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.