October 2025 AGM and Talk by Nikki Parmenter (photographs by Michele King. Report by co-Chairs Michele King and Kim Parkman)
The meeting in October 2025 was comprised of four parts.
1. The first was our AGM, chaired by our Secretary. During the AGM appreciation was expressed to last years officers, other committee members and to all who undertook other jobs; the programme secretary and webmaster, who are both retiring from their positions, were thanked for their many years in post and given flowers.
Kim is presenting flowers to Hilary who is retiring as Webmaster in 2025 after 14 years of service
Eileen presenting flowers to Kim who is retiring as Programme Secretary in 2025 after many years of service
2.The AGM was followed by a delicious shared lunch.
3.Next, the altar frontal, commissioned by All Hallows to celebrate their 150th Anniversary was handed over to the Vicar. This was the result of 18 month’s work by our members. The project was lead by Gill Roberts, and is something of which we can all be proud.
Altar cloth embroidered by Merseyside Expressive Stitchers’ Group for All Hallows Church 2025
4.And lastly, the branch was pleased to welcome back Nikki Parmenter on 18th October. Several years ago, Nikki talked about her work and held an exciting workshop using innovative mixed media techniques. Her talk this time concentrated on her interest in the myths and stories of different belief systems around the world. We were treated to a display of colourful, multi-layered pieces that showed how her work has developed over the years. Looking closely at the many samples, we could see the use of recycled materials, such as curtain hooks and paper clips, as well as painted and sewn cloth, plastic and funky foam, to make both large and small pieces. All demonstrated a love of story-telling and beautiful artwork. No wonder Nikki has won several prizes, including the national Members’ Challenge for the Embroiderers’ Guild. We are looking forward to learning some of the techniques in a workshop next April.
September 2025 TALK “My Life in Stitches” by Christine Green (photographs by Hilary McCormack)
Christine Green gave a fabulous inspirational talk on her life in stitches. Christine’s parents, and other relatives were all creative, and this obviously has been inherited by Christine. She showed her first quilt, made when she was a small child, followed by many other items incorporating a large variety of techniques and mostly comprised of recycled fabrics. Christine was wearing trousers completely covered in artistic patches and stitches using her own version of Japanese boro. She has had a varied and interesting life in stitch including work for the BBC (Blue Peter, Antiques Roadshow etc.), designing kits for the National Trust, a variety of private commissions and collaborating with a variety of groups and artists on a plethora of projects. Her love of her craft is evident and her talk was greatly enjoyed.
August 2025 WORKSHOP led by Gill Roberts
We held a drop in workshop at All Hallows Centre to put together the Altar Frontal we are making for All Hallows Church. No photographs are available yet, as the Altar Frontal will be officially handed over to the church at our October AGM on Saturday 18th October 2025.
July 2025 WORKSHOP “Design, Develop, Embellishment” (photograph by Michele King)
In July Liz Shelbourne led a full day workshop entitled, “Design, Develop, Embellishment” at her studio in the John Archer Hall. Landscape photos were used as the basis and inspiration for each piece of work. Attendees were then able to choose from a variety of dyes and paints, and several methods of applying these including painting directly onto the main fabric, onto voile fabric and onto transfers to be ironed onto the main fabric. The various layers of dye and paint were built up to form an image inspired by the chosen photo. During the process, special marking techniques were used, which disappear with ironed. Liz is an accomplished and experienced artist and an excellent tutor who provided an enjoyable, educational and individual bespoke experience that allowed all to explore and test a variety of methods; it was enjoyed by all who attended.
Collage of MEsG July Workshop with Liz Shelbourne
June 2025 TALK “My Work and Ideas That Inspired It”
Patti Owen, who is a member of Merseyside Expressive Stitchers’ group, brought an extensive selection of her embroideries to show us. Patti was greatly inspired by the late Ann McTavish, who was an embroidery teacher specialising in wool embroideries. Patti also works mostly with wools and silks on quite large-scale work, the designs for the embroideries taken from photographs or scenes that appeal to her. Patti’s talk was very interesting, and inspiring to all who attended.
May 2025 Duo of Workshops with Gill Roberts and Kim Parkman.
This month we began to attach and appliqué the individual motifs on to the All Hallows Altar Frontal.We also had the choice of learning and practising the technique of appliqué as used by the Royal School of Needlework, if we were not present last month. At the same time we had a Bring and Stitch session for those members who just wanted to meet up with like minded people for a time of socialising.
April 2025 Workshop “Appliqué” with Gill Roberts and Michele King
Appliqué is a stitch technique that involves attaching fabric pieces to a larger piece of fabric to create a design. We learned this is the method used by the Royal School of Needlework and is a preparation to sewing the individual pieces we have stitched on to the altar frontal background. As a group we are creating a new Altar Frontal for All Hallows Church, which will be used to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary. We discovered that this is a very slow painstaking method, using a very small curved needle, which was not readily mastered by all who took part in the group.
March 2025 Workshop “Spring Cross Stitch” with Michele King. Photograph by Michele King
Cross-stitch dates back to the sixth or seventh centuries AD. It is a simple stitch that can be used in many ways. During this 3-hour workshop, Michele showed the group two different ways to make the cross-stitch. There was a wide choice of different patterns to make, each of which could then be used for a card, hanging decoration or put into a frame. A few of the pieces from the workshop are shown below.
MEsG Cross Stitch Workshop 2025
February 2025 Workshop “Chicken Scratch” with Miranda Farby
Miranda Farby ably showed us how to embroider gingham with Chicken Scratch embroidery to make a cushion front in a 3 hour workshop. Chicken Scratch is a form of folk embroidery made with simple stitches on gingham, using the pattern as part of the effect to create surprising results. This was a very enjoyable workshop and everyone came away having achieved a lot as you can see from the photographs
January 2025 Talk and Zoom “My Practice” by Anne Kelly
We booked the internationally renowned textile-based mixed-media artist Anne Kelly to talk about her work and practice from her studio in Kent. Anne’s work spans a wide range of techniques applied to a variety of different types of items. She is interested in nature as a theme and showed us slides of some of the many embroideries she has created and exhibited. Anne Kelly mixes traditional and contemporary stitches, machine embroidery and other media to create unique pieces. She has exhibited and won prizes world wide, and is the author of several best selling books.