Thursday, September 17, 2009

Spring Workshop


Another great workshop is being offerred at Guild Headquarters in the Spring school holidays.

"Jelly fish" by Wendy Fuller
Thursday October 15th from 10 am - 2 pm, cost is $20 including kit
Bookings as usual to Chris at the Guild on 9743 2501
There's a limit of 12 students ONLY, bring lunch and a drink.


This workshop was run very successfully in October 2007 at the 50th Anniversary Exhibition at Olympic Park, and already students who made one back then have booked again!! Perhaps they gave their previous project away to an admirer and need to make another?

Some BIG news

It looks like we could be taking the Annual Leaders' Meeting to Wagga Wagga in March next year. The Wagga Wagga group of the Guild is hosting the Convenors' Meeting where all the leaders of the various groups report and learn about the latest news. There's going to be lots of activities as well, including art shows, costume displays and talks. Our Committee thought that sounded like great fun, so we asked if we could take our ALM down as well. The final decision is being made in a week's time, but we're very enthusiastic about joining the rest of the Guild members in Wagga Wagga in Autumn 2010.

The other BIG news is that the Guild is updating the website and that will include the YTFG part, there are ideas being looked at already. We hope to offer some free projects, a member's only section and regularly updated news pages. When the new site is up and running well without any problems this blog will be closed, but never fear, there'll be a link for a while.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Wagga Wagga Club report June 09



Wagga Wagga YTFG recently used felt & buttons to create a design for a bag/pencil case. 15 year old Edwina's design is unique. She created this design of a Waterpolo Player entirely herself. Well Done Edwina!
Fay

News from around the Clubs

I'm glad to report that YTFG is doing very well just now. Our newest Clubs at Lismore District and Grafton are very well attended and thriving. 2 city Clubs have experienced a downtown though, with Southern Suburbs closing and Leader Lesley Hack becoming a Commmittee Member. Guildford Club has been put into recess till next year, as I feel I need a break and my numbers have dropped dramatically this year. The kids left won't miss out though, they are looking at the next closest Club with a view to joining in their meetings.

Grafton club recently hosted tutor Wendy Fuller for a workshop of printing fabric backgrounds. Corrie was very impressed with Wendy's enthusiasm and organisation for the day.This was reflected in the work produced and the kids' willingness to stitch between meetings on their fabric pieces. Below is an example of the finished fabric background printed with various leaf shapes ready for stitching.



North District Club held a mini-exhibition at the retirement village where Club meetings are held. There were many favourable comments from the residents and lots of infomation sheets handed out on the day. Diana and Peggy are hoping some new Members will join as a result of the display.

The YTFG is being well represented at the Sydney craft shows too. The Embroiderers' Guild attended Craftfest in March, the Sydney Royal Easter Show in March and the Darling Harbour Craft and Quilt Fair in June. At each show a lot of information was displayed including photo boards of the "Fun with Stitches" course and various workshops held in the last year or so. Many questions were answered and visitors were very impressed with the standard of work, and the fact that children are still able to learn to stitch even if embroidery and sewing are no longer offered at school.

Our Royal Easter Show workshop started slowly with only one student pre-booked. However by the end of the day 13 kits had been sold and stitched up with much enthusiasm from kids and helpers. The flashing LED light in the Celestial Lights kits was a great attraction, as were the colourful samples of kids work and the PR information posters. The PR kit is a great way to mount a display, with colourful laminated sheets of photos and information which only need to have kids work added to make a great themed mini-exhibition. 2 kits are available to borrow, just contact Headquarters.

Next year our Group turns 15, and there are some great plans in the pipeline for a big celebration. We'd be glad to hear any other ideas from members and leaders to help make this a really special year for the kids.

Christine, acting convenor YTFG

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Guildford Club Report

2009 has started with fewer members coming to Guildford Club days for various reasons including High School and sports teams committments. In February we made a Chicken Scratch bookmark on checked gingham fabric. This technique uses basic cross stitch which is then "laced" with other threads in different patterns. We used contrasting coloured threads for a less traditional look.



In March we looked at the project featured in the latest YTFG magazine "The International Year of Astronomy" called Celestial Lights. This will be offered as a mini-workshop at this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show on the Embroiderers' Guild Stand in Area C of the Arts Pavilion at 11 am till 12.30 pm on Wednesday 22nd April, which is Children's Day at the Show. Cost is $3 to cover the kit. The kids at Guildford all enjoyed making their version of a sun or star pin with a secret flashing ingredient !




In April, we made a canvaswork wristcuff. This project was shown at the Annual Leaders Meeting by Nepean Club leader Del White, so I picked 2 or 3 stitches I thought the kids would enjoy and worked a sample. On Club day, 2 older girls worked long headbands in Gobelin stitch in black ,gold and silver threads, one worked a wristcuff and another made a bookmark!! So a project sample can inspire lots of other design possibilities. Let your imagination run free!

Annual Leaders' Meeting March 2009

Club leaders from all around New South Wales met at Headquarters at Concord West on Saturday March 28th for the Annual Leaders' Meeting. We shared information and ideas, had a great lunch and collected donated materials to take back to our Clubs. Wagga Wagga leader Fay Grant gave a presentation explaining her project design process and gave us a few activities to stimulate our design skills. I felt the day was very relaxed and we all learned something. Although a few of our leaders weren't able to make the trip down to Sydney this time, those who could make it found it worthwhile.

Christine.