It was such good luck that the weather allowed us all to meet together in person and it was particularly special to be able to hear from two of our members, Hel and Janet L, telling us about their stitching lives and sharing their varied and beautiful work.

Hel began the session and told us that she didn’t have an upbringing where textiles were prominent but was influenced by the countryside around her home in Newcastle, leaving her with a love of botanical themes and natural themes around rivers and the sea. She studied at Edinburgh university where she became more interested and involved in textiles. In particular she found a space for stitching when she joined in LARPING i.e. live action role play they would dressed as characters, for example from Shakespeare, travelling to different parts of the country. This led Hel to start making costumes for the group. As you can see from the images below Hel acquired a significant level of skill. She made such progress that she eventually started making kits so that others could make costumes, but found that she couldn’t make a living from this. As a result her career took a different turn and Hel moved to Birmingham for teacher training and now works in education in the city.

This new profession provided more opportunities for Hel to make costumes for school shows. Hard work and sometimes stressful but again a creative outlet. On emerging from Covid restrictions Hel joined the local Weavers and Spinners group before joining BETA and has continued her membership of both groups. Hel has grown then talked about her textile journey being able to understand her likes and dislikes and to see herself as an artist. She shared with the audience her growing enjoyment of some online sources and kits. Details of a couple are given at the end. She also and shared her experiments with natural dyeing, fabric manipulation and Tamari Balls among other things. The latter followed a BETA talk and workshop which has inspired other members to also pursue this interest. Hel recently participated in the BETA Westhope weekend last September where Batik was introduced. Hel spins her own yarn and finds both this and her stitching very cathartic. See Barmy Fox on instagram and Wimperis http://wimperis.co.uk for some inspiration.

Janet then took over and told the group that in contrast her mum sewed and her dad was a carpenter, so she was influenced by her families creativity She remembered her Dad making her a dolls cradle, she also talked about her great aunt Ada’s house. Janet got into Derby Arts College to study fashion design and pattern cutting. She worked for a tailor and then got a job with the BBC doing costume alterations, when she also attended a workshop on costumes and was able to extend her role. Balancing parenthood with work led to her leaving the BBC but did not stop her creative journey. Janet did craft stalls made hand puppets and jointed Forge Mill embroiderers. She was involved in creating a very large banner for their museum.

Janet eventually completed city and guilds. She continued her community involvement with Brownies and made costumes when her daughter did ballet. As Brown Owl her love of owls is shown in some stitching below. Janet has been a very committed and longstanding member of this group including during the change form the embroiderers guild to BETA. She has entered a Guild competition and has regularly attended Westhope. She is also a regular at BETA workshops. Janet shared a range of examples of her work including using our stitch of the month programme and her love for making books; see the witty Tall Stories and her Stitch Street banner.

What is clear from listening to two inspiring members is that individual journeys are unique but the love for stitching and creativity is shared as it their willingness to carry on learning and to share their knowledge and practice with others.

Hel mentioned The Barmy Fox which can be found on instagram and Wimperis at https://wimperis .co.uk

We also held our regular raffle based on the colour red. Jayne and Brenda made the accomplished bags shown below

Next month’s colour is orange please bring items to include if you can. Also don’t forget the summer competition entries will be shown at our summer party in July. The theme is HolidayMemories.

We had a very happy evening together enjoying delicious Christmas treats.

We listened to Anne’s presentation which updated us about the digitization project. Anne (one of our members) is a trustee of the Guild and is actively engaged with the lengthy and technical process involved in the project. She shared a wide range of insights and slides, illustrating both the historic work itself and the effort and techniques involved in its digitization. One of the most important decisions taken at the outset was the choice to use one very skilled photographer whose skills and advice has been invaluable. He suggested for example photographing the front and back of the pieces, an invaluable suggestion.

4032 pieces were completed in 2025 and the process with start again in January 2006. Art UK are hosting the collection.

We also held our winter competition with entries shown below all the pieces were very successful and member votes were extremely close, but the winner was Marion with her witty take on the competition theme ‘Amazing Lace‘. Marion’s entry was entitled ’unlaced ’. Other entrants were, in no particular order, Janet l, with her winter landscape,Meriel and her ‘Seasonal Lace’ christmas tree, Isabelle H, ‘West Wales’, Julie L ‘Lacewing Fly’, The entries are shown below many congratulations to all.

