25 years of South Cheshire Embroiderers Guild
EMBROIDERERS' GUILD
THE HISTORY OF THE SOUTH CHESHIRE BRANCH
The formation of the South Cheshire Branch of
the Embroiderers' Guild was first proposed in 1989 when a small group of
friends were discussing the lack of an easily accessible branch in the area. An
inaugural meeting was held at the beginning of 1990 and the Branch was
officially formed at the first official meeting in March 1990 with 58 founder
members and by the time of the first Annual Meeting in September 1990
there were 75 members.
Membership increased steadily over the years with 90 members by 1995 and 110 by
2005.
The branch was started by Jackie Woolsey, Ann
Pearce and Maggie Phillips. Jackie Woolsey has now moved from the area but
still continues to be President and tries to attend some meetings each year.
Ann Pearce and Maggie Phillips are Vice-presidents and both continue to take an
active part in the running of the Branch. The positions of officers (Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) have been
filled by many different members over the years. (See list of Officers from
1990 to 2014)
The South Cheshire Branch meet in the small
South Cheshire village of Audlem. The branch was originally part of the Central
West Region but in 2001 was transferred to the North West Region. In 2013 members
voted to join the West Midland Region and this moved was approved by
Headquarters with the South Cheshire branch being subsequently welcomed into
the West Midland Region.
One of the highlights of the time spent in
the Central West Region was when the South Cheshire Branch hosted the Regional
Day in 1995. Every member was involved in some way with this prestigious event
but the success of the day was well worth all the planning and effort involved.
The branch has staged a number of Exhibitions
all proving to be very successful -
1995 at the Mill Shop at Audlem – the venue
is situated by the canal so this attracted many visitors from the boats. At
this Exhibition the Regional Selectors chose several exhibits to go forward to
the Regional Exhibition in Birmingham and the branch were delighted to be so
well represented at this prestigious event.
1998 at the Museum in Nantwich, another
prime location in the centre of the historic market town and attracting a
number of foreign visitors.
2000 Millennium Exhibition in the Parish
Church at Audlem
2003 a small Exhibition in Nantwich Parish
Church – part of a larger Art and craft Exhibition involving other local arts
and crafts groups.
2005 at the Methodist Church Hall, Audlem
2008 Eighteenth Anniversary Exhibition “Celebrate Eighteen” to celebrate eighteen
years, held at the Methodist church Hall in Audlem
2011 Exhibition to celebrate
the 21st Anniversary, held in the Public Hall, Audlem.
In 2006 members took part in a North West
Region event where each group of branches was allocated a different local
National Trust property for an Exhibition.
The South Cheshire members spent a day at Little Moreton Hall (a day when the Hall was closed to the
public) where members could wander around the Hall and grounds and sketch and
take photographs in order to then design and produce a piece of work based on
the property. The work was then part of an Exhibition held at Little Moreton Hall along with work
from other branches in the southern area of the North West Region, all inspired
by the Hall.
The South Cheshire Branch was
originally twinned with the Sand Dollar Chapter
(Florida) of the American Embroiderers Guild. Cards and letters were
exchanged and also monthly copies of the Sand Dollar Newsletter. In 1995 a Sand
Dollar member visited South Cheshire and members spent an enjoyable day with
her exchanging stitching news and views. Sadly the contact faded away as some
of their members moved from the Sand Dollar branch and there was no one to
write to England. They sent an actual
sand dollar to the South Cheshire Branch and this was later incorporated into a
piece of embroidery which was presented to the President Jackie Woolsey when
she moved away from the South Cheshire area. In 1999 the President and one of
the members visited the Sand Dollar Chapter when they were in America.
AS well as monthly meetings, workshops , fund
raising events and some excursions,
the South Cheshire Branch has
also been involved with several large projects -
During 1997/8 a large hanging was made for St
Luke's Hospice with members working individually on different sections and then
it was all assembled together and presented to the Hospice where it was unveiled by the Bishop of Shrewsbury.
