November 2016

Our November meeting was held at Gerri’s home in the beautiful seaside village of Catalina, on the southern coast of NSW.  Five members travelled to Gerri’s for a full weekend of stitching, eating and enjoying the area in and around Batemans Bay.

As usual, our meeting began with show and tell.  Wendy and Ron returned from a European adventure which included a 14 day cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.  They were able to visit galleries, gardens, cathedrals and castles in small medieval towns and large Baroque cities.  There were factories (Faber Castell), markets, restaurants, wineries and coffee shops taken in.  The trip was a glorious ‘Golden October’ of magnificent colours and textures.  We wait for the stitching inspired by this visit.

Gerri had completed these Oma and Opa blankets.

Annette completed a kit in the form of a counted cross stitch scissors keep.  She purchased the kit at Portsmouth when she and Dennis visited the museum.  The ‘Mary Rose’ was still under restoration at the time.  The scissors keep is now a lovely trip memory.

Annette also showed a partly worked piece inspired by an article in ‘Quilting Arts’ magazine in 2012.  An old linen serviette has been hand dyed and junk from a ‘what to do with this stuff’ box in Annette’s sewing room have been used.  The objects are back-stitched around with hand dyed thread.  The piece is backed with a piece of old wool blanket.

Susan continues to work on her ‘Memory Quilt’.  Compare the current photo with the last update in September.

Robyn’s sugar skull is ready to be attached to a denim skirt.  Then she will finish the remaining stitching through the denim to fully integrate the design into the skirt.

Robyn also showed her canvas work in progress in which she is using any stitch and any thread.

Sheila and Brian have been visiting family in Melbourne and attending exhibitions while there and during the journey.  The foremost exhibition was the ‘Making the Australian Quilt’ at the National Gallery of Victoria.  Sheila purchased 2 post cards of quilts that have awed or inspired her.

Sheila was also lucky enough to see a retrospective of the work of Annemieke Mein.  Sheila especially enjoyed viewing the sampling pieces that were on display giving a sense of the amount of preparation work required before a work is started.  The large size of the works was another eye-opener.

On the return journey, Sheila went to the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize at the National Archives in Canberra.  The exhibition always provides so much inspiration that could push embroidery outside the box.

Then, a big thank you to Katrina, Gerri’s daughter, who provided a scrumptious lunch.  We ate it without taking any photos!

The highlight of our day was the official opening of Gerri’s studio.  Gerri’s home and studio reflect her Dutch heritage.  We were greeted with a sign and printed ribbon with Gerri’s motto.

The studio was officially opened by the president of The Embroiderers’ Guild NSW Inc, Wendy.  Gerri’s family and cousin from the Netherlands joined in the celebrations.

Gerri presented all of us in attendance with a lovely gift.

Gerri booked a local restaurant for dinner that night with family and partners.  An enjoyable evening and excellent day ended fittingly with fireworks.   We think Gerri organised the fireworks but there was rumour that the bridge over the Clyde River was 60 years.

Although unable to attend the weekend due to other family commitments, Jenny had still mananged to complete her jumper that she began back in August. 

Jenny has also started another jumper, this time for her partner. This one is also knitted in the same "Savanah" yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills, just in a different colour. The pattern is a Sirdar one, purchased on-line through Patternfish.

2016 has ended with fireworks for our group.  The lack of a fixed meeting place has pushed us out of our usual territory and hopefully pushed us out of our comfort spot with respect to creative embroidery.

We are already anticipating new endeavours in 2017.  Like all members of the Embroiderers’ Guild, we are looking forward to the completion of the renovation of headquarters perhaps in July.