What we've been doing
NOT WORDS EXHIBITION
16 December 2018 - 6 January 2019
Welcome to this page which gives brief details of activities that we have been involved in.
A FESTIVAL OF CHRISTMAS TREES
16 November - 1 December 2019
Our decorations are done and our tree is up. Come and see at this annual event at the Crooked Spire which aways draws a crowd. We are having a demonstration table again this year as this proved very popular last year. How to make your own Rosettes available on our Resources page and photo step by step instructions on our Pinterest page. Opening days and times available via link below.
https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/events/a-festival-of-christmas-trees/
TRAVELLING STITCH BOOKS Finished 3 October 2019
This year's theme is Gardens. We had a stitch a month to start us off. More can be seen on Pinterest. These are finished for the year and were displayed at our AGM. They look very good and will be launched again with another theme in December 2019.
This is a display of art of following Pomegranate Youth Theatre's play Not Words on the suffragette movement and women during World War One. We have stitched individual figures which have been applied to a banner by some of our members. Clink on photo to see more.
Exhibition Launch 16 December 1-3pm at West Studios.
CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL 2018
17 November - 2 December 2018
Yes, it is that time of year again. This year we have stitched rings as decorations for our tree. Click on link to see details. A Festival of Christmas Trees
More Christmas Tree Festival photos to be seen by clicking on the photo.
TRAVELLING STITCH BOOKS 2018
In December 2017 these were launched for those members that wish to take part. These books travel between the members involved who will do a stitch per month and then pass onto the next member on their list.
July 2018
Our travelling books are finally finished this month with chain stitch. They are now with their owners who will bring them to our next meeting in September. Until then click on the photo to see more.
May 2018
Some great use of french knots this month, unfortunately your IT Rep left her phone behind so only one photo this month.
April 2018
After missing our March meeting due to snow, it was lovely to see the Travelling books again! This month it was couching. Click on photo to left for more.
February 2018
This month the books were taken home by the original members and various designs in blanket stitch were done. It was interesting to see how members interpreted this. The books were then passed onto the next member for the next stitch which is running stitch.
For more photos click on the photo above.
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN 2018
There is a thread that leads though last year's and this year's programme which will lead to an exhibition in 2018. We live close to a World Heritage Site, Masson Mills, which contains some of the earliest cotton spinning and weaving factories in the world. We are developing and exploring ideas based on this.
April 14th to May 11th 2018
Over and Over and Over Again Branch Exhibition
This was a big celebration of the work we do. There were two group projects, digitally printed cushions and room boxes. Members also displayed their own work based on the big cotton mills of the Derwent Valley. Click on photo to get a peek of our exhibition.
January 2018
They were personalised in December and returned on the January meeting to show all how they developing.
For more photos click on the picture to left.
Design Workshop - December 2017
Unfortunately our speaker from the Arkwright Society could not made it to our meeting. So one of our Committee members stepped in at the last minute and run a design workshop based on spinning machinery as part of our Over and Over and Over Again project. This went very well and will hopefully help members plan their individual piece for our exhibition in April next year.Please click on photo to see more photos.
Masson Mills Tour - September 2017
We had a very enjoyable tour of the Working Textile Musuem. We all took photos of the objects that interested us. It will be interesting to see what is produced from these for our Exhibition coming in 2018.
National Celebration of Stitch - August 2017
This year we held our Celebration in the Foyer of Chesterfield Library. Our rolling display of our cushions went down well and some people had a look at what we were stitching that day. If you took any photos of our display please add them to our online album here. Just clink join or sign in to be able to add photos.
Room Boxes - July 2017
The Room boxes that have come in so far are looking good. Looking forward to seeing more of them soon. Click on the photo to see more.
Cushion Designs - January 2017
Cushions- May 2017
The cushion designs from the March meeting were returning completed at our April meeting. It was interesting to see how the designs were transformed into cushions. Photo of cushions on display at Regional Day is now added to the album below. Please feel free to join this album and add your own photos of the cushions. Just click the link below, click join and the add photo icon to be found at the top right of the page, click on the photos you want to add and then click done.
A big thanks to Laura Kemshall of Fingerprint, the digital print fabric firm, for her help on this project.
Photos of cushions are also available on Pinterest.
Sharing Photos on Google
Your IT Rep, Michelle, had a training session with the Region on 1 April. Here I learnt more on how to keep our Branch pages updated and how to use Google Photos. Any member can take photos, create a photo album and share the link with their IT Rep to add to branch webpages, Facebook and Pinterest. If any members would like to do this, please contact me via my email or at the next meeting. I have added the link to the Presentation on using Google Photos below. Click here to go to Regional News.