During 2007/8 members made a Branch Hanging to
have on display at meetings, exhibitions and other events. The Hanging is made
up of 18 x 6 inch squares worked by individual members
in a wide variety of techniques. The theme was “On Your Doorstep” , some
members chose to interpret this as the village where they lived, others as
something around the home and there were also several shoes. The squares were
put together to form a very pleasing result of which everyone is extremely proud.
Members have also been
involved with a project to make children's quilts for Bulgaria and to make
quilts for the Linus Project for Babies with lung conditions.
A number of residential weekends have been
held over the years – in 1997 and 1998 members went to the Snowdonia National
Park Centre at Plas-tan-y-Bwlch.
In 2000 a non-residential weekend, for the
benefit of members who had commitments which did not permit them being away
overnight , was held at Reaseheath College to celebrate the New Millennium
In 2008 members went to Alston
Hall in Lancashire and since then a weekend at this venue has
become a regular event held approximately every 2 years and has become
very popular. A range of different type of embroidery have been studied and it
is a chance for members to concentrate entirely on their stitching as well as
enjoying the wonderful food and attractive grounds to the Hall.
In 2006 a popular fund raising event was the
Butterfly Tea at Brookfield Golf Club.
Christmas lunches have been arranged each
Christmas since 1990. At first these were in the Scout and Guide Hall with the
committee doing all the catering, but as membership grew outside caterers were
brought in, however this still involved
a lot of work for everyone so it was decided to go to Brookfield Golf Club to make
it easier for everyone. The Christmas Lunch at the Golf Club has now become a
regular event with a surprise speaker and an excellent festive meal.
In 2011 a Young Embroiders' Group was
proposed and the first meeting was held
in February 2012 at the Village Hall at
Haslington with one of the South Cheshire members as leader. The Group FACT Fabric Art Creative Textiles, has now moved to regular meetings at the Nantwich
Museum and is attracting an increasing number of children and with help from a number of Branch members.
FACT is open to children between the ages of 7 and 17
Since the formation of the Branch in 1990 it
was obvious that the membership was very talented and there has never been a
shortage of people to give short talks or demonstrations at 'Show and Tell' and
'have a Go ' days.
Sadly a number of members have died since
the the Branch was established in 1990.
Others have moved from the area or become too ill or infirm to attend, but
membership has continued to be high and new members continue to join.
2015 will be the Silver Jubilee of the Branch
when a number of exciting events and activities are planned.
This History was originally written by Ruth
Colley in 2005 and revised and updated by her in 2014.
25 Years of Stitch Exhibition 2015
25 Years of Stitch Exhibition 2015
Travelling Books (2)
January -July 2014
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| Books exchanged |
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| Example of work in a travelling book |
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| Example of work in a different book |
North West Regional Day
Becky Evans was the lucky winner of one of the raffle prizes on offer at our recent North West Regional Day.
All the guilds attending had been asked to make a bag of a particular hue and include contents of the same colour.
Becky was lucky enough to win the yellow bag and there is a photo of it below.
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| Becky's Prize! |
21st Anniversary Exhibition
At our meeting on 20th October 2011, the names of the winners of our "Best Exhibit in Show" were announced.
Daphne Ashby won the first prize of a Meal for Two at Nunsmere Hall Hotel for her "Seascape" embroidery. Daphne was unable to attend the meeting, so Carrie Evans will be delivering her prize personally.
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| Jan Aldersay being presented with her prize by Carrie Evans our Co-Chairman |
The top two voting results had been very close and it was felt that we should award a second prize to Jan Aldersay for her "Embroidered Jacket".
Our Guild sends warmest congratulations to both winners.
Retiring Committee Members
At our A.G.M on September 15th 2011, we said a sad farewell to three invaluable members of our committee - Marjorie Derybshire, Brenda Floyd and Jan Aldersay.
We are looking forward to seeing many more embroidery projects from them now that they have more time!
Our President Jackie Woolsey presents a
"Thank You" bouquet of flowers to our retiring secretary Marjorie Derbyshire.
Brenda Floyd receives her bouquet of flowers. Brenda has been our Treasurer for the past 11 years!
