African dragons for the wallhanging

For my two squares I decided to go with something African as I thought that everyone else would go for the traditional European or Chinese dragons. Since African legends don't do dragons as such, I went for two water serpents. Both pieces are in cotton perle on wool fabric.

The first is Nyaminyami, the god of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. His wife lives in the Kariba Gorge, and when the dam was built they were separated. The local people believe that one day Nyaminyami will destroy the dam and be reunited with his wife. I guess he's like a local Loch Ness Monster, there have been many sightings and people have apparently disappeared and been eaten by him. Most of the images I've seen of him are carvings in wood and stone, so I thought I'd give him some nice water colours.



The other serpent I chose is Ayida-Weddo, a voodoo legend from Benin in West Africa. Ayido-Weddo, also called the Rainbow Serpent, is the wife of Damballah, a goddess of fertility and part of the creation myth of the Fon people. I did her in the colours of the Rastafarian flag just because :).



- Ameline

We have dragons - the challenge

So how is the challenge going? Here's my (Renikas) contribution, finished just now and I aim to ship it this weekend.

This is the dragons den, filled with jewels and precious things. Embroidery in red and golden silk on dark blue wool. I have stitched some small pieces of red cloth on the dragons head, knee and elbow in order to create more of a 3D-effect and then covered it with silk in split-stitch. The jewels are glass beads and then I outlined some artefacts with gold thread.

We Have Dragons-challenge.. we surely have dragons (picture-rally)

My lords and ladies. Greetings from Aarnimetsä!
I must show you pictures of all these wonderful patches which have arrived for the guilds next wallhanging, The "We have dragons"-wallhanging... and we surely do have lot of dragons!

I'm posting these photos as a new local guild elder of Aarnimetsä region, And it's great to step into such a lovely pair of guild elder slippers from my predecessor, Donna Fiora, who has made a great job by inspiring all these skillful hands of Aarnimetsä to work with these patches.
Here are no less than 14 wonderlfull patches, all made in Aarnimetsa!


First we have three patches made by Maria Tavintytär, she has told that she became inspired by leftover fabric at Donna Fioras Wool-embroidering 101-meeting, during last spring. You can read her own stories about these jolly dragons here (it's only in finnish)
Her first dragon is calling "long live the king and queen of Drachenwald" over the mountain top.


Maria Taavistytär's second dragon, called by her as The Brother-in-law, for the first dragon.

Maria Taavintytär's thrid dragon, red backgroud has been inlaid into the blue one by stiching.
It's dedicated to Aarnimetsä.
And she has also made this brave knight, who is fighting under a dragon pennant!
***
Next patch is beatiful work by Beata. I simply love the colours of this work.
***
Next four Dragons were suprise to me, if you may.
These are made by my skillfull big sister, Fru Kattarina Juhanantytär, who is a great seamstress.
Now I found out that she is an good at embroidery too! She started embroidering in one night after ten- or fifteen-year pause. And these are what she made..

First after the long pause, she said it took few tries, but still.

The second and the third dragons.

The fourth one is my special favorite from her series.. and she's making even more patches! (she said there's no need to stop the wagons now after the slow start.)

***
And even more lovely works from Aarnimetsä. "the one who saves, has it."
I must introduce you Lady Gytha Bielke, the senescall of the Canton of Unikankare.
She tells me these tiny dragons were meant for another project, but she felt inspired by dragons and decided to use her works as a center for bigger patches.

Her first pink dragon is surrounded by dogs.

Second one didn't have any better luck with deer.
This dragon is under a lion.. poor thing!
But, never mess with dragons! Here's one burning down a building!

And here are a whole buch of dragons are frying up a sailing boat and her crew in the blazing winds of horror.
Aren't these patches most clever way to tell stories about dragons?
****
I wish I could tell you even more about these lovely patches. If any one of these lovely embroiders would like to tell us more about her work, please send me a note!

Last but not least, Fru Kattarina Juhanantytär has promised to sew together the wallhanging. So please, to send in your own work for the wallhanging, please contact me for the address.


In your service. Fru Ida Juhanantytär, Miehonlinna canton. Aarnimetsä

Featuring another great project: Hilkkas patch for the "We have Dragons" guild project

Again I am very happy to be able to present another lovely project to you - this time a lovely embroidery of the very talented Lady Hilkka Susinen:

Hilkka Susinens patch for the

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild project "We Have Dragons"

I saw this lovely embroidery irl at Rhaglan and her stitches are very small and even - very lovely embroidery and the dragon is just too cute. *lol*

Hilkka is also a member of the "Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild", which is a guild of the Kingdom of Drachenwald within the SCA and she is living in the beautiful lands of The Principality of Insulae Draconis (Iceland, Ireland & United Kingdom). :)

And some words for you from the artist - Hilkka was so nice to send me also her documentation for the A&S competition and also the story of 'Odo de Feu' to share it with you:

Documentation

The stitches used are:
Stem Stitch, Chain Stitch, Split Stitch, and French Knot.

