The embroiderers guild meeting finally didn't conflict

I made it to the embroiderers guild meeting this afternoon, after months of conflicts with art commitments, but,  finally, no other meetings today, and I got there.

The program was created and presented by Lyna, a skilled researcher and historical stitching worker. She also has an academic career aside from her fiberart life. Manages everything with aplomb.

Today was a slide lecture on blue and white Deerfield embroidery.  Linen thread, stitched on linen, to reproduce a massive collection of colonial stitchwork. Which developed into a thriving business, in the Arts and Crafts period of the nineteenth century where craftsmanship had a resurgence and a ready audience.

Google on Deerfield, to learn about the town, its crafts and collectors. William Randolph Hearst's mother was a a keen collector of the embroidered hangings and domestic artworks.

And that was the main event. But wait, there's more.

Talented young designer Katie Woznick, has created a design honoring the hundredth anniversary this year of women's getting the vote. It's also a push to get out the vote in a critical year, at the same time.  Lyna translated the image into a cross-stitch project, distributed it today, and the guild is embarking on it, different sizes, different colors.

I heard that the designer's preference is black stitching, so I'm going with that. I know this because her grandmother is a stitcher in our chapter. We have the inside track on this one!

In the interest of protecting the image, I'm giving you just a glimpse, showing that I was so excited I dashed home to rush about my partly disassembled studio for thread, needle, hoop, and got right to work. That's my V started there.

This stitching speaks to my inner Get out the Vote activist, ready for post it posse again this year, and my inner stitcher. A harmonious convergence.

We'll be showing this project at the upcoming Stitch in Public event in February, when I hope to have mine done.

And, since I hadn't been at the guild meetings for a while, my friends caught up with presents, things I'd missed out on.

 So I came home with some fun loot.

Pretty good way to spend a cold damp winter afternoon. This post didn't start out as a guild report, but it sort of wrote
itself.

Back to the stitching guild

For the first time in months, I didn't have another event in conflict with the Embroiderers' Guild, so I went to the membership meeting.

The project was a kit of a detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, which features the Bayeux stitch, a very cool mixture of long stitches, with anchoring stitches holding them in place. Outlined in stem stitch, it's a great filling for narrative embroidery.

Carol P taught the workshop, and brought in a wonderful stitching she had done of a segment from the Tapestry. She provided the kits and backup information, and created an engrossing program

And members showed other work; here's Florence K, with a beaded felt applique and

a special artwork finished since  I last saw her

Saasha showed me this amazing work in progress

The afternoon, during which I was crocheting, may have rekindled my interest in stitching!

Nice to be back in the group again.