Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

  Saint Anastasius the Fuller. Patron Saint of Fulling Anastasius (variously spelled Anastasios) was born of a wealthy Italian family in Aquileia, near Venice during the reign of Diocletian (AD 284-311). He was aware that Saint Paul had told the Thessalonians that the most worthy form of work was that using the hands and he chose to follow this advice by becoming a Fuller in the place now known as Split in Croatia. Fulling is the process of cleaning wool cloth to whiten it so that it could be successfully dyed. In those days, the cloth was immersed in a bath of soapy water and then either beaten with sticks or, squashed and stamped on to remove the dirt.  Anastasius was a very religious man and deeply affected by witnessing the martyrdom of some of his fellow Christians, determined to be a martyr himself, so great were his religious beliefs. He painted a cross on his workshop door to proclaim his faith and provoke the Emperor’s wrath.   www.johnsanidopoulos.com In...

  2022 AGM Challenge The Guild have decided to set the AGM challenge whilst we still have a little garden time and resource.   We have set the members the challenge of producing a small sample of fibre from the plant resources in their garden and surrounding countryside, and to then 'show and tell' at our AGM in January 2022. Nettle and Rhubarb are just two amongst our garden plants that can be turned into usable fibre, but there has to be more and we are looking forward to the inginuity and trials that the membership undertakes.     Enjoy the rest of the summer weather this week.