DUNSTON CRAFT CLUB
 meet at the village hall on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month between 7.30 and 9.30pm.
Last Updated 28 Jun 2008

 

The Dunston Craft Club are most grateful to the Dunstonians, who have recently made a donation to the Club
 - which will be used to aid the general running of the club and ensure its' continuance in the future.

PAST WORKSHOPS HELD AT DUNSTON CRAFT CLUB
Click on the links to see photographs where available
ENCAUSTIC ART
WITH LESLIE EVANS		 FABRIC BOXES  
 WITH MARY ROBERTS 		DECOUPAGE 
 WITH BERYL HOPKINS		 RAG RUGS  
WITH JANET JACKSON
JEWELLERY 
 WITH SALLY HARPER		 FABRIC ENRICHMENT  WITH MAGGIE HOLLINGSHEAD STITCHED RUGS 
 WITH MARGERY BLUNDY		 WATER COLOUR PAINTING BUILDINGS
 WITH SYLVIA WOOD
STUMP WORK 
WITH MARY ROBERTS		 SUGAR CRAFT FLOWERS
 WITH SHEILA DUXBURY		 CHINESE WRAPS
 WITH MARY ROBERTS		 CONTEMPORARY SILVER JEWELLERY
 WITH ELIZABETH MARRON
2005 WORKSHOP
CLICK HERE
BATIK
Wax Resist on Cotton 
WITH JAMES GAFFNEY		 ORIGAMI FOLDED SILK BOXES
 WITH BETH JONES		 STUMP WORK 2005
 WITH MARY ROBERTS		 PARCHMENT DAY
 WITH HELEN MORRIS
ITALIAN QUILTING
 WITH MARY ROBERTS		 SILVER JEWELLERY
 WITH ELIZABETH MARRON
2006 WORKSHOP
CLICK HERE
2007 WORKSHOP
CLICK HERE		 PARCHMENT DAY 2006
 WITH HELEN MORRIS		 OHIO STAR BLOCK PATCHWORK
WITH CHRIS FRANSES
HOOP WEAVING
 WITH JENNY SPEED		 SCRAP BOOKING 2007
 WITH
CAROLINE MARRIOTT & ANN CARTER		 PARCHMENT DAY 2008
 WITH SUE HASTWELL
WHIMSICAL WRAPS
 WITH SUE TILL		      
F





 
DUNSTON CRAFT CLUB ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OFFERED BY
STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL AND THE DUNSTONIANS TO ENABLE THE WORKSHOPS TO CONTINUE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ANY FUTURE WORKSHOPS AND FOR BOOKING PLACES PLEASE CONTACT: MRS JULIE BAGNALL ON 01785 716888 OR EMAIL
 
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The Dunston Craft Club
meet at the village hall on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month between 7.30 and 9.30pm.

THE MILLENNIUM MAP IS COMPLETE!
The Official Ceremony of handing over the map was performed at 2.30pm on Saturday 18th December 1999 and was attended by many villagers.

The picture shows Mrs Dorothy Stubbs - Chair of Dunston Village Hall officially receiving the completed Millennium Map from Councillor Mrs Young. Also pictured is David Kidney MP.




 

and the Dunston compass

All have been embroidered by Dunston villagers and members of the Craft Club.

