machine made ‘lace’ combining a variety of fabric and thread fragments and free machine embroidery.

20/21 Sampler - Carol-Anne Conway

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Carol-Anne Conway

Canvas work using a variety of stitches chosen to work together on diagonal lines. Worked in monochrome to allow the texture of the stitches to be the focus.

20/21 Sampler - Amanda Smith

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Amanda Smith

Fabric hand printed and dyed using thermofax screens and tea/indigo dyeing. Machine stitched using motifs from the thermofax screens of Queen Anne’s lace. 21 cut out and bonded onto background then machine stitched in place.

8 October 2014, Katie Pirson - "My Journey Through Stitch"

Katie arrived with her fabulous display of hand-stitched work created during her time on the Royal School of Needlework 3 year course and a range kits she has designed. Also accompanying her were her very supportive partner and her adorable 5 month old baby, which we were all coveting! Katie was a very lively, humorous and personable speaker, who gave us a wonderful insight into what it was like to do the RSN course as she talked about the works on display that she had created during her time there.

Katie began by giving us a little of her background, indicating that she was the youngest of two children, but most importantly she was the ONLY girl grandchild in contrast to the 7 others who were all boys! Katie started on her textiles route at an early age, as her mum and grandmothers all did a variety of stitching, knitting, crochet etc. She began with simply sorting the colours of buttons, but soon progressed to darning – which became an underlying theme for her as she developed! At school the focus was more on machine work than any hand-stitching and for some reason Katie had never quite gone much beyond darning in the family arena. At 16 she chose A levels more suited to her preferred career route to archaeology, studying History, Psychology and English Literature. She also opted to take A level Textiles, but only as an added extra! It was during this period that she learned to recognise 'Beauty in everything' as her teacher taught her, including the detailed drawings she had to do of a freshly dismembered chicken carcass, where she appreciated the rich colours and textures she discovered there.

Despite being accepted to study Archaeology at York University, literally weeks before she was due to go she had a 'road to Damascus' moment and realised she had to instead pursue her interest in her much loved and never abandoned 'playing with fabrics and threads'. Despite her worries about breaking this volte-face to her parents, they merely laughed! They told her they’d realised textiles was ultimately her passion and what they had always believed she would do, but if they were to have suggested it to her she wouldn’t have listened to them!

© Katie Pirson

Coupled with her textiles interests Katie’s continued love of history and English literature lead her to opt for a costume designing course at the London College of Fashion. She had a fabulous time exploring designs from ancient to modern, from theatre to film sets and much in between. At the conclusion of her course she managed to get the opportunity to design 150 costumes for a charity event with Cliff Richard, which she felt certain would enable her to dazzle everyone with her amazing costuming talents, thus setting her on the road to fame and fortune in the costume world. However, one should never count one’s costume success before the designs have arrived, as she discovered on learning that she was actually required to create 150 flesh-coloured thongs! This was hardly the chance to shine in the costume world that she had imagined!

After a time Katie began to hanker for some more hands on embroidery and initially struggled to find a suitable course, until she came across a leaflet for the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) 3 year course and realised this was absolutely the one for her! She had to endure a gruellingly rigorous 4 stage interview process, including one with the bursar who insinuated her parents might be less than willing to offer her accommodation during her course. She was one of only 4 students (apprentices) accepted by the RSN.

Katie had visions fuelled by her love of Jane Austen, which led to her imagining she would spend her days idyllically sewing dressed in period costume heretically sealed in the historical Hampton Court Palace setting. Although there were lovely views the reality was nothing like that or the original Victorian origins either! The view was the first thing she was introduced via a seeming initiation ceremony of going through various doorways, spiral staircases and ending up finally going through a trapdoor in the roof to emerge on top of the palace and they were left there to get on with a drawing that would be translated into a finished stitched sampler piece – she created a beautifully detailed image of the chimneys. She gave us in depth information on the types of threads she used in her various pieces, the plethora of stitches employed and the grounds they were worked on including French Linen Batiste at a staggering £92 for a piece about A4 sized! She indicated that they never just worked on one piece alone, but usually had at least 3-4 on the go at once, all exploring differing techniques. The most valuable part of the learning process was the understanding how to make a design that was workable for each method.

