for your information: "Duarte's Raglan challenge!"

By courtesy of Duarte I may forward his challenge text from the Drachenwald Mailing List to you:

"Greetings to the list

A new year is upon us, and on the horizon once again lies Raglan castle.
I realise that I am hugely biased but Ffair Rhaglen is one of my favourite events, but I have always felt that it was lacking in something. We have a fantastic site, which looks even better with an encampment surrounding it and people showing off the best of their garb. However there is very little in the display of personal heraldry in the form of banners.

So this year I have decided to launch Duarte's Raglan challenge. This year, which is also the first year to host a Coronet tourney at Raglan, it would bring such joy to my heart if there was plethora of banners fluttering in the breeze. To that end I would like to encourage as many personal banners, group banners, principality banners, kingdom and guild banners etc to be erected at this years Raglan. And for the one that brings the most joy to my heart a token will be given out to the person behind it.

Looking forward to a very colourful Raglan.

Duarte"

Such a nice idea and now I am thinking about making one banner for the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild :)

...btw. here an album with many lovely examples of silk banners - many thanks to Haldan from the Knights Crossing Mailinglist for sharing this link. :)

FAQ - Giftbasket confusion

Some members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild contribute or would like to contribute to the one or other "giftbasket" of our kingdom, therefore I thought it would be nice to forward this message of Mistress Katheryn Hebenstreitz to you for your information. :)

...btw. how such gifts for a "giftbasket" or the "queens basket" could look like -> a posting about the "Estrella Gift Basket" can be found at the new royal "Treasures of Drachenwald" blog.

__________..--~~<+>~~--..__________

"Greetings!

I have gotten a few questions about giftbaskets because there seems to be a lot of different names for them circulating which has caused some confusion.
People don't seem to know who to contact concerning items for giftbaskets and how many Kingdoms that will be recieveing the gifts.
So here goes:

Pennsic giftbasket - that is a giftbasket that is given away by the Royalty during the state dinner at Pennsic. Nowadays we get an assigned Kingdom to exchange gifts with hence we no longer need to produce big amounts of the same type of object, we do however need to get together a kick ass basket to show of the splendure of the artisans of the Kingdom! This giftbasket is my own pet project and if anyone wants to contribute to this you should contact me, Katheryn Hebenstreitz.

Estrella giftbasket - this is a giftbasket that is given away by our Royalty IF they decide to go to Estrella. This far it has only happened at rare occasions and our current King and Queen WILL go to Estrella! This giftbasket has also switched into being an exchange with only ONE Kingdom (lets hope it stays this way!), and it is Their Majesties chamberlain, Viscountess Whilja who is in charge of getting items for this years giftbasket. The Kingdom to recieve the Drachenwald giftbasket is Calontir.

The Queens Tea gifts - when it was decided that you would only swap gifts with one Kingdom at Pennsic, some Qeens felt that they wanted to give away something small to all other Queens during a Queens Tea. This has been different every year - one year there was an actual gift exchange (as far as I remember) and other years the Queen hosting the tea has been giving her guests some gifts. And each Queen can host her own Queens Tea during Pennsic so this one is a bit tricky to deal with. Previously Duchess Fiona has graciously taken on the task to get objects together for this new addition to the giftlist. I am however unsure who will be in charge this upcoming Pennsic. This is a rather straining task since you need to get basically 18 small gifts together - preferebly similar/the same items in each…

Queens basket - the only conclusion I can draw is that this has become a short name of the above described Queens Tea gifts. :D

Now, beyond all theese giftbaskets the Royalty is ALWAYS in need of largess! They need something to give all those who catch their attention and that perhaps can't recieve an award but who should get recognized by getting a gift from the Royalty.
And putting all theese things together it makes for a huge amount of items that the Royalt needs to a) look good b) make people happy c) make Drachenwald look as awesome as it is by giving the most fabulous gifts at events across the pond!

So please, anyone who has some time to spare - make something that can be included in any of the above baskets or the general largess!
Now I will go back to the embroidery I am making as a part of the Estrella giftbasket that King Vitus and Queen Eleonora will hand over at Estrella!

In service
Katheryn Hebenstreitz

PS: please feel free to spread the word to avoid any more confusion about all theese giftbaskets!"

