Went to Guild Exhibition today
Kim Brown
Newcastle Town Hall. It was well worth the trip on this bitterly cold
and windy day!
Lots and lots of exhibits were on display (all with *large* signs saying
'Please do not touch!!!') and we enjoyed them all (the exhibits, not the
signs...) It was good to see a lot of different kinds of embroidery
under the same roof: there were some lovely goldwork, shisha (G'day,
Ronelle!), stumpwork and pulled thread works among others.
Many of the Guild ladies seem to enjoy embellishing silk panels with
stitchery. Now, this is a form that doesn't much appeal to me, as it
feels like cheating. What do others think? Some of the examples
consisted of a few silk ribbon roses and a scatter of beads applied
sparsely over a printed Gibson Girl. Others were a bit more challenging,
though... One of the Gibson Girls had her hair worked in sumptuous loops
of russet silk ribbon and her frock lushly beaded with sparkling black
bugle beads. Her jewellery was cunningly done in silver metallic and the
surface embroidery which formed the lace fichu on her dress and the hem
of her petticoat was both intricate and well-executed. *This* piece
quite took our fancy: more so than other similar ones.
There was quite a bit of cross stitch on display, but only a few really
impressive pieces. One of them was clearly a MLI design, but I'm afraid
the title escapes me! (How embarrassment!) I'll be checking at tiag.com
forthwith!
Many pieces of hardanger were featured, but most of them were coarsely
worked in #3 or 5 perle. I really liked the very fine pieces worked on
fine linens with cordonnet! They were quite spectacular and featured
zillions of those little thingies which make the work look like lace! I
really do like intricate work, even though my beady little eyes won't
let me do much of my own lately.
What else? Oh yes! There was a pulled thread table runner done in
butterfly motifs which caught my eye! It was painstakingly hemstitched
all around the perimeter and had a series of pulled work butterflies
worked at intervals. The linen was 32 count and the stitches minute. The
pulled stitches (whose names I don't know, I'm sorry) really gave a
lovely soft texture to the piece and several different ones were used in
each butterfly. A very clever example of design work! I'd love to know
whether the lady used someone else's design or made this one herself!
There was some candlewicking on display. Some of it was the predictable
folksy shapes on pillows, but one or two pieces featured lovely use of
soft colours to enhance the ecru backgrounds. There was a single example
of a very finely worked battenburg lace doily: the filling stitches were
beautifully done, but unforunately the white filling was not as white as
the lace tape! It really drew away from the impact of the work, as the
stitching appeared to be grubby! What a shame! Oh, and a single
*glorious* piece of mountmellick work on a linen tablecloth! Wow! This
was *really* impressive! The design and stitches were simple, but when
you stood back the flowers really jumped out at you! I like that piece!
I think the pieces that impressed DS the most were the wool
embroideries. He really enjoyed a tableful of Australian flora exhibits!
Our State flower (the Waratah) is a large, chunky flower, not one that
lends itself to representation in fine, closely laid stitches. The wool
embroiderers had a field day making great scarlet Waratahs out of layers
of bullion stitch and even some stumpwork! They looked wonderful! One of
the pieces featured was a bottle green woollen hot water bottle cover,
embellished with woollen bullion Waratahs (Gee, try saying that
quickly!) It was quite lovely and the strong colours made a nice
contrast with the plethora of pastel and ecru pieces that you normally
expect to see!
My own favourite pieces were the stumpworks! Wow! About five ladies
rendered the same strawberry pattern and they were sprinkled about the
room. I found it really interesting to see the different interpretations
and skill levels on the same piece. I *do* love strawberries in
embroidery! The fat, red berries contrasted beautifully with satin
stitched deep green leaves, all done separately and raised from the
background fabric. Tiny white blossoms were worked either in satin
stitch or - hmmm... was it reticella? ... some kind of needlelace
stitch, anyway, and they shone like jewels in contrast with the leaves.