She discussed every stitch you could imagine (and maybe some you can’t!), but she said one of the most popular methods was the silk shading method, or painting with a needle, using long and short stitch. Although Katie felt it would be better named the long and longer stitch, as if you used too short a stitch it just ended up short and stubby. She indicated this was popular for altar frontals, regimental banners and restoration work. She showed us her example a beautiful poppy (chosen for her grandmother who worked for the British Legion), which actually included 32 different red threads, some only used for a few stitches!

© Katie Pirson

She showed several examples of goldwork including a Tudor rose, the only design all students work on that is NOT designed by them! This work was important for Coronation Goldwork, a method including specific symbols on velvet since the 17th C. She also told us about showing this on an open day when some 'bright spark' refused to believe that she had actually sewn it all, arguing instead that it had to have been glued on and to prove his point he picked up her slate frame, turned it upside down shook it scattering all her materials sitting on top of it to the ground! There was a collective gasp from all of us on hearing this! We couldn’t believe anyone could be that stupid and inconsiderate!

© Katie Pirson

They were required to do many different finished pieces using a range of methods. One piece they had to do used to be termed 'church work' but now altered to be a symbol, figure and animal. Due to a love of JRR Tolkein she created an eagle (in silk shading), a tree (in silver work) and JRR Tolkein in an armchair (tapestry silk shading). She also showed us quite a lot of white work and some Mount Melleck work too. She pointed out one piece that took 90 hours! She indicated they had to time every piece of work they created because this would be useful for later work when they would need to estimate costs/charges.

© Katie Pirson

In the RSN final year Katie indicated that anything could fall into their laps! For example a famous Brazilian artist contacted them and wanted one of his watercolours translated into an embroidery for his large table! She also spent 350 hours on a christening robe! But they also had 'silly' things like restoring a small green felt teddy called Mr. Pickering and then recreating him in blue felt for the owner’s new grandson!

As a result of her RSN course Katie never went back to costumes, but now only does hand embroidery and also enjoys teaching. Katie finished her talk by giving us a few pointers gleaned through some excellent questioning by our members. She indicated that when they washed items they only used Ecover and Calgon water softener. They only do a cold wash in shallow basins, laying the fabric gently on the top of the water and allowing it to sink of its own accord over time, NOT pushing it down. If you push it down it can create watermarks. It is left to soak for an hour and then rinsed with a very gentle showerhead over it. Items can be washed many times using this method until the water is completely clean when poured away. When finished you just roll the textile in a towel to remove any excess moisture.

It was a joy to hear Katie’s talk and see her intricate work close up and to hear the context of how it was created.

What's on in October

Annual General Meeting followed by Katie Pirson. Katie says her interest in textiles and hand made goodies came from early childhood thanks to her mum and grandmothers putting up with the mess she made. Katie is a graduate of the Royal School of Needlework and now runs her own small business taking private commissions, building a range of personalised items to sell, teaching and travelling around exhibitions to keep the art of hand embroidery alive in a machine mad culture. .

© Katie Pirson

AGM and Katie Pirson
7.15 pm on Wednesday 8 October 2014
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

11 June 2014, Jo Smith - "Hidden in Plain Sight"

When I asked Ulrike who would be our guest speaker at the June branch meeting the name, Jo Smith, at first did not ring a bell. When Ulrike went on to say that Jo was one of only two artists to be chosen as an Embroiderers' Guild Scholar for 2012 and that she was one of many demonstrators at The Big Stitch in December 2012, I knew exactly who she was referring to: Jo and I had been neighbours on the first floor balcony at the Ashmolean for The Big Stitch. While taking a short break from demonstrating I had wandered over to look at Jo’s display and, if I am totally honest, I didn’t 'get it'. The thing I recall most was the 'strange' bunny. As Jo was busy I didn’t get an opportunity to speak with her; if I had I would have come away with a very different perspective.