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Members

If you do not want your SCA name and/or group to be listed here,
please contact the guild head

New members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - January:

~ added 16.01.2011: ~
59) Yosephina von Schwarzmoor (Central)

-> Guild Member-List <-

additional information:
Guild Head: Lady Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Fiora
Central - region guild head: Lady Racaire
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
Nordmark - region guild head: fru Renika Rikardsdottir
South - region guild head: - (Lady Racaire)

Yis Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

2nd Guild Project (2011) - "We have Dragons"

2nd Guild Project - "We have Dragons"

- Fabric: wool
- Fabric size: 20,0 x 20,0 cm (7,9 x 7,9 inch) + ca. 1,5 cm (0,6 inch) Surplus for sewing
- Fabric color: every color allowed
- Embroidery: every technique allowed
- Important restrictions: 1) at least one dragon per patch (or more!) ; 2) the basic fabric for the patch should be wool, you can use silk, linen, wool, metal,... (thread or fabric) to embroider it
- Start date: 1st of January 2011
- End date: October 2011 (please send in your patches till 1st of October)
- The project is open to everyone - you don't need to be a Guild member to join this project.
- Every embroidery technique and skill is welcome - please don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested!!

If you ever had a favourite picture or story including at least one or more dragons - this is the time to embroider it!

Dragons fighting against knights, dragons sleeping at the top of a hoard, dragons flying above woods, lakes, fjords, mountains; dragons eating or scaring virgins, a dragon mother surrounded by kids, dragons who just lost their fight against the knight (or the other way round), ... just take a journey through your memories and the old stories you read in books or you've been told - lets bring the old legends to life again! :)

...and if your embroidery is based on an old myth - I really wouldn't mind if you tell us the old myth by posting a picture of your embroidery and a short text telling the legend (and if you don't like to post it by yourself, you can still send me your photo and your text and I will do that for you).

Thinking of all people and also the newcomers in some regions, who maybe haven't done a lot of wool embroidery till now, I would ask the lords and ladies who have some experience in wool embroidery to screw up their courage and to offer one or more wool embroidery classes at the next events they will attend or at a private embroidery & sewing evening for your local group - it would be great to see more lovely applique, intarsia,... and all the other possible kinds of wool embroidery in the future!

And last but not least - because of the great support and interest into our first guild project shown by the local guild in Aarnimetsä, the second guild project will be assembled by the local guild in Aarnimetsä under the gentle guidance of the local guild head Lady Fiora. Many thanks to Lady Fiora for her great help.

...and again the artisan who makes the most patches will get a small embroidered gift from the guild head. :)

1st Guild Project (2010) - "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald"

For all artisans who would like to do a patch for the second wallhanging I reposted the project information - new dead line: end of April 2011:

1st Guild Project - "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald"

- Fabric: linen fabric
- Fabric size:
-> Shires, Cantons & Strongholds: 10,0 x 10,0 cm (3,94 x 3,94 inch) + ca. 1,5 cm (0,59 inch) Surplus for sewing
-> Kingdom, Principality, Barony coat of arms: 20,0 x 20,0 cm + ca. 1,5 cm (0,59 inch) Surplus for sewing
- Fabric color: every color allowed
- Embroidery: every technique allowed
- Important restrictions:
-> Only coat of arms of Drachenwald groups...
-> Every person can make several patches but every coat of arms only one time!
(...to avoid a wallhanging only consisting of the coat of arms of three or four groups... but you can also embroider the coat of arms of your neighbor group or a group where your friends live...)
- End date: October 2010 (please send in your patches till 1st of October)

This project is open to everyone - you don't need to be a Guild member to join this project.
Every embroidery technique and skill is welcome - please don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested!!

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter January 2011 - Update Project 2010, new Project 2011: "We have Dragons"!

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies,
dear gentle members of the "Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild" and "-eMail Group"!

Again a new year started and the gentle Majesties King Vitus and Queen Eleanora are ruling our beautiful kingdom now.
Their Majesties reign started with a new (royal) blog that sounds very interesting: "Treasures of Drachenwald": http://drachenwald.blogspot.com/
Many thanks to Mistress Bridgets for sharing this information at the Drachenwald Mailing List.

