Events in October 2023

Show and Tell (14.9.23) – an array of beautiful quilts were shown by Deborah Mather drawing our attention to the wonderful imagery, techniques and fabrics. Members were particularly impressed by the colours and exquisitely detailed stitching.

Julia Triston, a professional maker, educator and author in stitched textiles and contemporary art and design techniques, spoke to us via zoom on 21st September. The main themes were Julia’s own journey within textiles, Contemporary Appliqué, Culture, Colour and Cloth, Design, Lace, Text in Textiles and Upcycled Cloth.

A Silk Paper workshop was held with Anne Arnold from Solway Woolscapes on the 28th of September – a fabulous time was had by all experimenting with silk papermaking. Members tried their hand at sandwiching silk fibres between two pieces of mesh netting and then sticking them together using an adhesive. Dried petals, skeleton leaves and other items were used to enhance their work – the results were stunning.

Members enjoyed an Experimental Day on October 6th.  The Mystery Activity was inspired by work completed at the SST Gathering some weeks before.  Pre-prepared packs full of luxurious fabrics and threads were distributed and members were invited to experiment with stitch techniques linked to various given phrases. 

Events in November 2023

Margot McIntyre, on the 19th October, presented us with a vibrant array of beautifully embellished garments, all handmade and exquisitely detailed.  Many of the jackets and coats were expertly modelled by committee members and others (catwalk style) so that all could see the wonderful stitching.

Sales Table on 26th October at Heathhall - many thanks to Greta for organising this event. We had many donations of fabrics, threads, sewing kits and other resources. In total we collected £215.00 which went to the Trussel Trust. 

Events in December 2023

Dumfries Christmas Tree Exhibition: On December 5th members of the committee were honoured to decorate a tree for this year’s festival with member’s hand-stitched ‘homes’. We had a whopping 46 contributions on the given theme ‘Going Home for Christmas’, ranging from handmade cottages to motor homes, bird houses to dog kennels and versions of the ‘old woman’s shoe’, amongst others. A really big thank you to all of those who took the time to contribute. 1271 people visited St John's Church where an array of 70 Christmas trees were bedecked with decorations made by members of the local business community and social groups.  After expenses the profit was £6738.36, and this has been equally divided between St John's Church and Dumfries & District flower club. Substantial donations to charity will be made by both organisations. 

A Christmas Celebration: Thursday 14th December saw our Christmas Lunch – and very festive it was too. Mabie House Hotel made for a wonderful venue, the food was fabulous, and the staff looked after us all really well. It was lovely to see everyone dressed in their best and enjoying the christmassy atmosphere. A big well done to the three Christmas Competition winners, and a huge thank you to Linda Watson, Anne Anderson and Anne Armitage for organising such a successful event. A big debt of gratitude is also owed to Anne Hill for her presentation and the amazing quilts she shared with us all.

Events in January and February 2024

Entitled ‘Operation Stairway’, this Corners Session informed members about our future Triennial project to be held at Gracefield Arts Centre in 2025. Members enjoyed a fun-filled hour and learnt that everyone is to complete an image/portrait of themselves. Materials needed were discussed including embroidery hoops, fabric backgrounds (anything except white) that a full range of threads can be used and that accessories can also be added to the portraits, e.g., jewellery, etc. Illustrated photos and reference books were also shared with the membership.  Members were also informed that all skills and techniques are acceptable including digital/hand/machine embroidery, applique, tapestry, padded work, or a combination of some/all.  Portraits can be realistic or cartoon-like, etc.  Hoops need to be filled. Big and bold is the way to go!

Events in March 2024

Corrine Young’s presentation and workshop 21st and 22nd March: Corinne Young, an award-winning textile artist based in North Lancashire, is renowned for her three-dimensional embroidered heirloom artwork. Her stitched plant sculptures are inspired by botanical specimens, plant meanings, and historical artefacts, and she still uses handmade linen paper as a base for her embroidery. Members enjoyed a full day’s workshop making this paper from flax fibres, and then embroidering them to reflect meadow flowers.

Events across the sewing year from September 2024 to May 2025

January and February - Deborah and Dagmar’s Goldwork Workshop: Dating back over 1000 years, with its roots in religious and royal embroidery, goldwork has a luxurious and opulent quality. It uses a wide variety of metal threads including gilt, copper and silver and can be combined with other techniques to produce sumptuous effects. Together our very own Deborah and Dagmar ran a fully resourced and easy to follow workshop so that members could learn to make and complete a golden heart.  The results were amazing.

March - Claire Hunter – Mary Queen of Scots and her embroidery: Members were treated to  a wonderful talk by Claire following the publication of her book ‘Embroidering Her Truth’ - in an age when textiles expressed power, we learned that Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. From her lavishly embroidered gowns as the prospective wife of the French Dauphin, to the fashion dolls she used to encourage a Marian style at the Scottish court, and the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters, Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story. A truly fascinating afternoon!

April - Moira and Sue - quilting and dyeing: This was our first speaker event at Heathhall Community Centre and both Moira and Sue did us proud. Members learned all about the basics of quilting whereby an array of stitches are passed through layers of fabric to create a three-dimensional padded surface. The examples shown varied from the purely functional to highly elaborate, and included bed coverings, home furnishings, garments, wall hangings and artistic objects.

The second half of the talk was about dyeing and the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibres, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving colour and colour fastness. We learned about fibre colouring by absorption, diffusion or bonding and that both temperature and time are key controlling factors. We were also introduced to dye origins. It was an absolutely fascinating event.

May - Jean Leader - Bobbin Lace: Jean Leader is from Glasgow, but through her lacemaking has friends all over the world.  Jean designs, makes, teaches and writes about lace, and during the afternoon members learned that lace originated in the sixteenth century, spreading rapidly across Europe, and, as a fashion item, underwent numerous and continuous changes in style. The advent of machinery for lace-making led to the decline of hand-made lace. Today hand-made lacemaking only really exists as a hobby in which individual lacemakers may indulge their own preference for different historical styles.

April to May (5 week period) - The Triennial: Members contributed to this Textile Triennial Exhibition called 'Threaded Together', along with two other groups; the Dumfries Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers and The Solway Quilters.  The Gracefield Arts Building was filled to bursting with wonderful tapestries, samplers and embroidered art works, as well as an array of quilts and woven pieces, made and displayed by member of all three groups. TED members worked hard over the previous twelve months to produce a stairway display of textured and embroidered portraits, along with a cascading installation of pennants.