A BUZZ of chatter, of ideas being swopped and admiration for the work on show filled Cheriton Bishop Village Hall when that branch of the West Country Embroiderers held their spring fair.

This branch has been going since January, 1997. It meets on the first Tuesday afternoon of each month. Sometimes members instruct or they have visiting tutors on a vast array of embroidery techniques.

Members come from quite a distance for meetings and the annual fair and exhibition, in its 18th year, had a big display of members’ work plus stalls with a variety of items for sewing or knitting from local outlets and branch members.

A display of antique embroidery dating back 100 years or so belonging to members included several christening gowns, and a lavish kimono brought back from Japan.

Ursula Radford from South Tawton was showing a dressing gown her great great aunt made in 1913 when she was 17 or 18 for her bottom drawer, as it was called in those days.

But the man the lady had hoped to marry died in World War One. Ursula’s great great aunt never wore the dressing gown, stored it away, and she never married.

Ursula also has the bedspread her great great aunt crocheted in cotton. That, too, was packed away with the dressing gown.

She had made the dressing gown from a blanket, covered in embroidered flowers, leaves and tracery. It took two years to make and 72 skeins of thread. She had no pattern and no sewing machine, it was all hand done.

As someone said, it was lovely to see these hand crafts were very much still alive, as proved by the exhibition.

Another branch member, Sue Macdonald from Chulmleigh was showing the Splendid Sampler which began on line this year and is shared all over the world.

Sue’s husband, Angus, was making fishing flies. These are available in Crediton. One of his flies, a lure, uses a tiny piece of rabbit fur with elk hair. The flies were fascinating.

Among the demonstrations and skills to try was member Janet Grist who works with paint, showing what can go on behind the stitches. She likes colour behind her embroidery, uses various paints and makes her own small printing blocks using a sticky-backed craft foam.

Then there was the work done for their collage project working from a Gustav Klimt painting.

The project took from last October to March this year. They had chosen a panel called The Knight, an abstract of geometric patterns designed by Klimt for the dining room of the Stoclet Palace in Brussels.

A print of the panel was cut into 36 squares, each member took one, returned it with the embroidery copy when complete, the pieces then put together and stitched to form the collage.

This will be on show at Crediton Parish Church Flower Festival in June.

Sue Read