Lydgate Stitchers Update 2019

• Membership:
  -Arlene Lees left us in 2018 to go and live near Harrogate to be close to her daughter and family. She will be missed a great deal. The Stitchers decided to have one of Arlene’s embroidered pictures framed and it was presented to her at her leaving party held at the Roebuck.
• Fund Raising:
  -The Stitchers continue to support local community and fund raising events – The Christmas Fayre and The Love Lydgate Plant and Cake Sale. At present we are making 200 bows for the White Hart Community Event. The bows will be used to help raise funds for a local charity.
• Projects:
  -The ‘Knit a House’ challenge has been completed and is now displayed in the Parish Hall. The title of the panel is ‘Lydgate – Our Close Knit Community’ and is composed of knitted and woven pieces, many of which represent the homes of Stitchers and well known buildings in the area.
  -The ‘Threads of Lydgate’ project is still ongoing and has been quite a complex project to work on as it is larger than our previous hanging ‘Remembered in Thread’. We may re-name the hanging ‘Lydgate – Woven in Time’ as it represents the historical themes portrayed in Jill Harrison’s inspirational picture.
• Future projects:
  -The Stitchers are planning a Poetry and Coffee event inspired by the publication of a poetry book called ‘Some mothers Do……’ written by Hilary Robinson and her friends Rachel Davies and Tonia Bevins. The Stitchers hope to create an exhibition of textile work that will link into the themes of the poems – to be displayed at the event.
  -Saddleworth Museum is creating a ‘Book of Days’ that will represent community events, activities etc that have taken place in and around Saddleworth. The Stitchers plan to contribute a page based on the creation and celebration of our wall hanging ‘Remembered in Thread’.

-St. Anne’s School has approached the Stitchers to assist in making a school banner to be held by Year Six in Manchester Cathedral when they celebrate completing their last scholastic year at St Anne’s and prepare their pathway to their new school. This is on-going in liaison with the school and Pat Gillian.

• Social Event:
-The Stitchers who attend on a Monday night planned a visit to the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester to see a community based exhibition called ‘Threadbearing Witness’ by textile artist Alice Kettle. Alice Kettle works with mixed media and machine embroidery and created three very large embroideries based on the Sky, Ground and Sea.

Celia Gledsdale March 2019