Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

  SATURDAY 21ST JANUARY GUILD GUEST PRESENTATION  AND AGM This Saturday sees our annual meeting where we catch up on 2022 with all its highs and lows and look to the year ahead.  This will be preceeded by our Guest speaker, Anna Champeney who will be taking us through her personal journey of 20 years handweaving in Spain. This meeting will be held on zoom in its entirety. 'Doors' will open at 10.15 am for a 10.30 am start when Anna will open with any announcements before introducing our guest speaker, Anna Champeney. Our AGM will follow to go through the formal activities and reports for 2022. See you there folks!

    CHRISTMAS GUILD MEETING   Saturday 10th December 2022     Our reminder for our December meeting on Saturday and will be in person at the Methodist Hall for our Christmas Creative.    The schedule will be as usual - 10.15 am doors open and 10.30 am our Chair will open with reminders, news and updates and we shall get creative with Sue.    Supplies will be available but of course do bring along any stash (yarns and beads etc) you would like to use and usually wise to bring your scissors and work box. Or if you wish to just continue with a project you have then bring it along to work on too. Don't forget your lunch.  Refreshments and christmassy bites will be available too. A reminder that 2023 membership is now open.  New members are eagerly welcomed.  Just head to the 'joins us' page to find out more. Thank you to those who have already renewed for 2023, but a jog to those that haven't renewed yet, you can do so onlin...

  NOVEMBER GUILD MEETING SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER NIC FULCHER Our November meeting is being held this coming Saturday and our speak is Nic Fulcher  who will be giving his talk 'The Secrets of Tudor Fashion'.    As he describes it,  'In a world dominated by strict hierarchy, what you wore in Elizabethan England defined your social position.  So choose your fabrics carefully; for unless you dress like a Lady or Gentleman, you will not be treated as one.  What are the fabrics of choice and which colours should you be wearing?  And what is going on under those elaborate gowns?'   So dress appropriately ladies !!!!   Doors will open as usual at 10.15 am, don't forget your lunch and the usual drinks and biscuits (possibly even cake!) will be available.

 OCTOBER MEETING  STRATWEAVE  - THE RECKONING! Our Challenge month   Before the details of the next meeting this month we wanted to give a BIG Congratulations to Jane Lucas who raised £230 at her MacMillan coffee morning this year.  Another great fundraiser Jane! This time last year, feeling saddened and disappointed that the annual Britspin would not be happening we decided to develop our own spinning challenges for the month, not quite as competitive and no points counting and we ran StratSpin!  We enjoyed challenging ourselves and seeing the outcome from the members.  So .....  this year we have evolved to the next skill and October is our month for StratWeave - the reckoning!   We felt that now there are so many interested in weaving this year we should have challenge ourselves with this skill.   It will start with the regular monthly meeting on Saturday 15th October, in the Methodist Hall, and on Zoom, with two follow-up Zoom m...

  CHILDREN IN NEED ACTIVITY     Last year, the Stratford-upon-Avon Guild was approached by the BBC's Countryfile team to help with fundraising for Children in Need. We jumped at the opportunity! Countryfile ran a competition to design this year's Bobble Hat for BBC Children in Need. We were asked to turn a fleece from Countryfile's Adam Henson's sheep into some hats and a scarf, inspired by the winning design, to be auctioned off to raise money for the charity. Jane Lucas, one of our members, collected the fleece from Adam last November, and was filmed demonstrating some of the skills we would be using to process the fleece. This subsequently appeared on the Countryfile show launching the hat competition, which can still be found on the BBC iPlayer at  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0012vxq/countryfile-countryfile-at-christmas?page=2        In the last few months, the fleece has been washed, dyed, carded (brushed smooth), and spun int...

 SEPTEMBER GUILD MEETING  - SATURDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER Just a reminder that our next Guild meeting is this coming Saturday, starting as usual at 10.30 am through till 3 pm at the Methodist Hall. This is our first meeting back after the summer break so a social meeting to catch up with fellow members and a chance to Show and Tell on all you have been doing since we last met. Don't forget you lunch and drinks will be available as usual.   As separate zoom meeting will take place for those who cannot attend in person, meeting with everyone for a quick show and tell but then separating off.   See you there

    June Guild Meeting 11th June 2022 10.15am doors open     Just a quick last minute reminder and notification of our Guild Meeting for June.  We have had a change of plan and our speaker for the month will now be visiting us in November, later this year. This month's meeting is face to face at the Methodist Hall and we welcome all our members and non-members alike. There are no planned specific activities so bring along what you are working on to chat and catch up with our members.  If you have any question then bring them along too ! Last month was our Birthday Celebration and the results for our challenge laid down in January!  Some images of the results are included here and just some of our contributions to Hadrian's Wall Bunting and the Association Exhibition both later this year.