Much as I love to travel and visit and explore new places at the moment I am still not convinced it is safe or responsible to do so.
My second travelling book was “socially distancingly”returned to me yesterday. What a delight. It’s bulging with work from some of the members of Scunthorpe Embroiderers Guild.
The theme for this book is stained glass windows and started it’s journey in Autumn 2017. There were 13 members (including myself) on it’s first journey, each of them having the book for the month between branch meetings. A double page A5 spread, mainly done in landscape format. Initially I tried not to look at what was in my book each month – they were displayed on a table for all to see at the meeting, and at the end of the day we all took away the next on the list to do for the following month.
loosely based on a window in Caistor Church, Lincolnshire
I wanted what was in it to be a complete surprise at the end. I soon realised this was not going to work as it generated so much conversation and wonder at what had been created.And more importantly I realised I wanted to thank each and every one individually for the beautiful work, and time and effort they had put into my book. Sorry if I missed anybody.
The second round only had 6 in, again thank you all. Many reasons for this, it takes a big commitment to sign up for it, a new piece of work for somebody else every month and some found that they didn’t have time left to work on other things they wanted or needed to do. Not everybody is able to get to every meeting and sometimes it was difficult to get the finished piece to the meeting and the next one back in time to finish it before the following one.
Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of a new project every month (and the discipline of a deadline), the opportunity to try something new, to tackle a subject out of my comfort zone at times and the chance to “play”.
It would be sad if, due to present difficulties, the travelling book format were to fall. It has obviously been truly inspirational for many members and vastly enjoyed and appreciated by recipients and visitors to exhibitions.This book really does live up to it’s name of a travelling book. Some favourite places to revisit in my chair, and others that make me want to go and see them for real. Some techniques are old favourites and others things to try and experiment with myself.
A couple at the beginning were inspired by windows in Glasgow, one by John Kenneth Clark who designed the Millennium Window In Glasgow Cathedral and another by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Glasgow had long been on my bucket list, so in July 2018 we had 4 days there. We walked and walked and walked all over the city enjoying the museums and galleries, and then on our last day a lucky free tour on hop-on, hop-off old buses (1950’s to 1970’s) of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh works, some of which were not normally open to the public, some too far out from the city to be easily accessible. We only scratched the surface and had planned to meet up there again last weekend with our dear friends from Aberdeen. Maybe next year.
A couple inspired by Gaudi / Barcelona; the Guell Crypt at Santa Coloma (a dozen miles west of Barcelona) and the ceiling of Domenech i Montaner’s Palau de al Musica Catalana, neither of which I have seen for all our time in Barcelona. We have a very dear Spanish friend we have stayed with many times over the 35 years we have been married, and goodness knows when we will see her, either here or in Barcelona, both Marisa and Colin are in the “at risk” group because of their age. So photos and happy memories will have to suffice for the moment.
Another based on the Rose Window in the Cathedral at Chartres, in France. I was just bowled over by this when I first saw it when driving through France to Spain in 1986. And again when we detoured and camped near the river to take our son Miles to see it some years ago. Also at Chartres Cathedral is a labyrinth where pilgrims would trace the route to the centre. The same concentric rings design is used for Julian’s Bower, the grass maze at Alkborough, North Lincolnshire. This was a favourite place of Miles’ from being a toddler, we always had to take visiting friends and family to see it and walk around it. The design is reproduced around the village; in the church porch, outside the Coronation Club, and on the village boundary stone…..
Sally was inspired by Moroccan architecture and used blackwork over a background she had painted for her piece. Not somewhere I have ever visited, but loved the Moorish aspects when we were in Seville.Lots of other inspiring places are featured in the book, too many to mention them all.
And finally no need to travel to see, a contemporary stained glass hanging that I see every day in my kitchen, done by Irene McGrath that Janet Hall was inspired to do a machine embroidered panel in organza and painted canvas on a water soluble stabiliser.
Please don’t be offended if I haven’t featured your work. I felt it was only right and proper to check with the stitchers that they were happy for me to share their work, and these were ones for whom I readily had contact details. All photos of their work are my own.
I now need to make a bag or box to protect my book, but I’m in no rush to hide it away and will continue to enjoy the memories it’s provoked and maybe make plans to see new places. Thank you to all who have contributed to it.
debbidipity 