The Guild Heads résumé concerning 2010:
A new year is also always a good time to take a short look back at the last year - with the beginning of October 2010 I started my 4th year as Guild Head and I am still very happy with the progress of our Guild - the very first guild project started fine and many artisans contributed to it. I am still overwhelmed by the great number of participating artisans in and outside of Drachenwald contributing to this great project and also the great and positive response this project has got. Also the second guild project for 2011 was brought on its way and many artisans already started to find an inspiration for the next project. I am very looking forward to the next months and all the pictures of lovely embroidery for the guild projects we will get to see...

Update concerning the 1st guild project for 2010 "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald":
Fru Renika assembled the very first "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald" by using all the patches she got before coronation - you can see a photo of the lovely wallhanging uploaded to my Flickr account by courtesy of Fru Renika at our Workshop blog here:
http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/2011/01/coat-of-arms-wallhanging-for_16.html
According to Fru Renika the wallhanging was presented at 12th Night Coronation, very well received and got a lot of attention during the event.

Fru Renika decided to start another wallhanging with all "latecomers" because some patches are still on their way therefore:
This is YOUR CHANCE to contribute a patch with the coa of your or another group if you can't find it at the first wallhanging and it is also a great opportunity for all artisans who volunteered to do a patch and haven't finished it till now! ...and it is also a great chance for every artisan who would like to contribute their first or 'just' another patch for this awesome project!
The new deadline for the second wallhanging is: end of April
If you would like to contribute a patch for the second "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald" - please contact me or Fru Renika.

...btw. if you still have a patch for the wallhanging at home, please send it to Fru Renika (...and if you need her address, just contact me and I'll send you her snail mail address asap).

Update concerning the 2nd guild project for 2011 "We have Dragons":
...here the details for the new project:

________________ ~*~ ________________

2nd Guild Project - "We have Dragons"

- Fabric: wool
- Fabric size: 20,0 x 20,0 cm (7,9 x 7,9 inch) + ca. 1,5 cm (0,6 inch) Surplus for sewing
- Fabric color: every color allowed
- Embroidery: every technique allowed
- Important restrictions: 1) at least one dragon per patch (or more!) ; 2) the basic fabric for the patch should be wool, you can use silk, linen, wool, metal,... (thread or fabric) to embroider it
- End date: October 2011 (please send in your patches till 1st of October)
- The project is open to everyone - you don't need to be a Guild member to join this project.
- Every embroidery technique and skill is welcome - please don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested!!

If you ever had a favourite picture or story including at least one or more dragons - this is the time to embroider it!
Dragons fighting against knights, dragons sleeping at the top of a hoard, dragons flying above woods, lakes, fjords, mountains; dragons eating or scaring virgins, a dragon mother surrounded by kids, dragons who just lost their fight against the knight (or the other way round), ... just take a journey through your memories and the old stories you read in books or you've been told - lets bring the old legends to life again! :)
...and if your embroidery is based on an old myth - I really wouldn't mind if you tell us the old myth by posting a picture of your embroidery and a short text telling the legend (and if you don't like to post it by yourself, you can still send me your photo and your text and I will do that for you).

Thinking of all people and also the newcomers in some regions, who maybe haven't done a lot of wool embroidery till now, I would ask the lords and ladies who have some experience in wool embroidery to screw up their courage and to offer one or more wool embroidery classes at the next events they will attend or at a private embroidery & sewing evening for your local group - it would be great to see more lovely applique, intarsia,... and all the other possible kinds of wool embroidery in the future!

And last but not least - because of the great support and interest into our first guild project shown by the local guild in Aarnimetsä, the second guild project will be assembled by the local guild in Aarnimetsä under the gentle guidance of the local guild head Lady Fiora. Many thanks to Lady Fiora for her great help.

...and again the artisan who makes the most patches will get a small embroidered gift from the guild head. :)

Best regards
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head
Racaire

________________ ~*~ ________________

...btw. please also don't forget the very important "Token Challenge" and the "Pennsic Giftbasket"!

