an independent group of creative textile artists and stitchers
from Durham and the surrounding area
|
an independent group of creative textile artists and stitchers from Durham and the surrounding area |
About Us We are an independent group of creative textile artists and stitchers, who share an interest in all manner of textiles. Some of us specialise in hand embroidery, others in machine embroidery, some of us enjoy knitting, quilting, working with felt. Some of us just love to acquire fabrics and threads! We enjoy all styles of stitched textiles from the very traditional, to cutting edge contemporary work with mixed media. We believe in the notion that 'Stitched Art is Art'. The aims of our group are to:
Find out more about the interests and inspirations of our stitchers on the Meet the Members page. We mostly work on individual projects, but occasionally we work towards a large piece of work for a group project. One of our favourite pieces in the Durham City in Summer panel. Comprising 48 small squares, when hung together they represent an iconic view of our lovely city in summer. A PDf document with details of the stitched squares from the panel can be viewed from here.
This short slide show features some of the works from our travelling books and the postcard swap. Small works of creative stitched art are made to share and swap with other members of the group. In twelve months, each of the members participating in a full rounds of postcard swap sent and received 24 postcards. Our Slooooow Cloth made one or two postcards for each prompt to share with others. To view more of our work, follow the links on the Gallery Page. 
 About Our Members: The piece of mixed media work below featuring the 'Sanctuary Knocker of Durham Cathedral', was created by member Lesley Wood for an exhibition 'Inspired by Architecture'. It includes papers, vintage linen, collage and stitch. Lesley exhibits her work widely in the UK and more examples can be seen on her Instagram page.
Many of our members have City & Guilds or degree level qualifications and/or RSN qualifications in embroidery and stitched textiles, which have helped shape their practice. Others are active in pursuing their interest in stitched art, using textiles creatively and working with mixed media while learning new techniques! Our Young Stitchers Group encourages youngsters between the ages of 8 - 18 to take up the needle (under supervision) to learn and practise creative stitching. Our group membership is growing!... If you would like to find out more about the group or come for a visit, please contact our secretary, Penny Widdison by email for more information. Our regular gatherings may be in small groups, other times as a whole group. Sometimes we will set a theme for our creativity or have a suggested small activity. What ever we do, we encourage everyone to stitch! At meetings safeguarding our members is very important. Our full Risk Assessment with Covid-19 precautions can be read from here.
A montage of selected works from our first exhibition as Take a Stitch 2 Durham at Ushaw Historic House & Gardens
A montage of selected works from our first competition as Take a Stitch 2 Durham Members continue to be active in creating stitched textiles for community and collaborative projects as well as external exhibitions and competitions. Although we are now an Independent Stitch Group, we do not want to lose our history of 25 years as part of the Embroiderers Guild. The links below will take you to galleries of work from some of our older community projects: The Needle Points North - the first collaborative project undertaken in 1996 and latterly on display at the Great Exhibition of the North in 2018 and other locations in the North East. The 100 hearts War Stories project - from The Embroiderers’ Guild UK commemorates the ending of WW1 (The Great War 1914-1918) 100 years ago. Other community projects include 'We will remember them' (2020), '100 years of Suffrage' (2018), Kneelers for St Michael's Church, Howick, Northumberland (2018), and the collaborative '70273 Project' (2017). |
