“My sister dragged me into it. I’d done a bit of cross stitch before that but she got me into the guild. she didn’t stay very long because she got a job and I’ve just carried on,” she said.
The exhibition will be held at the Whanganui Community Arts Centre, 19 Taupō Quay, from Saturday, April 29, to Tuesday, May 2. It will be open 10am to 4pm every day except for Sunday, when it will be open 10am to 2pm.
As well as displaying work from the guild members, there will also be a raffle with free entries.
Paynter did not know how many works would be part of the display but she expected most members to bring something to the show.
“It’s an incentive to get things finished when there’s a display happening,” she said.
The guild also put together a book displaying the works of different members for the anniversary.
The guild belongs to a national body, the Association of New Zealand Embroidery Guilds, whose president will come to Whanganui for the celebrations on April 29.
Representatives of Manawatū and Taranaki guilds will also take part in the festivities.
Paynter hoped people would come along to appreciate the artistry on display and potentially get inspired to join the guild.
“A lot of people see it and remember, oh Mum did that, Grandma did that, and then you get the odd one that thinks ‘I’d like to do that’.”
Burgess hoped the exhibition would bring awareness of the guild to the wider Whanganui embroidering community.
“Some people don’t realise that we actually have a guild but they do it at home; they come along to an exhibition or speak to somebody and find out there’s actually a group who do it,” she said.
The group holds weekly meetings at the Christ Church Community Centre from 10am to midday on Wednesdays and also meets on a Sunday once a month at the Dempsey & Forrest lounge.
