The Lace Guild

April the 6th saw us listening to a very interesting talk from Denise and Phil from the Lace Guild. We heard about how they had revamped their headquarters over in Stourbridge and it is now a lot more accessible. They currently have on display 8 pieces from the V&A collection.

We were surprised and delighted at the modern designs Denise had bought to show us - very little white in evidence!

 Phil makes the bobbins and gave us a short talk on the process. There are differences between English and Continental bobbins and the East Midlands Spangled Bobbin is a type particular to this region.  They were things of beauty in their own right. Bobbins were originally made by "bodgers" who made table and chair legs so many of the designs were similar.
      

 Beautiful colourful lace

 A very modern piece made for a competition. The Lace Guild, like ours, runs annual competitions with themes

 a whole range of lovely christmas decorations with added lace.

 Denise acquired a part finished piece of lace which she has worked on and she now has a very large piece!

 I loved this little chap.

 Denise telling us all about her lace journey.

It was a very enjoyable talk and I would recommend a visit to the Headquarters whilst the V&A pieces are still there.