Meets: 1st Wednesday every month – 1:00 to 4:00 pm
3rd Wednesday every month – 6:30 to 9:30 pm
September to May

The Cottage, Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant
20 Ava Road, Brantford

Report – December 2022

submitted by Barbara Cook, ONN Rep

This season, we have been able to meet in person and catch up on projects that members have been able to work and on and complete during the lock downs.

Our program for this year is providing the opportunity to gain or increase knowledge in several counted work techniques.  So far, we have explored Cross stitch, Blackwork, and several Sashiko techniques including Kogin.

We ended the season with our usual social lunch and card exchange.

Here are a few of our Sashiko pieces…

Report – September 2022

submitted by Barbara Cook, ONN Rep

We are counting on a full year of in-person meetings and we did hold our first meeting of the season at Glenhyrst. Our theme for the program year is “COUNT ON IT!”  and is an opportunity to gain, increase, and share knowledge in several techniques including: Cross stitch, Blackwork, Kogin, Canvas Work, Hardanger, and more.

As well, our annual challenge is to create any object by upcycling any ‘old’ or ‘no longer used’ garment or item to create any needlework piece using any technique.

Report – July 2022

submitted by Barbara Cook, ONN Rep

Our Guild has not been able to hold any formal meetings over the summer. We have been planning for the fall and we are looking forward to being able to meet in person starting in September.

Report – March 2022

submitted by Barbara Cook

The season has continued to challenge any plans to meet in person. Nevertheless, we continue to work on our embroidery and to stay connected as the situation allows. Our year-long ‘twinchie’ project continues and individual projects are progressing. At the end of the season, we hope to reveal the finished projects at an in-person meeting.

We are starting to gather ideas for next year and looking forward to getting together to catch up and to discuss our upcoming program

Twinchies in completed projects:

    

And some projects that were completed in our isolation, using only materials on hand:

   
Also:

Two of our members had some of their work included in The Art of Textile show in St. Mary’s Station Gallery that ran from Feb 4th to Mar 19th. This was a One Of A Kind show of needleworks and fabric based pictures and sculptures. After being collected and assembled, displayed and photographed the show almost didn’t make it to the public due to another pandemic shutdown. However, the art gods prevailed and the gallery was granted permission to open.

Deborah Downey

“Drusilla: A Book Dragon” is a 6ft fabric sculpted dragon, mainly done by hand.
She was made using fabrics, threads, and a myriad of objects already on hand and recycled into the project.

The Iona Book, “Fergal; the Fisherman and Justus; the Farmer” is an imagined tale of how these two men met, lived in the monastery that Columba founded, and interacted in the society therein.
The book is made from folded and cut watercolour paper, painted and sewn, woven and pasted, embroidered and beaded and finally edged with chamois leather.

Barbara-Helen Hill

Oak Faeries
Mixed Media (fabric, felt, beads, wire armature, acorn cap), interpretation of the faeries that look after the oak trees.
The dolls represent the little people, faeries, a connection to the universe and creation. In indigenous teachings ‘we are all related’

Water Spirits
Mixed Media (Fabric, wire armature, beads, ribbons, trims, embroidery threads)

The picture of the Sea Horses represents the elementals that take care of the water. I don’t have any idea what the elementals look like, they probably aren’t sea horses but I liked the idea of the animals, fish, amoeba etc. all taking care of the water.

Report –  December 2021

submitted by Barbara Cook

This year is another season with no in person meetings and the fall weather did not cooperate for outdoor meetings. Nevertheless, we are managing to stay connected and to share our love of embroidery.

For this season, we have a year-long ‘twinchie’ project underway. Members that participate decide what their end project will be. Each member of the group will make a twinchie for each participant’s project based on communication with that person. At the end of the season, we will reveal the finished projects.

A few twinchie samples by Kay

Beth has completed some beautiful Brazil work

Barbara’s clock

A finally finished etui by Barbara

Report – September 2021 – Brant Needle Arts Guild

submitted by Barbara Cook

After our hiatus year, we are looking forward to reconnecting with a new program that will begin in October.  While the details are still to be finalized, the program promises to be one that will encourage collaboration, in-person or otherwise, among all our members over the course of the 2021-2022 season.

Stay tuned

Report – December 2020

Helma reports that Brant has not been meeting since the pandemic lockdown and they have no itinerary for the next few months.

Report – October 2019

Submitted by Helma Bos, ONN Rep

Brant Needle Arts Guild

With a new season of embroidery starting, we at Brant Broderers have also started the year with a new name.  We have changed our name to the Brant Needle Arts Guild.    After lengthy discussions last year within our group, it was felt that the name Broderers (a short form of Embroidery) was too vague of a word for people to understand what our group is about.  The name change makes it clearer as to what our group is about.

This season our theme for the year is “It’s Personal” with the emphasis on individual members creating personal objects or a series of objects using any techniques a member would like.  The season will not revolve around classes taught by members but will be of individual learning with members of the guild assisting.

We will continue with some of our guild’s more popular traditions.  Stitch of the month will be taught once a month by various members, our holey card exchange and the yearly Mystery Box Challenge (which always brings out the most creative results) are always things we look forward to.

While we meet on Wednesdays, once a year we like to come together on a Saturday to do an all day workshop.  Coming in November our member Barb Cook will be teaching a workshop on goldwork.  Barb is our group’s goldwork expert and we are all looking forward to creating the goldwork butterfly she has designed for us to make.

We all look forward to a season of friendship and creativity,

Helma
Brant Needle Arts Guild

Report – April 2019

Helma Bos, ONN Representative

This spring the Brant Broderers had several classes in techniques new to us.  This included Dorset Feather Stitchery and  Romanian Point Lace.  Barb taught us Dorset Feather Stitchery which was something none of us had heard of before.  The current form was developed by Olivia Pass in the 1950s and combines feather and buttonhole stitches with other stitches like chain, fly and lazy daisies. I taught Romanian Point Lace which is a type of lace work that is done with a crochet cord and connected using various filling stitches.  Other classes taught this season have been crazy patch, crewel and stump work flowers taught by Kay.

Report – December 2017

Brant Broderers had an eventful fall. We started in September with a banner challenge. Each of us where to create a triangle shape banner using whatever technique we wanted to so. The results of this was revealed at our Christmas meeting. A wide variety of techniques where used and the results was a sight to see. The banners will be used by the guild for public displays in the future.

In November, several members of our guild had the pleasure of joining up with Norfolk’s Own Needle Arts Guild to take a work shop with Naomi Smith. The workshop was on a traditional technique of moose hair tufting. Different beading techniques were also taught.

Our yearlong project is a canvas work piece involving several different techniques that will be given out once a month. The end results will be about 8 by 10 inches.

Our Christmas meeting included the very popular Chinese takeout and holey card raffle.

2016 Card Raffle