I'd *love* to get hold of that pattern, but didn't get the chance to
speak to anyone who knew where it can be had.
Another stumpwork that took my fancy was a small picture of Australian
Flame Robins on a Holly Bush. That's a bit of a mixed metaphor, because
Holly won't grow in any of the places where Flame Robins are found.
Never mind! The berries were stunningly rendered in a single strand of
floss wrapped cunningly round what must have been tiny beads. The effect
was quite lovely, but I wish they'd used an English Wren or some bird
that would be more likely to appear on Holly... Sorry for being so
*thing* about it!
The single piece of shisha I saw was stunningly worked by our own
Ronelle! It was mounted on a lovely handbag and was a peacock with
shisha mirrors forming his tail - a lovely and unusual piece! I won't
describe it, because I'd rather wait for Ronelle to post and tell us
exactly how she worked it!
Some of the items of clothing featured were a pair of bridal gowns, each
appliqued with lace motifs and silver gauze; a pintucked and shadow
worked nightgown made in voile, various baby gowns, smocked and bullion
stitched, a couple of fine linen blouses featuring guipure lace
applications and tiny hand worked flowers respectively.
As you can see, there was a good variety of embroidery on display and I
was pleased to see a good crowd interested in all the works! We had a
most enjoyable afternoon!
--
Trish {|:OI}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Ruby M Scott
<kim....@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au> wrote:
>Today, DS and I attended the local Embroiderer's Guild Display in the
>Newcastle Town Hall. It was well worth the trip on this bitterly cold
>and windy day!
Sniped
I so enjoyed hearing about the Exhibition and your descriptions of the
pieces featured. Thanks for posting.
Ruby
benmax
Guilds in the UK and nothing is done in cross stitch! It's all very
experimental/mixed media etc. Your exhibition sounds a bit ordinary
compared to some over here!
Ruby M Scott <ru...@mailserv.kayhay.com> wrote in message
news:2ue2jsc3ndf214e1r...@4ax.com...
> >Newcastle Town Hall. It was well worth the trip on this bitterly cold
> >and windy day!
>
Lollee Roberts
>*wonderful* to see that stitching is alive and growing in my community!
>
>Sorry if I appeared to rant... I'm feeling tender this morning, as I've
>been up all night with a sick DD.
Trish,
Having seen some of the experimental mixed media stuff that benmax talks about,
I will take lovingly executed cross stitch every time. I am especially
fascinated by various renderings of one pattern or kit which show the many
small differences between the stitchers and their individual projects. This
illustrates to me why stitching is such a creative art. It's impossible for two
stitchers to create exactly the same result, even using identical materials and
patterns.
I also enjoyed your descriptions immensely. I could almost taste the
strawberries!
Lollee
Kim Brown
>
> I'm surprised that there were so many 'kit' like exhibits. I do City and
> Guilds in the UK and nothing is done in cross stitch! It's all very
> experimental/mixed media etc. Your exhibition sounds a bit ordinary
> compared to some over here!
Ah well, horses for courses, as they say. The city I live in used to be
a nasty, smoky industrial one, dominated by the miners from the pits
that surround it and also by the steelworkers, fitters-and-turners,
boilermakers and dock workers from the huge steelworks that used to
operate here. Their wives and daughters have generally been too busy
making ends meet to indulge much in the way of embellishments...
Embroidery has always been an expensive hobby in Australia, probably
because of the cost of importing all the necessaries from such a long
distance away. Hence, it hasn't been what you'd call thick on the ground
recently.
Considering that you live in the UK, I'd imagine you have access to a
longer history and tradition in the gentle arts than our short 200
years! I was very glad to see a number of designs which I recognised: it
meant that there are a lot of people in my hometown who appreciate the
same things I do! Of course, I'm not able to describe every single item
I saw and the number of wool embroideries, hardanger and floral surface
embroideries (which were clearly *not* from premade kits) was greater
than the kitted or charted ones.