We also collected a wonderful collection of gift bags for Anawim, some shown below, which were delivered in time for Christmas. Staff from the project were very grateful

We also held our raffle the contents of which, and the two beautiful gold bags, decorated by Rowan and Gill are shown below

Happy new year to all. Our first meeting of 2026 is the ever popular and informative Tale of 2 members featuring Janet L and Hel D. The raffle bag is red please bring contributions.

We had a fun and productive meeting using wet felting to make small bowls.. Members were in groups that were led by Liz, Hel and Ruth. Thanks are due for all the hard work they put in preparing and leading the session. The activity allowed us to chat together over a task and we had a lot of fun sharing success and hiccups and a lot of laughter. Here are images of the tables set for the activity and of us beginning work.

Our efforts were very successful. Pictured below are just some of the bowls completed on the night. The last image shows a bowl Ruth was inspired to make at home following her successful attempt at the meeting.

We also held our usual raffle. The bags were silver this month, pictured below are the lovely bags made by Deed and Meriel.

The next meeting, Monday 8th December, is our Christmas party, which includes the competition, a talk from Anne one of our members, lots of treats and of course the gold raffle. Please bring raffle contributions, all the treats are provided by the committee,

There was a complexity and depth of knowledge in Emily’s very interesting presentation. The title of the talk refers to her work making beautiful pieces using silk organza and simple hand stitch some shown below. Emily also told us about her career in making; beginning with high end evening bags, sold internationally, including during a long standing relationship with Japanese firms. Emily had previously studied wood metal and plastics in Wolverhampton. She got a Princes Trust Loan and used this to help her develop her business, worked for 10 years producing two collections a year and. Eventually however her business was threatened by international political developments and she pursued new avenues.

Emily wanted her work to have more longevity and joined the 62 group of textile artists beginning her longstanding interest in using silk organza. This enabled her to paint and layer with hand stitching over the layers, using stab stitches. She likes the slowness and accuracy of the work and produced portraits of family. She also obtained commissions and was enabled to focus on other makers, from a variety of sources, finding that really observing an object informs her work. She worked with boat yard apprentices and she also moved tousing natural dyed organza.

Emily is currently artist in residence at Trinity Buoy Wharf where she has a studio. She is also engaged in a project with primary school children who draw on canvas and which she then stitches. Some of the range of delicate and beautiful pieces she brought to share with us are pictured below.

You can find more information at emily@emilyjogibbs>co.uk.

We also held our raffle with this month black and white bags, shown below skilfully decorated by Deborah and Sian. The raffle in November will be silver, with two other member completing bags. The November meeting will focus on activities towards Christmas, also giving us a chance to chat together.

Some lucky members enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Some images of them hard at work.

On Saturday they examined the work of John Piper looking at light and dark and blocks of colour. They collaged tissue paper, decorative paper and photocopies into a base this formed dark blocks which they they wax resisted, bleaching colour out of areas. They then worked with inks to add back colour blocks.

On Sunday they ironed out the wax on Saturdays pieces and worked on them further. They then repeated the previous days sequence this time on white cotton, working from light to dark. Most then added black ink over their work work to give defined outlines. Some examples of the work produced are shown below. So effective.

Members were also able to enjoy a weekend in a lovely setting and thanks to Liz on both evenings had a quiz. One was based on textiles the other on cheese or service stations.

At our first meeting after the summer we welcomed 6 possible new members we hope they enjoyed the evening and that we see them again. We heard a very clear informative and fascinating presentation this evening on a subject that was new to many of us. Nicola brought with her some examples of Temari that she has made,very generously allowed us to look and examine closely.

Nicola told us about the history of Temari which she described as a cultural touchstone in Japan. They were originally little leather balls dating back to the 6th and 8th century, originally from China. They were wrapped in silks from Kimonos and were used in throwing games by the privileged. The eventual production of cotton allowed them to trickle down through society, and their popularity grew. Temari were often given as gifts for weddings and births for example, with secret wishes sometimes hidden in the ball. The motifs had meaning for example the Crane design represents long life and Cherry Blossom,life and beauty.

