Plots and Spangles

I visited the Plots and Spangles exhibition at Auckland Castle. It is a show of the vestments embroidered by Helena Wintour. She was the daughter of a member of the Gunpowder Plot, hence the 'plot' in the title. The embroidered part is amazing. It is all goldwork and stumpwork. The quantity is unbelievable especially when worked by one person. The quality is so fine, and a lot would have been worked by candlelight and with needles that wouldn't have been as fine as modern ones.

 Auckland Castle is interesting in its own right and has a cosy tearoom in the library.

There is a leaflet with more detail and illustrations on the Guild noticeboard.

YSL Style is Eternal

I went to see this exhibition at Bowes Museum last week. The embroidery, especially the bead work on the dresses was amazing. The exhibition has been so popular it has been extended until November 8th, so there is still time to visit.

Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester

I visited the Whitworth to see Cornelia Parker's Magna Carta work. It was fascinating and I loved the story behind its making. It was fun spotting the famous names and finding the words they had stitched. The embroidery pictures stitched by Guild members were impressive. I hadn't realised but there was another exhibition involving textiles called Art_Textiles. This had pieces by various textile artists, most of which I hadn't heard of, but including Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry. The exhibition was interesting, exploring the 'art or craft' conundrum, and was definitely textiles on a large scale

York Visit

I thought I would share with you the pieces from York Embroiderers' Guild Exhibition that caught my eye.

The first is this series by Helen Young. There were seven parts but not all my photographs were good enough to pass on.

I also liked some of the pieces in the 'Make Do and Mend' section. Cutting and slashing/faux chenille are techniques I enjoy. It was good to see them used for these bags.

The exhibition was a good mix of traditional and contemporary work.

I enjoyed the exhibition at the Quilt Museum. It's sad that it will be closing. I liked the antique traditional quilts. It is amazing what used to be produced with limited fabrics and oil lamps or candlelight. Kaffe Fasset's quilts were as vibrant as ever. I appreciate that his inspiration came from the old quilts but I'm not sure they worked well together. Vivid colour is his 'thing' but I thought his quilts appeared brash alongside the faded colours of the old ones. Any thoughts?

All in all a good day out