What do you think of when you see the word ‘Collections’. Do you think back to something you collected as child, or things that still take pride of place at home?

What is it in us that makes us want to collect things – is it the thrill of finding something that you haven’t seen before, the pleasure in looking, touching and displaying, or the memories they hold?

Do you marvel at the museum collections of butterflies in their glass cases once collected by the gentlemen who took ‘the Grand Tour’ or ventured overseas? Or maybe you prefer the 1950s powder compacts, remembering the one that your mother always had in her handbag. Do you look into the cabinets and admire the native beadwork, Chinese dragons or things from foreign lands?

A collection doesn’t have to be formal – it can simply be a group of items that appeal to you. So, whatever the image that you see, or remember, when you hear ‘Collections’, why not put it into stitch?

The Guild project for 2019 was entitled “HOME”.

We invited our members to tell us what that word – HOME – means to them.

Is HOME the place they return to at the end of each day? A sanctuary – a place of warmth and respite away from the busy world outside? Is it the place to gather the family together around the dinner table and share talk of the day?

HOME should mean shelter and safety – but for some it is not. Many people now live on our streets as “homeless” – no roof at all, just a bundle of blankets which they hope will keep them warm, a few belongings in a carrier bag. The pavement can be a cold and lonely place.

What of the natural world..…. Creatures have an instinct to build a territory to which they can return – it is their HOME. Whilst we build more HOMEs for mankind, what are we doing to the natural habitat of the animal world?

Exhibitions of HOME are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To receive updates on HOME, subscribe to our mailing list by clicking the button on the left and quoting 'HOME' in the subject line.

We invited Guild members to take part in the commemoration of the ending of WW1 a 100 years ago by producing one heart to remember a generation now lost to us. Each heart would be included in at least one exhibition and, ideally, the exhibition would be as near to their home location as possible. Over a period of seven months, the entire collection of over 650 Hearts, medals, and other textile pieces were seen by audiences from Aylesbury to London, Liverpool to Harrogate, and Norwich to Scotland.

We have hundreds of images of the hearts produced on our Pinterest for you to explore.

The Capability Brown project was exhibited at 43 venues during 2016 as part of the UK's Capability Brown Festival, celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great landscape gardener Capability Brown. Several Embroiderers' Guild branches participated and produced beautiful textiles inspired by Capability Brown landscapes, using techniques such as mixed media, felting, machine and hand stitching.

There are hundreds of images of Capability Brown pieces on our Pinterest for you to explore.

Following on from the success of the Magna Carta embroidery and the Guild's role in its production, the UK representatives of the HBO Home Entertainment TV Network contacted the Embroiderers' Guild with the view to creating a special artwork in stitch to form the backdrop to mark the release of the 'Game of Thrones' Series 5 DVD & Blue Ray boxed set.The Hardhome Embroidery took 30,000 hours to complete from concept to completion and involved 140 embroiderers collaborating on the piece.The final piece measures 5 metres in length and 4 metres in height and has been exhibited to crowds up and down the UK.

You can enjoy a sample of The Hardhome Embroidery e-book previously published for Guild members which takes you on a journey through the design process by clicking the button on the left.

To celebrate its Centenary the Guild launched the World’s Longest Embroidery. It measures 605.55 metres and can still be seen and added to at venues throughout the UK today. With the help of over 7000 participants of all ages and abilities, the Embroiderers' Guild set a new Guinness World Record.

We invite schools to take part in creating the World’s Longest Embroidery… for Schools¹. ¹For simplicity we refer to ‘schools’ but we appreciate they may be known as a school, college or academy.

Children and students of all ages and levels of ability can take part with a ‘needle and thread’. Teachers and support staff are also welcome to join in. We anticipate hundreds of schools in the UK, USA, Canda and Australia will help create this world record. The piece will also be extensively exhibited in the next 3 - 10 years.

If you would like to know more about this project, subscribe to our mailing list by clicking the button on the left and quoting 'WLE' in the subject line.