February’s speaker was Sherry Richardson, who designs and makes hats, and is known as a “hatter who flatters”. She told us of her early memories of wearing hats and how stylish they made her feel. In her 30s, she did a City and Guilds course on millinery in Huddersfield. She modelled a variety of hats she made during this time, including a turban, fez, cloche and tiara. In 2005 she did the catwalk at the Great Yorkshire Show and pre-pandemic she worked with Gok Wan to produce beautiful, extravagant hats for his catwalk shows. We could see how Sherry is influenced by nature and the changing seasons in her designs, which feature her use of felt, leather, lace, sinamay (a lightweight natural product), paper, recycled and vintage millinery items. Many gorgeous hats to admire!

In January, we had 4 members of the society who were kind enough to talk us through some of their work that had won prizes at recent exhibitions.

Maggie Tomlinson presented her hand-knitted sweater from the 2022 exhibition, which told the moving story of her father’s life from his birth and childhood on a farm, to his time serving in the army.

Sara Perkins gave an entertaining talk on the process of creating her wine bottle doll and it’s many accessories from the 2024 exhibition, which was (retrospectively – she had forgotten the subject of the exhibition when making the doll!) inspired by Strauss’s waltz “Artist’s Life”.

Hazel Barker presented a lovely quilt, “Love and Laughter in May” she had made for her daughter’s wedding. The wedding guests were all asked to write their wishes for the bride and groom on fabric, which Hazel then made into the quilt along with some photos.

Diane Beaumont talked us through the creation of 2 pieces, “Nature in Spin”, a mixed media piece and “Bluebell Wood”, a thread painting on silk, that were selected for entry into the 2024 Open Exhibition at the Ferens gallery in Hull.

Our December speaker was Meredith Towne, who was a dress historian and clothes maker. She gave a talk celebrating the 1950s’ evening wear. Various items of clothing were shown which included cocktail dresses and a smocked children’s party dress. Meredith read from a pamphlet which outlined the arrangements necessary for getting ready to go out in an hour. The required underwear was modeled, followed by a cocktail dress and accessories. The talk was vert entertaining, and was supported by Meredith’s “glamorous assistant”, who displayed some of the items.

Our November speaker was the lovely Stuart Hillard, always one of our most popular guests, who gave a very entertaining talk to a full house, on mistaken identity (apparently he’s really Kaffe Fassett…) and the inspiration for his new book “Quilts from the Country”.

Having grown up in the countryside, Stuart wanted to write something personal to him and reflect his love of the country, so his latest book is full of quilt designs with seasonal themes.

He brought along a selection of beautiful quilts made for the book, and had some signed copies of his book for our members to buy.

Our speaker for October was Dr Claire Day, Senior Lecturer at Coventry University, London, who came to talk to us about her research into the onshore clothing worn by the Hull distant water trawlermen in the 1950s – 1980s.

She started by catching us up on the work she’d been doing since her last visit to us, then took us through her creative process for design mapping.

Hull born and bred, Claire saw the play Northern Trawl at Spring Street Theatre as a fashion student, and became fascinated by the the suits worn by the actors playing the Hull trawlermen, who were well known for their smart, distinctive look in the Hessle Road area. From this, she started to research the origins of the suits and how they had changed over time, evolving from the classic Lounge suit, through the Italian style and the influence of the Beatles, while keeping the key features of the trawlerman’s suit such as the Spanish waistband, eventually producing her PhD thesis ‘King of the Deck: The sartorial extremism of the distant-water trawlermen of Hull 1950-1980’

She then went on the talk about her research into the history of the traditional fisherman’s gansey, the tightly knitted traditional fisherman’s sweater, and the wool and patterns used to create the warm garments required for the extreme conditions the men faced at sea.

This was followed by a fascinating discussion with the members on ganseys and the tightly spun 5-ply wool used to make them.

Photos of Claire and some of the work she brought in to show us, including examples of gansey patterns.

Our scheduled speaker for September was unable to make it, so some of out members stepped in to talk about quilting and show some of their creations. The work was greatly admired, and the members had plenty of questions for the speakers.

Diane Beaumont, winner of the 2024 Grosvenor Show Journal Quilts Challenge, ‘Making a Scene’ spoke about her quilting journey – how she began with traditional quilts, added applique, experimented with colours and techniques, and developed towards art quilts – and about inspiration for her wall hangings depicting nautilus shells and an octopus (shown in our 2022 exhibition) and the importance of enjoyment in choosing themes and techniques. She illustrated how her sketches evolved during the creation of a piece and the question of when a piece was complete.