For her talk Jo had brought with her many photographs of her work; some in various stages of progress and others showing particular details. The slide show began with some pictures of her early pieces done while working towards a degree in Fine and Applied Art at the Grimsby Institute (now University Centre Grimsby). It was during this degree course that Jo developed two themes that run through much of her work. The first she describes as 'locating her work in the domestic' meaning that her work is closely tied to the home environment. To emphasise this link Jo looks to charity shops and the like for materials and particularly likes to use lace dollies or linen chair covers as her ground fabric. Alternatively, Jo may turn her art into a quilt, a cushion, or some other household textile.

The second theme that runs through Jo’s work is one of hidden images. In the first quilt we looked at, the image on each panel appeared to be a large daisy. On closer inspection the ‘petals’ were images of prisoners from the Belsen concentration camp. The images were screen printed onto individual panels made from shirts obtained in charity shops. At the time of making, Jo had just read the book "The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas". Jo says that her art has to move her is some way and have meaning; in turn she hopes that it moves the viewer and provokes an emotional response. Following on from this, Jo did a series of work based on domestic violence and then street violence.

Next we looked at a body of work regarding the animals buried at the bottom of the garden and the manner in which they passed away. "Two Brothers, Three Sisters & a Mouse" includes two toddler sized rabbit/human hybrid sculptures (enter the 'strange' bunny), memento moiré animal portraits and kittens in beds. The whole series was triggered by a dead mouse brought home by their pet cat.

Mouse Portrait
© Jo Smith

The themes explored at UGC continue through this series with, for example, screen printed images of dead mice arranged to look like lace doilies. The two brothers were pet rabbits that had died young of a mysterious wasting disease. Although the heads are of rabbits, their bodies are the average size and dimensions of a two and three year old child (the ages of the rabbits when they died). The sculptures appear emaciated: Jo wants the viewer empathise with them; to want to pick them up and cuddle them. The three sisters were three kittens that were destined to become family pets. Sadly, they died before they were able to bring them home.

Twitch Sculpture
© Jo Smith

The slide show continued with some pictures of a collaborative work called "Woodland Boudoir" that featured in the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia, a series of portraits entitled "Some Unfortunate Birds" and some family portraits.

Woodland Boudoir
© Jo Smith

Finally, Jo showed us pictures of work by some talented teenagers she has been teaching as part of the National Saturday Club in Grimsby. The theme for their machine embroidered art was "fear". Jo says that she has found this work very rewarding.

I think that it is fair to say that Jo is not accustomed to public speaking and would have preferred to let her pictures do the talking but she was forth coming with more information when prompted. There are many depths to Jo’s work that are not immediately apparent; I was fascinated to see the hidden images and meaning through Jo’s eyes. Hopefully, with experience, Jo will become more confident talking about herself and her work.

Tree Rhythms by Charlotte Payne

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Charlotte Payne, age 11.

© Charlotte Payne

Tree Rhythms by Niamh Payne

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Niamh Payne, age 11.

© Niamh Payne

Tree Rhythms by Heather Fishburn

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Heather Fishburn, age 10.

© Heather Fishburn

Tree Rhythms by Izzy Caffyn

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Izzy Caffyn, age 14.

© Izzy Caffyn

What's on in June

Jo Smith is a graduate of the BA Fine & Applied Arts at UCG, and one of only two artists to be chosen as an Embroiderers' Guild Scholar for 2012. Jo's detailed and intricate embroidery and artwork has hidden depths.

© Jo Smith

"Hidden in Plain Sight"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 11 June 2014
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

Tree Rhythms by Heather Anderson

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Heather Anderson, age 9.

© Heather Anderson

Tree Rhythms by Rosie Pater

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Rosie Pater, age 6.

© Rosie Pater

Tree Rhythms by Alice Roskell

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Alice Roskell, age 9.

