The speaker for the first session of the new season was Nicky Brunger, a former modren languages teacher who told us how retiring prompted a change direction, and started her new business creating and sellnig cross-stictch patterns and kits. She then moved on to talk about her degree at the Bradford School of Art, were she explored various aspects of textile art, including exhibiting in the Saltaire Arts Trail. Nicky brought along several of her pieces for us to view.

In July, we welcomed Nicola Harper, a York-based textile artist who specialises in machine embroidered landscapes. Nicola draws her inspiration from local architecture, the Yorkshire coast, Dales and Moors. She took us through her creative process of preparing cotton calico, on which she paints a base using acrylic paints, finally embellishing with fabric scraps and machine embroidery to produce fine art

Our speaker for June was Susie Hart. Susie was the chair of two charities and had visited Mexico to learn a different technique for making paper and developed an interest in the colourful textiles produced in Mexico, in Peru and Ecuador. The social enterprise charities aimed to support local people with disabilities to develop skills and obtain jobs. In the ten years she had worked with the local people the charities had employed 120 people. Her talk involved various slides showing the processes for weaving the items, and many slides showing the colourful results. It was planned to organise trips to Peru in the future.

May saw the return of textile artist and “wobble-gob” Anne Brooke, who came to talk to us about recent times when she lost her mojo, the pandemic, and how she came out the other side. Her new work reflects the holes in life caused by losses and upheavals, and shows how these can be re-filled to become complete again in a new normal. She brought along examples of her work, which were based on wooden embroidery hoops, using smaller projects to fill the holes, which reflected her journey and made the work deeply personal.

April’s speaker was Melanie Grange, who came to talk to us about Felting. Melanie gave a talk full of warmth, insights and technical advice. She outlined how she tried needle felting and how her skills developed. She gave advice on types of wool, tools and needles. She commented on tools she found she does not use. She gave useful advice on avoiding cheap kits and on useful cheap alternative kit, such as using a foam sponge to use as a working mat, so techniques can be tried without great outlay. She brought a great range of 3-D felted animals, and animal heads, and answered questions with great generosity.

Our speaker for March was Karen Quickfall, who came to speak to us about Ruskin Lace. She took us through the history of this textile, and how John Ruskin’s housekeeper, Marion Twelves, started a cottage industry based on Sicilian and Greek embroidery, developing the form of linen embroidery that Ruskin lends his name to. Karen explained the techniques of making the lace, which is worked within the fabric rather than as an edging, and uses a set of basic designs which are worked into larger projects. This was accompanied by several examples of the lace for the members to take a closer look at.

Zac Girdlestone was welcomed and spoke on ‘Fashion Design. Fashioning Landscapes’. He spoke about how his career and creative thoughts had developed from a degree at Lincoln in fashion, creating commercial garments and bespoke pieces, then investigating how landscapes affect emotions and how this can be depicted in design. He explored using calico strips to draw in 3-D and creating series of tote bags with free motion embroidery detail. He brought examples of his garments and his free motion embroidery designs.

The January meeting saw a collection of quilts presented in a trunk, hired from the Quilter’s Guild, and presented by our members Val Wright, Hilary Goldsmith and Helen Mott. The 11 items in the trunk were all made in the last 40 years, and give examples of the changes, developments, styles and fabrics that have been a key part of patchwork and quilting history.

The pieces were a mix of traditional and modern techniques, showcasing experimentation with designs and fabrics, with inspiration taken from different places to produce pieces that reflect the makers’ lives and the world around them.

December saw the return of Stuart Hillard, who came to us with the talk “Bags”. This was an amusing talk-and-show presentation, where he explained how he had compiled his books, beginning with the design and making of one bag. He brought a great number of samples, pointed out the details of his work, and gave technical details of how to make bags from that design. His samples included many different types of bags and showed how one design can be made using different techniques including patchwork, improv piecing and boro.

Nikki Parmenter came long to talk to us about her work in textile art. She talked us the techniques she uses to created her collages. She works mainly on a large scale, most of her pieces are larger than A1 size, some reaching 6 feet or more! Her works incorporate elements of different cultures through the world taking inspiration from artists such as Hokusai and Botticelli, traditional mandalas and imagery from Persia, Tibet and Thailand to tell a story. She recycles materials, using scraps of plastic acetate and PVC sheeting to fuse with fabrics, creating 3-D elements. Her work is embellished with machine embroidery and acrylic paints to bring the pieces to life.