Hazel Barker and members of quilting group in Hessle then showed their quilts: they had used the same pattern, but different fabrics. The second series shown was ‘Big Blooms’, an Australian design.

Carol Arthur showed her quilts in different colour schemes and how she had added to the pattern.

Hilary Goldsmith introduced quilts made by herself, Lesley Cork, and Dorothy Bell in Cober, using tutor Carolyn Forster’s pattern in the ‘quilt as you go ;technique.

Rachel Benson rounded off the presentation with a Christmas quilt layout in different sizes and colours.

Unfortunately the scheduled speaker, was unable to attend, so Helen Good kindly stepped in as a substitute to talk to us about about Tudor knitting.

Helen began her talk with an overview of the history of knitting which had originally derived from knots, and could be traced back to 240 BC. It was developed by the elite in a variety of countries and arrived n Doncaster in the 1570s.

Knitting began with socks and hats, and was originally without patterns. It was believed that cardigans and balaclavas were developed as a results of the Crimean War. Helen described the process for producing knitted hats, which were felted to ensure that they were warm and waterproof.

A variety of knitted hats were circulated amongst the members.

This month we were whisked back in time to the Georgian era, by local embroiderer and co author of the book Jane Austen Embroideries, Alison Larkin.  Lots of elegant waistcoats and top coats with exquisite embroidery (and that was just the men) and the ladies in delicate silks and muslin, also either quilted or embroidered.  Alison’s work on the Jane Austen patterns from “The Lady” magazine were delightful.  A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

As has become our custom on zoom, we had a “warm up” act while everyone logged into the meeting. Chair Val surpassed herself today by using power point to display work from various residential workshops from 1989 to 2018.  We spent a lovely time reminiscing about past tutors and venues.  Our first ever residential was organised by Doreen Spencer at Grantley Hall and the tutor was Jenny Barson, a very talented machine embroiderer.  There were  more visits to Grantley for box making with Bridget Rylands, and silk painting with Mary Day.  Marjorie  Siboldi managed to run off several poppy pictures, which she framed and sold to people on a different course, whilst the rest of us were still deciding which colours to use.  Other tutors at Grantley were Jean Littlejohn,  and Jennie Rayment.  When the hall was taken over we tried a non residential weekend at Newland High School with Pam Watts.  We had a skilled tutor and great food but the camaraderie was missing.

Next came several visits to Horncastle College.  The venue had a really good workroom with plenty of natural light, and the food was outstanding.  However the bedrooms were in need of refurbishment and didn’t pass government requirements.  Linda Westerman, Tracy Frankland and Anja Townrow were our tutors.  All experts in their own field.

Sneaton Castle near Whitby had wonderful views and gardens, and a huge collection of Mouseman furniture.  The bedrooms were purpose built for schoolgirls and a bit cramped.  Paddy Killer and Linda Westerman were our  tutors.

Wentworth Castle Northern College became our next venue.  Lovely rooms, but the voucher system for food left us bewildered.  Beadwork ,Friendly Plastic, and Poker Work with Organza were our very varied subjects.  The weather caused many problems on the Kathleen Laurel Sage weekend and we arrived late, some of us dripping wet from leaving the car to seek directions (who  knew there were two Wentworth  mansions).  After a busy weekend Andrew Gibb helped many of us with seized brakes to rock our cars free. Caroline Cockcroft  had to confess to her husband that his brand new car had a wrecked engine.

Then on to Cober Hill, our current venue.  It ticks all of our boxes and our tutors Linda Westerman, Karen Lane , Gail Lawther,  and Josie Storey have all been inspirational. Here’s hoping that 2021 will prove equally as good next month.

Our main speaker this month was Alison Wake

Alison is a member of the Peak District Artisans.  She is inspired by the natural and industrial landscapes of Derbyshire.  We were taken through a collection of photographs in varying seasons. The colours were fantastic, as were the miniature scenes she created from them.  Her work is hand stitched in wool, dyed locally.  She usually buys variegated skeins in 4ply (sock yarn) so that a continuous line of long and short stitch can be created without change of thread.  The waterfalls have a sparkle of silver and look very realistic.  Alison was very generous with her tips about construction and framing.  If you did not join the zoom meeting do have a look at her website, Cognissart.  I had no idea that Derbyshire was such a beautiful county as I have only ever seen it in rain and fog.  Some of her work is currently in the shop at The Rope Walk in Barton on Humber.  Opening Days  Wednesday – Sunday