While our little exhibition might seem pedestrian to some, I found it
*wonderful* to see that stitching is alive and growing in my community!
Sorry if I appeared to rant... I'm feeling tender this morning, as I've
been up all night with a sick DD.
--
Lesley Isaac
> >While our little exhibition might seem pedestrian to some, I found
it
> >*wonderful* to see that stitching is alive and growing in my
community!
> >
> >Sorry if I appeared to rant... I'm feeling tender this morning, as
I've
> >been up all night with a sick DD.
I REALLY enjoyed your post Trish - very similar to the sort of
exhibits I enjoy so much here in New Zealand. I was amazed at your
recall and the detail you were able to describe after the event.
I do get quite cross when I see X stitch "denigrated" ala benmax's
post. It is a very worthwhile textile method in it's own right! But
then I can't claim to "do" City and Guilds in the UK <VBEG>.
Hope DD is recovering :-)
Lesley
Across the ditch in NZ
Karen C - California
At one time, the County Fair specifically prohibited any craft entries from
kits. Apparently the judges didn't get Stitchery catalogue, because one year
all the winners were things I recognized as kits. A year or two later, that
prohibition was dropped.
Finished 2/24/2000 - Sweet 16 (Silver Lining)
WIP:Holiday Snowglobe, Teen Creed, California Sampler, America the Beautiful
(Nimble Needle), antique green doll (Vervaco)
Don't risk your on-line privileges! I report all Spam.
Susannah Tiller
>
> While our little exhibition might seem pedestrian to some, I found it
> *wonderful* to see that stitching is alive and growing in my community!
Trish, I've only just noticed this posting. I went to the exhibition on
Thursday, and had a wonderful time. I certainly didn't think it was
pedestrian. There were some wonderful quilts, including one with ta map
of Australa represented in different coloured squares. There were also
some lovely smocks and an intricate wedding dress. I spotted some Teresa
Wentzler, and the MLI you were talking about - one of the L&L angels,
although I can't remember which one.
All in all, a lovely exhibition.
Susannah
--
Susannah dot Tiller @ studentmail dot newcastle dot edu dot au
"As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'Hmmmm'"
(Riley, "Hush", Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Karin
Thank you for taking the time to share what you saw. I don't know what you
do for a living but you should get into writing!!! You made me feel like I
was right there beside you.
Karin
_________________________________________________
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"Kim Brown" <kim....@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au> wrote in message
news:3930E815...@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au...
Stephanie Peters
>While our little exhibition might seem pedestrian to some, I found it
>*wonderful* to see that stitching is alive and growing in my community!
Trish
The exhibition sounded well worth a visit to me. I have seen UK exhibitions
which would be put to shame by what you described. There are many different
sorts of exhibitions held by many different groups for a variety of reasons.
The type and standard of work exhibited will reflect these. If I go to a
national organisation exhibition I expect something more than from a local
group.
You mentioned goldwork, shisha, stumpwork, pulled thread, and embellishing
silk panels as well as cross stitch. That sounds to me like a variety of
techniques being executed at a variety of skill levels which surely is what
is appropriate for a community group exhibition. This branch of the
Australian Embroiderers' Guild sounds nicely inclusive, which certainly
cannot be said of my local branch of the UK Embroiderers' Guild, who do seem
to regard certain techniques as unworthy.
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper." Quentin Crisp 1908 - 1999
Steph Peters, Manchester, England
email: delete REMOVE_NOSPAM from st...@sandbenders.demon.REMOVE_NOSPAM.co.uk
Tatting, lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm>
Cindy Spangler
was FAR from my home. I know what you mean about the Strawberries.... they
are so nice to do in ANY type of stitches!
Cindy
"Kim Brown" <kim....@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au> wrote in message
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Di Messina
Would have loved to be there to see it with you, but your descriptions
were so good I almost felt like I was. Thanks for sharing this.
Di'mn
Kim Brown <kim....@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au> wrote in message
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