Threadworks 2017

This year Canterbury Embroiderers' Guild celebrates its 50th anniversary and also hosted its biennial exhibition. A small but beautifully formed exhibition.

Julie Clemett won Selectors' Choice with her beautiful stumpwork / goldwork piece Chinese Imperial Dragon (pictured next to the exhibition banner). Unfortunately it is a hopeless picture of the piece but it really was spectacular. Julie describes her piece as "a five-toed dragon, a symbol of the Chinese Imperial family, given life by the iridescent scales and the three dimensional effects of the stumpwork technique. Highlighted on a celestial background of starlight beads on navy velvet". 

Julie had a second piece in the show, a gorgeous goldwork picture, which I didn't get a photo of called Golden Bouquet. This won the First Time Exhibitor prize.

Lynne Hill's piece of cross stitch Burst of Colour is described as "a crewel pattern design depicting the bright colours of spring".

I really liked Laureen Pedersen's piece called Tree Bark, which she described as "I have used metal fabric which was burned, stretched and manipulated onto a painted and stitched silk background. Hand and machine embroidered".

In the background is a blue bag made by Diane Wilson entitled Gosh What a Bag. One of the pieces submitted by the Guild's Past Presidents.

The crewel cushion is by Dawn Chivers and described as "early traditional crewel pattern using single strand DMC" thread.

The table runner in the foreground is by Judy Evans and is a piece of Ukranian embroidery.

Another stand out piece on display was the Canterbury Embroiderers' Guild 50th anniversary hussif designed by Ann Bradley.  This hussif was available as a pattern for all Guild members to stitch and included the specially designed Guild logo fabric.  I did think about joining in but as I haven't done any actual embroidery for years I didn't progress much past the thinking stage.

All in all a wonderful way to spend an extremely wet Saturday afternoon (complete with flood warnings and local states of emergency).  Chatting with other embroiderers' and admiring thirty-seven great pieces of embroidery.

The exhibition is on at the Canterbury Museum until 30 July.  The museum has free entry although they do welcome a gold coin donation. So if you are in the Christchurch area over the next week I recommend a visit, it will feed your creative spirit.  It may even get me to pick up a none clothes sewing needle and thread.

If you want to find out more about the Canterbury Embroiderers' Guild they have a public Facebook page.