Pssst! The South Western branch of the Embroiderers Guild is making a big artwork that will stretch across a wooden folding screen to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But what it’s of is being kept a secret.
Guild president Robyn Archer said members were each embroidering a tile, or square, that wil be part of the screen.
The completed work, that will involve many and varied techniques, will be revealed at the guild’s anniversary celebrations on Saturday, November 8.
Creating civic commemorative works is nothing new for the south-west branch.
Early in its development the branch made a contribution to the newly-developed Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village.
Members stitched a patchwork quilt that can be seen today on a bed at the village’s lighthouse keeper’s cottage.
The branch also created a large framed collage of the city to celebrate the construction of a performing arts centre in Warrnambool in the early 1980s.
The collage hangs in the south foyer of the new Lighthouse Theatre.
Other civic works include The Spirit of the Sea that hangs in Warrnambool City Council’s reception foyer.
Work by branch members also hangs in the mezzanine floor of Parliament House in Canberra, eembroidering part of the Victorian panel illustrating the state’s early history.
Mrs Archer said it had 51 members, including many women in their forties.
She said embroidery was an art that gave a lot of tactile pleasure and was good therapy.
“We have workshops and guidance days,” Mrs Archer said of the branch’s activities.
“Members help other members. It’s a nice support group. We never run out of new types of embroidery to do,” she said.
The branch meets in the evening of the second Tuesday of every month at The Cottage at Warrnambool Primary School in Jamieson Street.
It holds a guidance day on the last Thursday of each month.
A exhibition of members’ work is staged every two years. The next is due between February 27 and March 1 nex year in the Warrnambool Masonic Lodge on Kepler Street.
All past members are invited to its 40th anniversary celebrations on November 8. Contact Robin Southey on 5568 1825 to book a place.