Material:
Wool base fabric, cotton embroidery floss

Technique:Stem-Stich, Chain-Stitch, Split-Stitch and French Knot

Inspiration:

This piece has both an historical and an SCA inspiration. The historical inspiration is from Beowulf, in which the robbery of a chalice from the dragon's hoard causes it to fly out and wreak havoc along the Geats2. The style, as discussed below, is adapted from an early 9th-century sledge carving found in the Norwegian Oseberg queen's burial. In this version, the dragon is upright and, like the Beowulf dragon, winged. The chalice is shown disproportionately large to emphasize its importance to the story. The choice of an early 9th century model represents an early-to-moderate view of the dating of Beowulf (or at least the basic story), although dates suggested for the poem range from the latter part of the 7th century to the beginning of the eleventh and the issue of Scandinavian influence on it is equally debated3.

On the SCA side, the patch has been made for this year's wall hanging initiated by the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild “We have Dragons”. It is a depiction of the noble dragon Odo de Feu of the Costa del Lough Rí, an honourable member of the Shire of Eplaheimr and welcome guest at so many of our events, with a chalice that might have started out in the early mediaeval church near Odo's home...

Historical Design Reference:

The design is an adaptation of a sledge carving. It came from one of several sledges found in the Oseberg Burial Mound4 (820 A.D.), three of them were covered in carvings and most likely ceremonial. The carving-motif singled out for this project shows a dragon and possibly a cat.

As mentioned above, the basic outline of the dragon has been altered to a “rampant” pose and given wings to fit with both the Beowulf description and the noble dragon Odo de Feu. The chalice's basic shape is based on the Tassilo chalice6, a characteristic chalice of the style which was common at least through the time of Theophilus; the ornamentation is much simpler than the Tassilo chalice, which shows saints' faces that would be inappropriate for an early Northern piece, but also has bands and sections of twining and knotwork designs interspersed.

Notes on the Work:

Though the embroidery floss used to complete this project is cotton, in period it would have been wool or silk thread. I chose to used cotton thread for reasons of availability in Ireland today. Silk thread would have been used during the Viking age for embroidery and tablet weaving; full garments made from silk would not have been comon. Garments most often were made from either wool or linen7.

The base fabric is wool, which would have been done in Viking age as well.

The earliest finds for the “French Knot” stitch date to the 14th century. I did, however, include it in my work as I find it works well, giving the impression of gemstones on the chalice. The Tassiliokelch shows several rows of gemstones embedded in the gildings around the knob.

At this point the material is zig-zaged with the sewing machine.

The piece will form part of this year's wall-hanging from the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild “We have Dragons”. The demensions (20cm x 20cm) are indicated with modern sewing thread for assembly-purpose only.

Lord Odo de Feu and the Chalice

Once upon a time there lived a dragon on the western marshes of Lough Devnaree1, a dragon so fierce, no-one dares to speak his name nor tell his story. So here is the story of his cousin instead:

In a time long gone, in the heartlands of Lough Devnaree, there lived a dragon, known as Lord Odo de Feu of the Costa del Lough Rí2, but everyone just called him “Odo”. Unlike his cousin, he was was the most gentle of all dragons, though his humour could be on the rough side.

As it happened, not far from his dwelling a new church was to be build. An army of tradesmen descended onto the lands around a holy well and over the next few summers it grew into a monastary complex with the bee-hive-church – as it was the coustom at the time – forming its centre of spirituality and power3.

One day, his fierce cousin from the western marshes won a gruesome victoty over his longtime enemy who hailed from the southern bogs4.

Customs now dictated, that he would have his relations over to celebrate his recent success. Neither in the mood to put up with any of them nor to share his loot, but having to comply with ancient customs, he limited the amount of liquid plunder shared to one glass for each of his guest; may be hoping, none would take upon him a jurney as arduous for such limited reward.

It has to be said that Odo was particularly fond of a sip once in a while and may be even a bit too fond of it at others.