The Dunston Millennium Project
Towards the end of 1998, there were discussions in the Dunston Craft Club on how to mark the Millennium. May and varied were the suggestions from 'Science through the Millennium' - a banner in petit point! - to a display of crafts in the last 100 years.
With the start of 1999 cam the opportunity to apply for a grant from the South Staffordshire District Council Arts Development & Leisure Services Department. The grant was available for community groups to carry out a project which would benefit the residents of the district.
There then followed consultation with "the Dunstonians" who supported the idea of a collage or photos of the village as it is in this year. The Craft Club came up with the idea of a map showing all of the houses in the village around a map of Dunston.
I then applied for a grant of £290 which I estimated, after ringing around for costs of fabric, threads, plywood, perspex etc. On April 7th, we heard that our application for grant aid had been successful.
Prior to this on February 10th, most villagers had been written to explaining our plans and asking permission to photograph the frontage of their houses. no-one objected, and by February 28th all houses were photographed by me - 86 in the village, plus 4 outside, plus the village hall, Dunston Hall, the Church and Argos Ltd. Mr. Harvey Northwood processed the photographs - at a special price!
I had hoped to trace off the photos, but the scales varied, and all finished houses had to be the same size, so free hand drawings were done in black ink.
I was sure that cream Calico would take printing - as did 'T' shirts, but three firms said "no" and said that printing could not be done onto Calico. fortunately, Mr. Graham Ellis of G & A Printers in Penkridge tried out the idea, and the result was perfect. All houses were then gummed onto A3 sheets and printed.
Next the Craft Club made up ' kits to include a printed house, black and green threads, needle, chart of stitches, and a letter explaining the project. These were then delivered by four members of the Craft Club to all of the homes by the end of March, and collected in finished by July 13th when we were able to show many of the villagers the progress to date - the map part embroidered and many of the houses forming the frame. On that evening, we provided wine and "nibbles" and sold some the house sketches which recouped the evenings expenses.
The Map: Finding an up-to-date Ordnance Survey Map of every field was frustrating. Codsall Planning Department had one but would they would not show it me, nor would they allow it be photocopied. Stafford County Council hadn't got one, but said that Clerk of the Dunston & Coppenhall Parish Council must have one. So I telephoned Mr. Newman, and happily he found his copy and brought it around.
Then, I visited all of the farmers and discussed the locations of hedges, ponds, main crops, paths and animals. Landmarks, features etc. were all noted and included. The roads, railway, M6 Motorway, tracks. paths and hedges were all done with machine stitching, and the animals, vehicles, birds etc. were hand stitched and applied. Craft Club members embroidered symbols for all the field crops this year. Julie Bagnall stitched the compass which was applied and I collected and drew the wild flowers of Dunston, which will go on the bottom left of the map when they are embroidered by Julie, Jill & Dorothy.
On August 25th, Jeff Bagnall had designed the lettering for the top of the map and Margery Blundy had stitched the intricate Seminole patchwork to frame the whole embroidery. I machine embroidered the lettering and joined up all the components so that the Dunstonians could view the result before framing. They met on September 1st, and were delighted with the result and promised to meet any outstanding costs incurred by the framing.
A crest of Dunston is to be included. This has been designed by Richard Parrott and Neils Bugge, and it is hoped that the design will in future be used on Dunston notepaper etc.
Very many people have been involved with the Dunston Map, and I, as overall designer hope that everyone in Dunston feels that their house has been well presented around the beautiful farmland area which is our village.

Sylvia Wood
September 1999

The Seminole Patchwork Decorative Strip around the Millennium Map
Origins, taken from North American Indian designs by Eva Wilson. Published by British Museum Pattern Books ?
Silk ribbons were very fashionable in 18th century Europe, being produced by large silk mills in France. By 1797 the French Revolution made such aristocratic trappings redundant. suppliers found themselves with unwanted stock. The ribbons were exported and used in the fur trade with the Indians of North East America. Here the ribbon appliqué technique developed most successfully.
The Indian women used the ribbons to produce panels of multi-coloured appliqué. These were stitched along seams or around the hem of garments made of dark blue, black or red trade cloth. Some ribbons were folded, concertina fashion and template representing half of the symmetrical pattern were placed on the folds and cut out. In this way identical pattern units were produced. These were sewn by cross or herring-bone stitch to another ribbon which formed the background. The complete panel was finally stitched to the garment.
Today's techniques:
These days we use, not ribbon, but fabric cut into lengths. Widths vary from 1" to 2¾". We use 100% cotton, washed to shrink the fabric, remove manufacturers "dressing" and to prove the dyes color fast.
For cutting fabric we use a rotary cutter, on a "self healing" cutting mat, and large perspex ruler, (mine is 6½ x 24"). Many of our patchwork books originate in America where happily the use imperial measurements.
The strips of fabric are stitched horizontally, sliced vertically to the required widths then stitched together vertically or on the diagonal. All of this is machine stitched.
The scale of work is small. The final width of the Seminole Patchwork strip used for the map is 2". The resulting "ribbon" is of a colorful geometric design.
My instruction book, Basic Seminole Patchwork is by Cheryl Greidon Bradkin. It is published by C&T. Cheryl's inspiration for this book is taken from a 1941 skirt purchased by her Mother in Florida, with visual reference to Indian clothing in the National Geographic Magazine photographs. The pattern used on our Millennium Map is design 17, made in greens and deep yellow to co-ordinate with the map.


Margery Blundy - September 1999

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