Now back to the normal Guild business:

Guild Membership Roll:
We still have 58 members.
( http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/search/label/Guild%20Member-List )

Guild Blog - Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
If you would like to join the Workshop, just write me an eMail! ( http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com )
...related blogs:
- Insulae Draconis Fibre Arts Interest Group ( http://idfibreinterestgroup.blogspot.com/ )
- Aarnimetsä Embroidery Basket ( http://kirjontakori.blogspot.com/ )

Guild Fanpage at facebook:
Our guild fanpage at facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/guild.head.Racaire ) has 152 fans! :)
Every project can be an inspiration - therefore please don't hesitate to use the fanpage or the blog and to post your embroidery projects or links to your projects there if you like :)

Guild Projects / Challenges:
- The 1st Guild Project 2010 - "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald" http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/search/label/Coat%20of%20Arms%20Wallhanging%20for%20Drachenwald
- The 2nd Guild Project 2011 - "We have Dragons"
http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/search/label/Guild%20Project%202

Misc. Projects / Challenges:
- A&S 50 Challenge ( http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/2008/03/50-challenge.html )
- A&S 50 Challenge Drachenwald Blog ( http://drachenwald-as50.blogspot.com/ )

Yours in Service
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head
http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/
http://embroidery.racaire.at/

"Coat of Arms wallhanging for Drachenwald" news

A glimpse at the first wallhanging of the "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald" guild project! Many thanks to Fru Renika for sharing this photo with us! :)

...and I would like to remind you at my last posting concerning the wallhanging:

Dear gentle artisans,

there are still patches on the way to Fru Renika - for all artisans who miss the coat of Arms (Wappen) of their group at the first wallhanging, Fru Renika will start a second one with all new arriving patches - that's YOUR CHANCE to contribute a patch or the coa for your group for the second wallhanging if you have some time left! :)

Please contact me for information at ego@racaire.com

Best regards
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

new royal blog "Treasures of Drachenwald" ! :)

I just read the most recent mails of the Drachenwald Mailing List (DML) and was very pleased to read an eMail written by Mistress Bridget introducing a new royal blog:

Treasures of Drachenwald

"... It is their hope that through this medium they can reach the entire
Kingdom of Drachenwald and share not only stories from their reign but
also to show-case all the people of this kingdom who contribute, share and
do all that they can to make it what it is. In the Queen's own words these
people are "the Treasures of Drachenwald". ..."

I think this is a great idea and I am very looking forward to read the next postings :)

Btw. the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild is a guild of the "Kingdom of Drachenwald" - Drachenwald is a local group (Europe & South Africa) within the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) - you can find more information here:
- Drachenwald website
- SCA website

"Coat of Arms wallhanging for Drachenwald" news

‎
Dear gentle artisans,

there are still patches on the way to Fru Renika - for all artisans who miss the coat of Arms (Wappen) of their group at the first wallhanging, Fru Renika will start a second one with all new arriving patches - that's YOUR CHANCE to contribute a patch or the coa for your group for the second wallhanging if you have some time left! :)

Please contact me for information at ego@racaire.com

Best regards
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Elizabethan Metal Thread Embroidery

Being long overdue to post here again I would like to rectify that with posting a link to my handout made for Aarnimetsä Academy this past November. I led a workshop in Elizabethan metal thread embroidery and brought fabric and thread for gentles to have a go at a few stitches.

The handout can be found off my website's Embroidery pages.

It is based on my study of one particular extant coif (which, until March 1 2011, can be taken out and examined at the Victoria & Albert museum in London). For a few of the stitches I have used diagrams from the Plimoth Plantation Embroidery Blog, and some of the diagrams Baroness Felicitas of Gotvik helped me to create.

/Lia

FAQ - Guild Membership

Because I got two new membership requests recently which I couldn't approve, I think I should clarify following:

The Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild is an embroidery guild within the SCA, located in the kingdom of Drachenwald (Europe & South Africa).
Therefore only members of the SCA can become members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild.

"The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more."

You can find more information about the SCA - the international Society for Creative Anachronism - and the next SCA group near you here: http://sca.org/
...and the website of the kingdom Drachenwald (Europe & South Africa) can be found here: http://www.drachenwald.sca.org/

For more information please don't hesitate to ask!

Best regards
Racaire

A glimpse at the progress of the "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald" :)

Great! ...Renika posted a photo of the progress of the wallhanging project at facebook - and I posted the link to the pic at the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild fanpage therefore please visit our facebook fanpage:

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild fanpage at facebook :)

...and the very best - everyone who is going to Coronation will see it irl!

My dear Fru Renika you rock!!! :)