Seeing that even with the finest horses breed these days it hardly worthes the trip for only a short stay, Odo said to himself, “there must be a way to make this journey worth while.” and see, there was; Lord Odo de Feu remembered folks telling of chalices the humans of the holy dwelling used; mocking him off his small frame, saying they'd be too large for him event to lift and drink from it, nevermind “borrowing” one.

As night fell, Odo rose to the skys and silently made his way to the church, circling over the religious compund until the last lights went dim, he descended. Silently creaping into the building housing the artefacts, he got hold of a small chalice, a child's one really, but of perfect size for him to seize.

The day of the dreaded celebrations grew closer and the fierce dragon's spirits rose with every day and every hour that passed without a single one of his relatives showing his face – or wine glass for this matter – until, almost at the last minute, our beloved Lord Odo de Feu, struggling under the weight of the chalice, arived at the western marches of Lough Devnaree.

The fierce dragon was furious, not only was he obliged to make good on his promis and fulfill old customs, but he realised he had been tricked. Worst of all, there was nothing he could do about it but to give Odo his share of the loot.

Many thanks to Hilkka for the possibility to feature your project - I love it! :)

Featured Artisans of the last months:
June, July August: Racaires "Weiberlisten" Wallhanging
May: Jahanaras "woven fabric for the Pennsic Gift Bags"
April: Renikas "embroidered 14th century buttoned dress" in progress
March: Rakonczays "Mars and Silvia" tapestry in progress
February: Honors "Bayeux style tapestry"

Magdalens lovely embroidery - more patches for the "We have Dragons" guild project :)

Magdalen has finished a beautiful patch for the "We have Dragons" guild project :) ...at the small picture on the right you get a small glimpse at the beginning of the embroidery but for the lovely final result please visit her blog: Vanhanaikaiset ...and here a direct link to her posting about this patch:

"Maaliskuun lohikäärme. The dragon of March"

Please don't worry, the posting is in Finnish and English - if you want to read the English text, just look out for the italic text sections :)

She used Split Stitch and also tried Bayeux-Stitch / Refilsaum for the very first time and I think she has done a really great job! Very beautiful embroidery and very nice color combination... a very lovely patch! :)

PS: if you would like to see a posting about your patches for the guild project or join the workshop and post about it yourself - please contact me at: ego_@_racaire.at (without the "_"!) :)

more pictures of Ida Juhanantytär lovely embroidery - patches for the "We have Dragons" guild project :)

Ida Juhanantytär was very kind and sent me some nice photos of her embroidery progress for the "We have Dragons" project - I am very glad that I may share them with you :)
...btw. you can find photos with more progress at the "Aarnimetsän kirjontakor", the blog of the local guild in Aarnimetsä (Finnland) -> posting "Ida Juhantytär ja hänen lohikäärmeens" ...and Ida also has an blog which can be found here: http://harharetket.blogspot.com :)





Ida was inspired by the "Opus Anglicanum" class of Lady Petronillas hold at the Aarnimetsä Academy event and her new favourite technique is "Split Stitch" - I think her embroidery shows how much she loves the new technique and it looks really great! :)

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. :)

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/

new project for 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. :)

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

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

Christmas is near, the snow covers most of our beautiful kingdom with a glittering white veil and the cold weather invites most of us to keep on working at our indoor projects... :)
Apropos projects - our first guild project (for 2010) reached its end-stage and our second guild project for 2011 will officially start at the 1st of January - but you can already start to develope your ideas, get your materials and even to start with the embroidery if you like... - but now some words about our first guild project before I let you know more about the next one ;)

Concerning the 1st guild project for 2010 "Coat of Arms Wallhanging for Drachenwald":
The local guild in Nordmark and Fru Renika Rikardsdottir already started to work at the wallhanging - I am very happy to be able to share a posting (and photo) written by Fru Renika about the first steps for the assembling with you:
http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/2010/12/wallhanging-project.html
All this patches together look really great - I am sure the wallhanging will look awesome!
...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).

...and now to the 2nd guild project for 2011 and I really hope you'll like it: "We have Dragons"
The idea for the theme for the first guild project was developed at the guild meeting at the Kingdom University 2009. Long time I was afraid that I wouldn't find a theme that would be as good as this one until the name of an event of the shire of Adamastor catched my eye in the "Dragons Tale" - Here Be Dragons - and immediately I thought: yes, they are right, we indeed have dragons! Many thanks to the shire of Adamastor in South Africa! :)

...and here the details for the 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. :)

________________ ~*~ ________________

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 146 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"

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/ )

I wish you all a merry and peaceful christmas and a happy new year!!!
...and because of the awful weather: Please take care of you!!!

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