© Alice Roskell

Tree Rhythms by Lydia Dale

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Lydia Dale, age 10.

© Lydia Dale

Tree Rhythms by Imogen Marooney

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Imogen Marooney, age 17.

© Imogen Marooney

Tree Rhythms by Evie Monaghan

Oxford Young Embroiderers won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces class in the De Denne Competition, 2014

This piece is by Evie Monaghan, age 14.

© Evie Monaghan

Three Cheers for Oxford Branch

Oxford Branch has much to shout about this spring!

First, our very own Amanda Smith and Alex Messenger were awarded this year’s Executive Award. I can think of many, many reasons why they deserve this award but here, in his own words, is why Terry Murphy thinks so.

In recognition of their long standing service over many years to Oxford Branch as committee members in nearly all the roles at one time or another and their contributions to the Guild at 'Art in Action', the 'Big Stitch' at the Ashmolean Museum and developing the 'Travelling Books' concept, now shared with all branches of the Guild.

One branch member commented that they represent the lively, young faces of their branch.

Alex is known for dastardly quizzes. Amanda has been a good link between our branch and the region. They are best summed up by the saying ... 'If you want something done, ask a busy person' or, in this case, Amanda and Alex.

Amanda speaking about Alex ...

She is probably one of the most exhausting people I know and, at the same time, the most exhilarating person I have ever worked with; just so many ideas. I have to rein her in sometimes but her enthusiasm is infectious.

Alex speaking about Amanda ...

She is passionate about textiles of all sorts and strongly believes that stitching has a place in society and should be passed on to future generations. She supports in many ways, not only by giving her time and business expertise; but also with her thoughts and ideas to fellow stitchers who are looking for help and/or inspiration. She's known at our workshops as the "fastest stitcher in the west".

Amanda and Alex could not attend the AGM where Terry delivered his citation so he made a special journey Oxford to present their award at our April branch meeting.

Congratulations, Amanda and Alex, we are delighted that all you do for our branch and for the Guild has been recognized and rewarded.

Congratulations also to Oxford Young Embroiderers who won The Group Entry of Individual Pieces in 2014 De Denne Competition. Each year individuals and groups of young embroiderers and textile students enter this competition named after Lynette de Denne, the founder of the Young Embroiderers’ section of the Embroiderers’ Guild. The competition encourages entries from beginners, on interpretation skills and originality. The theme for 2014 was "Tree Rhythms". Well done, to all of our young embroiderers on this magnificent achievement.

And, last but not least, congratulations to Wendy Hughes who was Commended in the category of the Beryl Dean award for hand stitching in The Members' Challenge. The theme for 2014 Members' Challenge was also "Tree Rhythms".

What's on in May

Ruth Smith will be revealing the secrets of Chinese folded pocket books.

© Ruth Smith

"The Story of Folded Secrets"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 14 May 2014
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in April

Matthew Harris makes work that employs dying, cutting and hand stitching. It is concerned primarily with abstract imagery and the translation of drawn marks into cloth. By making work that is pieced, patched and assembled, he aims to create pieces that explore repetition, pattern and the disrupted or dissonant journey of line and image across and through the surface of cloth.

© Matthew Harris

"Upside Down and Back to Front"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 9 April 2014
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

15 March 2014: Caroline Kirton - "Graphic Design and Stitch"

By Caroline Kirton

I spent a really lovely day yesterday taking a workshop for a group of enthusiastic embroiders from the Oxford embroiders guild. It was a very productive day with some fantastic work produced by the end of the day, although some is still work in progress! It was a challenge for some to decide on what images to choose, but once decisions were made every one seemed to enjoy choosing their fabrics and composing their designs.

What I enjoy about the workshops and find interesting is how every one has a different interpretation of the brief and brings a touch of their own style into the finished piece of work.

Here are the finished results hope you find them as inspirational as I do.

© Karen Rowe

© Alex Messenger

© Natalie Ellett

© Jo McLene

© Hazel Gearing

© Elaine Steele

© Hazel Gearing

© Ulrike Hutchins

Text and pictures originally published on Caroline's blog and reproduced here with her kind permission.

