Featured image: From the Collection – North Norfolk Seascape by Debbie Lyddon*
The theme for the 2025 Members’ Project is Land and Sea. You can stitch the land as seen from the sea, the sea as seen from the land, or the coast where the two come together.
As an island nation, we are surrounded by seas and we offer a huge range of coastlines. The Jurassic Coast stretches about 96 miles from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset and is a World Heritage Site for the value of its rocks and fossils. Ammonites, dinosaur bones and sharks’ teeth tell of its 185 million year history from arid deserts and deep seas to dinosaur-infested swamps. The white cliffs of Dover, reaching a height of 350 feet and composed mainly of chalk, are accented by streaks of black flint and can be seen clearly from a distance out at sea. The shingle landscape of the Kent coast is a mix of nature reserve, nuclear power stations and fishing boats. Norfolk offers pristine sand beaches, soaring cliffs, saltmarshes and estuaries. Liverpool is a bustling busy port with shipping containers, cranes and huge ships – a contrast to the colourful beach huts, striped deck chairs and ice creams of the pleasure beach.
The sea can be calm or raging; a deep blue or cold grey, a calm flat expanse stretching to the horizon or a raging, crashing mixture of water and foam, gentle waves that move up and back or pool between rocks. Sand covers many shades from molasses brown to honey, soft cream to pink. Pebbles, stones and other small rocks form shingle beaches on exposed coastlines. Over time, the sea can erode the land and the coast develops different features such as beaches, cliffs, islands and caves.
Maybe you remember coastlines from foreign holidays – the luxurious beaches of the Seychelles; the colourful houses stretching along the Amalfi coast of Italy; the breath-taking sunsets and white-washed buildings of Santorini; or foreign islands, places where the sand is shades of soft pinks and creams, where the ripples and folds are washed by crystal blue waters and shaded by palm trees.
Totally different is the ‘land’ of ice – the icebergs and glaciers of the Antarctic that float in the freezing Arctic Ocean. The coast of Greenland heavily notched with numerous fjords, and lined with spectacular high mountains and cliffs that stand over the cathedral-like icebergs that float in their waters.
As a child on family holidays, did you hold a shell to your ear and listen to the sea? Beaches are wonderful places to find shells – scallops, nautilus shells, sea urchins and thorny oysters. A never-ending array of colours from the pale cream of a cowrie to the rich blue of abalone shell; and so many patterns decorating the outside.
What creatures live on the seashore – the spiny seahorse, cuttlefish, starfish and sand hoppers found hiding amongst the rockpools or under the seaweed.
Whatever aspect appeals to you, we invite you to show us in stitch your interpretation of land and sea.
Members can download the Project Guidelines, Registration and Submission forms from our Members’ Area
You will need to be a member to take part, but you can initially register your interest and the piece will need to be completed and submitted by end of August 2024.
Note: Your piece should be a new and original piece of work. You cannot use a pre-purchased kit or design of any sort.
Further Inspiration can be found in the ThreadIT Journal here: Sand and Sea – Embroiderers’ Guild
*Debbie Lyddon’s Thread Talk: Seeking Place is available On Demand. Visit our On Demand: Past Talks and Workshops – Embroiderers’ Guild page to book a ticket.