Our speaker is Angela Daymond with her talk "Kantha, 500 years of stitch.
Angela is a textile artist and teacher who specialises in kantha stitching and natural dyeing which she loves in equal measure, and she loves to share her passion with others. She was taught to sew by her mother and she loved her children’s Holly Hobby sewing machine. She is rarely found without a needle in her hand and loves being driven to places so she can sit back and stitch. She loves the simplicity of kantha work that you can take needle, thread and fabric, and combine with just one stitch, the running stitch, to create abstract and representational images with lots of texture.
Her first foray into natural dyeing came over 40 years ago when she first deliberately squashed elderberries on to the bottom of a white dress. She constantly loves the surprise element of natural dyeing and uses many plants native to the United Kingdom.
She specialises in using woad, the oldest blue plant dye in Northern Europe. The inspiration and colour palette from the Fenland environment in which she lives provide constant stimuli for her work, whether she is dyeing or stitching.
She loves to share her studio space with others and run regular workshops there. The gentle movement of needle and thread and a constant supply of tea and coffee means happy stitchers!