12 March 2014, Judith Hammond - "Plastic Couture"

Finally! A monthly meeting that was not put in jeopardy by the weather and in response the members of Oxford Branch turned out en masse. We were joined this evening by Ann Waldon Mills, acting regional Chairman, who was returning work that members had submitted for exhibition at the 'Make It' show which, by all accounts, was a great success.

Ulrike has put together another excellent program of speakers and workshops this year and half way through the program we have already enjoyed an interesting and varied selection of speakers. Tonight was no exception. Ulrike 'discovered' Judith Hammond at the 'Big Stitch' in October 2012 where she was one of a host of volunteer demonstrators.

© Judith Hammond

Judith originates from the north-east of England. Her great-grandmother was a seamstress and her mother made all of the family clothes, whether stitched or knitted, so Judith says textiles and craft are in her genes. At school Judith was in the 'academic stream' so was steered towards French rather than needlework but, to this day, cannot speak a word of French!

After school Judith applied for two design courses at University but was not offered a place at either so she decided to take a year out. She started work as a Civil Servant. She says that it was a 'great' job that she loved doing but sadly there were no textiles involved.

© Judith Hammond

Years later, when she and her husband moved to Banbury, Judith began a textile design course which she described as ‘like play school’ where they were encouraged to explore and experiment with anything and everything. When her tutor resigned Judith was keen to continue with her textile studies. She applied for a course at Banbury College and, when invited to an interview, took with her all the bags of samples produced on the previous course. Emptying the contents onto the desk she said 'this is what I can do'. At the end of the interview the tutor offered Judith a place on their degree course.

Judith describes the next 6 years as 'fantastic'. Her first assignment was to work with a found object. Judith recalls looking at a table filled with the likes of old tooth brushes, combs, etc. and wondering she could possibly do with any of it. She selected an ice cube bag to work with because she was taken with the silk feel of the plastic. Here began a voyage of discovery, exploring every possible use for an ice cube bag, stitching, cutting and melting it, filling it with dye then using the frozen dye cubes to dawn onto fabric, and so on. At this point Judith started handing out the dozens of samples she had brought with her. Every ice cube bag and every piece of paper or fabric with labelled and in addition Judith completed journals documenting every experiment. Judith produced two shawls for assessment and says that she was criticized for not using silk, however Judith states that she does not like to buy expensive materials preferring instead to work with found, recycled or affordable alternatives.

© Judith Hammond

It was while experimenting for the second assignment - Materials and Processes - that Judith discovered that plastic melts and began to explore its potential. Again every aspect was investigated and recorded, resulting in many more samples. Looking for an affordable supply of plastic Judith’s attention turned to her ever growing collection of carrier bags and in addition to sampling began to research bags. Among other things she discovered, among over things, that each person uses an average of 200 plastic bags per year, and the each bag is used for an average of 20 minutes.

Around this time, Judith visited an exhibition called Lost in Lace and was struck by the similarities between lace and some of her stitched and melted plastic bags. For her assessment piece she made a series of 'dresses' from a variety of plastic bags. Each 'dress' is a single layer cut into the shape of a dress, paper doll’s cloth style only several times larger, and displayed on a wire coat hanger.

Since graduation Judith has extended her range of dresses, adding layers and other adornments to produce ever more complex designs. She has exhibited many times either with Elaine Loggin and Ian Hog (who graduated the same design craft course as Judith in 2012) or the Society of Designer Craftsmen of which Judith is a member.

© Judith Hammond

As well as her course samples, Judith brought with her all of her 'plastic bag dresses' to show us and a box full of brooches made from melted plastic. As she closed her talk, Judith reminded us that she had attended an Oxford Branch meeting in June 2013 and had been inspired by Alice Fox, our guest speaker that evening. Since then she has been conducting her own experiments with creating rust marks of fabric and says "I have been completely sucked in by tea and rusty nails and cannot escape."