Exploring colours and rhythms in embroidery

One of my favourite parts of the show in Harrogate was the Embroiderers Guild section which we only discovered by chance, and late in the day. This year I know I’ll be looking for it much earlier and as we have more time at the show this time round I think I’ll be able to make that work, and still see everything there is to see.

But anyway, this gallery was the Embroiderers Guild Challenge for its members, asking them to dig deep and explore ‘colour’ and ‘rhythm’ and it made for a bright and interesting gallery. I’m sharing my favourites which I keenly snapped in this post - but in my keenness and awe I don’t appear to have snapped the creators for any of these, so this post also comes with apologies to those creators. I will pay better attention at the show this year!

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

EMBROIDERERS GUILD MEMBER CHALLENGE - COLOUR AND RHYTHM

They’re all amazing, and I’d be hard pressed to choose just one as my favourite piece - but I’m keen to know which one(s) caught your eye?

Anne Kelly's textile collage covered objects

These are definitely in the more is more category, and also it’s true that the more you look the more you see - and they are fascinating for both of those reasons. I saw these pieces in Anne Kelly’s ‘Object Series’ at the Harrogate Knit & Stitch show and I was mesmerised.

PART OF THE OBJECT SERIES, ANNE KELLY

The blurb explaining these pieces was one of the best I’ve seen. It simply said:

I like to cover objects with textile collage and see them take on a new character and meaning.

SOME OF THE 'COVERED OBJECTS' BY ANNE KELLY

It’s simply explained, but so accurate, as they do.

FAMILY CASE, ANNE KELLY

I was particularly taken with the ‘Peacock Sewing Basket’ as I have many photos from different angles, so I know I was. I think my fascination was also because it’s totally transformed one of those ubiquitous woven plastic work boxes that I now quite often see in charity shops, but back in the day they were The Thing to have!

PEACOCK SEWING BASKET, ANNE KELLY

PEACOCK SEWING BASKET, ANNE KELLY

The peacock embroidery is pretty eye-catchingly special too isn’t it?

And there was more exquisite gorgeousness and more covered boxes in this enclosed display cabinet. Just as well as it was enclosed as I think these are just screaming out to be touched, or stroked, in admiration.

COVERED BOXES, ANNE KELLY

There were also some mixed media textile collages on display, and I’m including a couple of these here too. This one was inspired by a picnic stop in France enroute to a class she was teaching.

PICNIC STOP LIMOGES, ANNE KELLY

This second one depicts her artist friends ‘at home with their collections and garden’ - so literal but also so interesting.

J&K AT HOME, ANNE KELLY

Putting mum's embroidery to use

I have finally finished both of these project bags where I’ve used some hand embroidery sewn by my mum. It’s taken a while to finish the larger of the two, and for no other reason than I’d not got around to it. When I was helping mum to relocate her sewing room she found some embroideries that she’d completed most likely in the 1990s as part of a magazine series, which she no longer wanted. Some went to the charity shop, and I brought a couple home with me always intending to adapt them into a project bag, and that’s what I did.

Delving into my stash I found the perfect fabrics to use. The smaller of the two (which is still approximately A4 size) makes use of some tiny bobble trim I felt particularly drawn to and some pink fabric which I think also came from mum. The lining is tiny rosebuds, and that was definitely from one of her old dresses - the turquoise paisley material is one I’d bought a while back and it just felt right to use for this.

The larger orange and purple one, which just about fits into one of the cubby holes in my Kallax unit, uses more from my stash. The orange and lilac wave fabric came as part of a set - and I’m not sure if you can see it but the text on the wave says ‘a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’ and while mum’s not a sailor, I’m sure it’s something she’d agree with. Bizarrely the material reminds me of a dress she once had, but in actual fact it’s nothing like the actual dress - I remember the dress having swirls, though I suspect they were more likely paisley shapes, and the dress was a pale blue/lilac, so I’ve no idea why this material prompted that memory!!

They’ve turned out brilliantly and I’ve adapted my usual go to pouch pattern, and although they are larger and don’t have a vinyl front they use the same principle and construction with a tweak or two along the way, but the pouch is just a small part of it, mum’s embroidery is so much more.

Aren’t they great? And isn’t the embroidery just fab?