Up & coming shows we are attending in 2011 and early 2012

Hello everyone, welcome to our blog. We would appreciate any comments from you. We are going to try and keep you all informed of our whereabouts, what we have been up to, pictures of groups we have been to see, so it should be a really interesting time.

  Added: Our New Kit -  The Dragon

  Go to Expert Goldwork embroidery kits to get yours

A Gallery of our ladies work will be on exhibition at the following 2010 shows:

7–10 October      ALEXANDER PALACE, LONDON  stand TG K3

28–31 October      DUBLIN,  RDS   stand TG 19

25–28 November  HARROGATE     stand TG 530

Oriental Odysseys in Goldwork

By The Rhuddlan Goldwork Group and the Golden Wonders.

We are two groups of goldworkers that are run by mother and daughter, Sue Hinde and Sarah Rakestraw. Their groups are called the Golden Wonders and the Rhuddlan Goldwork group. Their combined talents have worked on this exhibition for over 3 years. The inspiration came from many sources, anything that took their eye with the orient. See exhibitions tab for more detail.

HERTFORD – May 2010

We were asked do we travel as far as Hertford when at the show in Alexandra Palace and of course we said yes, so off we went on a 3 1/2 hours journey the night before and met Mary & Tony in their delightful home, we had a lovely welcome. I had one of the best nights sleep away from home and after a lovely breakfast, we set off.

There were 16 ladies, quite a large group for goldwork, so we new it would be a hard day, but the welcome we had was delightful as were the ladies, and the homemade cakes (Lydia thanks you very much).  Julie who was a fabulous tutor in her own right, much loved by the ladies, so it was a challenge to do something new for her, we did and she went away having learnt something different.  Our two little ladies Elsie & Norma showed off the talents of years of sewing. I don’t know who was more worn out by the end of the day them or us.  But I think they went away suitably enthused.  On the way home we had a blow out on the drivers side of the car in the fast lane on the busy motorway, narrow escape comes to mind so we will always remember that trip.

A weekend in the Isle of Man, with their Embroiderers Guild group. 

April 2010

We travelled on a lovely day on a calm sea, a sign of things to come. We were greeted by Barbara with a daffodil, I thought she must know we have travelled from Wales.

We arrived at our bed and breakfast, it was a pleasant place (www.bluehorizon.im) home from home. In the evening we did a talk for the group. Sarah interfering with her comments, got quite a laugh, what a lovely group.

On the Saturday we arrived to greet the group we were teaching, it soon became clear what a talented group they all were, sharing their precious bits and knowledge. By the end of the day they all had a machined picture to work on ready for the next day, it was really interesting to see the different way people work. Saturday night we spent a lovely time driving into the mountains and then visited Peel, where we had an excellent evening meal at the Marine Hotel.

Sunday we arrived to find some of the girls had done a bit of homework, such enthusiasm. It was the day to create images and shapes with a soldering iron. There were poppies, stars, art deco impressions, dark mountain scenes, Persian palaces, orange poppy fields, church windows, white flowers, manx landscapes, a portrait of a lady and a country scene. What an amazing variety of subjects and skills. A happy time was had by all. We said goodbye in the evening to our hostest with the mostest, Barbara and her hubby.

On Monday it was my birthday and Sarah took me around the south of the Island, we visited Port Erin, where Liz lived and Sarah had stayed on a holiday when she was eleven. The hotel was no longer there and had been replaced by modern apartments. We had lunch at the Sound, over looking the Calf of Man, what a vista looking out from the semi circle of windows, seals and lots of birds in view.

To finish off we got a TT sun hat for John and a special Isle of Man Ice cream, then we were back on the ferry and home.

All in all a wonderful weekend, it felt like we had been on holiday.

Cheshire Borders Embroiderers Guild

November 2009

Working on a part one course, in a lovely room, full of enthusiastic ladies. It is really great bringing goldwork to groups of varied talents, some of which had been with us before to complete beginners (see GM picture of the butterfly in our gallery).

Knowing you are bringing an old technique to new people, and the interest it always generates, always encourages us to continue teaching goldwork and bringing it to more and more people. Be careful it can be addictive.

North Wales Embroiderers Guild Bi Annual Exhibition - October  2009

Mum and I at the exhibition. What a wonderful expression of free minds, creating such great pieces of embroidered textiles. The variety of techniques and expertise on display was exceptional. What a friendly group!

Mums demonstration of sheer fabrics shaped with a soldering iron. Always with a crowd around her as usual, in her element.

I was demonstrating goldwork, the interest and enthusiasm was lovely to see.

Carol Mcfee demonstrated wonderful surfaces, covering and distressing all kinds of paper and fabrics. All the demonstrators were inspiring.

To top it all, the home made cakes and sandwiches made the days

Macclesfield Embroiderers Guild

October 2009

Once more we were on a trip to Macclesfield to take a course. It was lovely to see the ladies once again, they are a friendly talented group and some of the ladies brought the work from our part 1 course, which can be seen here.

Its great to go back and see the work finished, using the techniques that were taught in part 1 and how their own imagination has developed the design.