Val Wright (Chair) opened this month’s meeting with some encouraging news. The Exhibition Sub Committee have secured the use of Cottingham’s Civic Hall for next year’s exhibition, which will run from Friday, 29^th April until the 2^nd of May, 2022. Val explained how this venue provides great opportunities, in terms of a large, open and ‘blank’ space, which will allow for a separate sales area and a space to enjoy refreshments. The Sub Committee also are hopeful that there will be space for a demonstration area. The Exhibition Committee will design the exhibition. Val said that help would be needed for displaying items, stewarding and providing refreshments. In the meantime, Val asked that we take stock of all the projects we have completed throughout the last year, with a view to putting them forward for the exhibition. She reminded us of her lockdown challenge – Close To Our Hearts. This is a 3-D project, 5” x7” in size, depicting anything that has especially touched us during lockdown.

Lynn Benson spoke to us next, introducing a challenge for a Society Display for the exhibition. Lynn’s challenge is to create a piece to fit in an embroidery hoop. The hoop can be any size and Hilary Goldsmith told us that there are plenty of hoops available in the EYELETS stash. Lynn wants us to be experimental with this piece, using any fabric or thread or stitching technique. She is asking us to just ‘go for it’ to produce a piece about anything that inspires you.

Lynn had a little time to show us a couple of hats she has made, each one exuberant, with an abundance of feathers and a 3-D one, which can be worn at any angle!

Jacky Ward Lomax: From Drawing to Quilt

Jacky’s background is in sculpture and she is a self-taught quilter. Jacky explained that the leap from sculpture to sewing and needlecraft was a stretch, although, as a teenager, she would draft her own patterns and make her own outfits.

Jacky began her talk for us by explaining that her inspiration comes from a range of sources, including; images from ones own imagination, research from the computer, books and photos, and tracing images from birthday cards and such like.

Jacky showed us a beautiful selection of pieces and explained how the process worked – from inspiration to end result.

The first piece Jacky showed us was a wall hanging of a pine tree, inspired by a dream. Jacky explained how she draws a grid over her initial drawing so that she can adapt the image to the size she wants. This done, she can choose an array of fabrics and threads and get to work.

We were treated to a vibrant and colourful wall hanging that Jacky created for a friend, celebrating the joy of singing. A Tibetan singing bowl with flowers produced a joyous piece of work.

Jacky is a regular visitor to our sales table, keeping her stash topped up, and even the most unpromising fabrics clearly gain a new lease of life in Jacky’s skilled hands. We enjoyed a Klimt inspired wall hanging of Burton Bushes in Beverley, with spindly, stylised trunks and stylised flower patterns in gorgeous hues.

Other pieces were inspired by Jacky’s visit to Pearson Park, with its exquisite displays of flowers and a birthday card with a graceful trio of horses cantering along the beach.

Jacky’s work is clearly inspired by the world around us with all its colour, texture and joy. Her final piece for us was a bright and very beautiful sunflower!

You can download Jacky’s PowerPoint presentation here:

Hilary Spilsby: Lucy Boston – Patchwork of the crosses

For the final part of our afternoon, Val introduced us to Hilary Spilsby.

Hilary was seated in front of a spectacular quilt which was inspired by the work of an extraordinary woman, Lucy Boston, 1892-1990. Hilary spoke of Lucy’s background as the child of Wesleyan parents and, during The Great war, as a nurse in a French military hospital. She later became the author of the Green Knowe series of children’s books. During the ’30s, we learned that Lucy returned to Essex, after studying painting in Vienna, and set up home in Hemingford Grey. It was here that Lucy started to create quilts of great detail and eclectic in mix.

Hilary was so inspired by Lucy’s work, that she bought the patterns and paper pieces needed to create her own Boston Quilt. Amazingly, the quilt is made up from only two shapes – 24 honeycombs, framed by 1” squares!

Hilary explained that she wanted to make her quilt for her wedding anniversary. She showed us how playing with colour and shade, each square can look completely different. Hilary uses fat quarters and regular metres of fabric for in between. Antique sheets, which aren’t so stiff, are used for the background. Always ready to explore, Hilary has honed her ‘fussy cutting’ technique, selecting tiny images and motifs and cutting them out to insert into her designs to add another layer of delight!

Hilary spent three years on her quilt, taking it on her Anniversary Cruise to Iceland.

Many ladies were interested and, probably relieved, to learn that Hilary leaves her tacking in when making quilts!

You can download Hilary’s presentation here:

An inspiring afternoon, delivered by inspirational women, was enjoyed by all.