On our first member-led workshop in January we were asked to come up with some cushion designs on the theme Over and Over and Over Again. We used the digital print fabric firm Fingerprint. We choose medium weight cotton fabric in size 46 cm square. We got our designs back on the March meeting printed on fabric and we turned them into cushion covers (see above post).
To see more photos click here.
Photos of designs are also available on Pinterest.
EARLIER ACTIVITIES
Christmas Tree Festival Baubles - November 2017
We had a great evening making baubles for our Christmas Tree to be shown at the Christmas Tree Festival at Chesterfield's famous Crooked Spire. We were each given a polystyrene ball and the necessary materials to create a bright and shiny decoration. Clink on this link to see more photos.
Festival runs from 18th November to 3rd December. Clink on this link for online poster with times of opening.
Nicola Jarvis Workshop - 3 December 2016
Nicola Jarvis tutored an all day beading and embellishment workshop where all all made Robins that could be brooches or tree decorations.
A Festival of Christmas Trees in Chesterfield Parish Church - November 2016
Members made red and white parcels to decorate our Christmas tree which forms part of the Festival of Christmas Trees in The Crooked Spire Church.
Members were given a pack containing a card former and were asked to make white parcels decorated in red and gold. The parcels could either be 3D or 2D. There were a variety of interpretations as can be seen.
National Day of Stitch - Saturday 6 August 2016
Capability Brown National Project
Chesterfield Branch took part in the national Capability Brown project. We've made a Branch exhibit for the exhibition at Clumber Park (a National Trust property). Individual members also entered work to the exhibition. Some of our work went onto the Macclesfield Silk Museum in November.
"Path to the Lake" made by Ann Dilks.
Leaves made by our members and brought to the July meeting. These leaves were displayed on our stall on Chesterfield Market as part of the National Day of Stitch.
For more photos click here https://uk.pinterest.com/chesterfieldemb/national-day-of-stitch-2016/
Nicola Hilton Workshop - 10 June 2016
Nicola tutored an all day stump work workshop were we made (or nearly completed) beehive needle cases.For more pictures and information about this workshop click here...
Photograph: Our Branch project. Trees are an essential part of the Clumber Park landscape. Members have made small embroidered trees showing how diverse stitch can be.
For more about our members' entries and our Branch project see ....
Bobby Britnell Workshop - March 2016
Bobby ran a two day workshop for our members called "Mixed Media Approaches to Abstract Design" which was very much enjoyed by those members who attended.
Photograph: Some of Toni's work from the workshop
You can read more about the workshop here.
Festival of Christmas Trees in Chesterfield Parish Church - November 2015
Members made red and white angels to decorate our Christmas tree which formed part of the Festival of Christmas Trees in The Crooked Spire Church.
There is more about this project here ............
Celebration Exhibition
Thursday 12 November until Saturday 14 November 2015
at Rose Hill United Reform Church, Rose Hill, Chesterfield S40 1LW
This exhibition was to celebrate that the Chesterfield Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild was 25 years old. Members made work which reflected the theme of celebration.
Photograph: Cathryn's picture celebrating the festival of Diwali.To find out more about our exhibition ......
You can see pictures of the majority of the exhibits in our Album called Celebration Exhibition 2015 which can be accessed from the Gallery link on the side menu.
Chesterfield Library Project
Four of the Derbyshire branches have been taking part in this project which is part of a larger project organised by Derbyshire County Council on the theme of "Made in Derbyshire". We made one of the panels. The four completed panels are now hanging in Chesterfield Library.
Photograph: Marie triumphantly putting the final stitch in the hanging. Jenny is supporting the hanging.To find out more about this project
National Day of Stitch - Saturday 1 August 2015 and our Fantastic Felt Fish
Hilary Bower workshop - 7 March 2015
We had a stall on Chesterfield Market. We displayed the felt fish that we had made previously and had prepared puffer fish kits. If someone started a fish on the market, they could take the fish home to complete.Photograph: A typical Puffer Fish made by one of our members before the event.
To find out more about this event and the fish that we made ........
Nicola Jarvis workshop - Saturday 11 July
Photographs: The kit for the Blue birds and a crewel work Blackbird in progress.
We were allowed to pick which bird we would like to embroiderer from Nicola's designs. All the birds were filled with William Morris designs. More ....
Hilary Bower organised a workshop for us in March 2015. It was to be have been the first part of a series of two workshops but the second was cancelled because of Hilary's health problems. You can find out more about this workshop here
The Decorated Christmas tree in the Parish Church - November 2014
Members made red, grey and silver stars to decorate out Christmas tree for the Festival Of Christmas Trees held in Chesterfield Parish Church (the "Crooked Spire") in November 2014.You can find out more about this ....