Monday, 7 April 2014

Fun, Friendship and Fellowship

 I've been away for the weekend... not teaching, not working but having lots of fun.
I've attended my first ever national AGM for the Embroiderers' Guild and I'm wondering why I've never been before.
 
 
There were a variety of workshops on offer and I started off on Friday morning making fairy shoes with the delightful and very funny Annette Emms.
 
 
Totally frivolous but lots of fun... even more so when we realised that dotted around the conference rooms were bowls full of sweeties... jelly beans, jelly babies, refreshers etc.... I confess I may have been just a little high on sugar and e-numbers all weekend!

 
After a wonderful lunch I took another workshop with Brenda Scarman where I learned to attach Shisha mirrors onto canvas - a new technique for me.

 
I've ended up with a delightful little pin cushion that I'm thinking will make a good project for my Young Embroiderers.

 
As well as workshops we were treated to some entertaining and informative talks, there were exhibitions to look at, books to browse, traders to buy from and best of all friends to chat and laugh with.

 
On Saturday night we had a wonderful Gala dinner - the food all weekend was excellent - with a talk by Professor Malcolm Lochhead, which was very entertaining.

 
Of course in the middle of it all was the AGM, which despite being a little drawn out and over long was still postive and encouraging for the future of the Guild.

 
And without doubt it feels time to put the past problems of the Guild behind us and move forward...
And I'm looking forward to my next AGM for more fun!

16 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a great weekend Gina .....I love your makes!! :)
    V xxx

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  2. Glad you had a fun weekend and I love that little pin cushion!

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  3. What a wonderful way to rejuvenate with friends. Your fairy shoes will raise some eyebrows when you next go shopping! And the pincushion is beautiful and I look forward to seeing what your students take on this will be. Wendy x

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  4. Those little fairy shoes are adorable! It's hard to tell the scale from the pictures -- are they very big? Sounds like you had a great weekend!

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  5. Always wanted to make fairy shoes
    The pin cushion looks lovely.
    Please bring Friday.

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  6. That all sounds so positive for the EG. I love those little fairy shoes and the pincushion. Canvas work was my introduction to embroidery and I still have a soft spot for it.

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  7. Annette is fab isn't she Gina? She was our local Chair(wo)man for a while. Good to see that things are still positive for embroidery!

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  8. I'm pretty smitten with those beautiful fairy shoes, Gina!

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  9. It sounds like a wonderful weekend and I love the fairy shoes!

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  10. Gina, once again you've amazed and delighted me with your creativity.

    Those slippers are fantastic in all meanings of that word. Wow and wow again!

    And the pincushion is exquisite. In theory I know how to do that mirror embroidery but have never done it with my own needle and thread. You've inspired me to try, try, try to find time to give it a go. The colors you chose for the tapestry work is just perfect. Very evocative of spring.

    Bravo! xo

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  11. How did you pack it all in? Must have been all the sugar fuelling you along! I must confess the thought of an AGM lasting more than an hour makes me shudder, but that one sounds like fun!

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  12. You have reminded me I haven't made any fairy shoes in a long while - they are such fun aren't they? I downloaded the article An certainly had a packed weekend, but sound like a lot of fun. Cheers

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  13. I think you needed that weekend, you were certainly productive.

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  14. I quite fancy a pair of fairy slippers. I wonder if they only come in fairy size? I have never tried embroidery but would really like to one day. The pin cushion might be a good start. I am glad you had a lovely weekend. Cx

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  15. Glad you had a good time. I love the fairy shoes and the canvas work.

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  16. Sounds a fun weekend, you deserve it!

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