Each year at the Knitting & Stitching Shows the Embroiderers’ Guild curate a Members’ exhibition. For 2024 the theme is ‘Repair Restore Recreate’ and I’m pleased to share that Darning Sampler 2 and They Shall Grow Not Old have been accepted for exhibition.
They Shall Grow Not Old – part of the Repair Restore Recreate
Darning Sampler 2 – part of the Repair Restore Recreate
Opposites Attract
In addition to the Repair Restore Recreate exhibition, the Guild stand will have the Members’ Challenge 2024 ‘Opposites Attract’ on show – which includes my piece ‘Good Grub‘
The artwork is based around my love of poetry and features the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon. born in Lancashire, England 1869.
For the Fallen
For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon, was first published in The Times, London, September 21, 1914.
They Shall Grow Not Old
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond england’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Darning and Repair
A used and well worn table runner became the starting point for the artwork. The cloth was thread bear in places and the embroidery was starting to disintegrate.
They Shall Grow Not Old – Darn and repair
My first task was to repair the fragile cloth and for this I chose a vintage Coats crochet thread.
Vintage Coats crochet thread
Larger holes were backed with scraps of silk, linen and cotton cloth, before stitches were woven through to strengthen the cloth.
They Shall Grow Not Old – Darn and repair
The final stage was hand embroidering the text with red Aurifil thread and adding a tab top and bottom made from an old pillowcase.
They Shall Grow Not Old
The piece is 114 x 38cm and will be on exhibition this November, the month we commemorate our lost and fallen servicemen.
Darning Sampler 2 is the latest addition to my darning series. A series of work celebrating the patterns and variations of the humble darning stitch.
Darning Sampler 2 – Cloth
The project started with a vintage glass cloth I discovered in my collection.
This soft, buttery and well worn cloth has a beautiful weave, and an iconic red and white logo runs through the centre. The cloth is easy to handle and provides a perfect blank space for layering and weaving the thread.
An iconic red and white logo running through the centre
I started with a test sample of Madeira Cotona thread to see how it stitched and just carried on stitching.
Madeira Cotona thread and a vintage glass cloth
By the end of the first day I’d completed two designs and was researching more.
A beautiful and buttery cloth to stitch
The act of repairing worn and damaged cloth often involves patching, mending and darning.
Darning Sampler 2 is inspired by a vintage glass cloth from my collection.
Embroiderers’ Guild Members Project 2024
The 2024 Members’ project from the Embroiderers’ Guild is based around repair. Darning Sampler 2 has been accepted and will be on exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Shows this autumn.
“Repair, Restore, and Recreate have become buzz words …. We are all aware of the need to extend the life of what we use. But being textile artists, we also embrace the idea of enhancing and decorating textiles as we repair and/or restore them. What we repair and how, may now be far removed from the days of darning socks ….. The traditional patchwork quilts have evolved into memory quilts … Boro has moved beyond simply patching … Darning has gained a new life as a surface decoration. ” Embroiderers’ Guild.