Nicola told us about her developing addiction to the craft. She studies with the national Japanese Tamari Association which has 4 levels of qualification. Nicola has real expertise and is currently working towards level 4 the highest level. One of the balls she has completed as part of her level 4 studies is shown below. She originally worked with existing patterns as she was learning but now develops her own.

Nicola talked us through the process of making a Temari simplifying something that initially seemed very daunting to those of us seeing it for the first time. The balls can be made by tightly wrapping rice hulls in cloth and Nicola uses this method, but she also uses existing polyester balls which are of course easier. A workshop for BETA members led by Nicola on 29th November 2025 will use ready made balls and will fully explain the process with detailed handouts. Attendees will be able to make their own ball to take home. A lot of enthusiasm for the workshop was generated by her presentation so the workshop should be a great success. For more information Nicola can be found at the twisted thread.co.uk

We also held our customary raffle with purple being this month’s colour, members make a large and a small one . This month Bernadette made the large bag and Ruth the small both pictured below.

The raffle colour for next month’s meeting on Monday 13th October is black and white. Please bring contributions in black and white, mostly stitch related. The talk that evening is from Emily-Jo Gibbs the tile is Sheers. We were also reminded that the subject for our Christmas competition is Amazing Lace which is open to varied interpretations Ruths bag above may offer some inspiration.

A warm and friendly evening with lots of treats to eat and a chance to chat and look at and enjoy the work of other members.

We began with the AGM and the major result is that the current committee will serve another year with the very welcome unanimous addition of Hel who will be a real asset in developing our ability to promote our groups via a range of social medial channels. We will summarise and respond to the results of the feedback sheets once they have all been read and considered.

We also ended our cycle of travelling books this evening. A new cycle will resume at the October meeting. A small sample of some of the lovely pages included in the books shows the variety of approaches to be found.

The highlight of the evening was the competition: ‘Vintage With a Twist’. Everyone had a chance to look carefully at all the entries and cast their vote. Ruth has provided a great summary of the entries, beginning with her comments on the wonderful standard of entries overall. Meriel was the winner with her very effective and witty piece ‘Vintage Port with a Twist of Lemon’. This piece included fabric collage and appliqué with machine lettering and free machine embroidery.

A range of styles and techniques were used across the entries. Rowan’s submission ‘Crinoline Lady Strikes Back’ used mixed media, with a playful interpretation of traditional design. Janets’ ‘Willow Pattern with a Difference’ was based on the much loved and familiar images with appliqué and Kantha bringing them up to date. Brenda included canvas work and appliqué in her work ‘At Last’. The title was a comment on how long it took her to finish. She included a quilt from the 1920s, tapestry from the 1990s, and a bird collage started in 2018.

Lynne’s piece included elegant gold work in an appliqué landscape ‘Braided River. Diane skilfully used a variety of stitches to complete a piece based on vintage candles with LED light bulbs again a witty title, ‘ Let’s Twist Again’. Cas submitted a hand stitched blackbird using mixed media, antique textiles lace and pearl buttons inspired by an Anne Kelly workshop

The evening also included the raffle with Deed making the large bag and Kay the small one, both very desirable prizes.

Our meetings begin again on September 8th 2025 with a talk from Nicola Davies which looks fascinating, on a subject probably new to a lot of us. The raffle colour is purple/mauve/ violet please bring contributions to the meeting.

We held a very well attended friendly and enjoyable exhibition and hope we inspired others to think about stitching as well as enjoying wonderful cakes and a tombola and cake stall.

The pieces on display included work we had completed as group projects over the years. Most recently the bookcase shown below and featuring the spines of our favourite books that had been stitched by members. The individual contributions werevery skilfully put together as a complete piece by Deed.

We shared some items that were the result of our Workshops which are very varied and held regularly.

Individual members included pieces of their own demonstrating a wide range of beautiful and skilled stitching. We all learn from each other and enjoy sharing our work.

Many pieces are not pictured here but hopefully this gives a flavour of our work.

Hannah gave a detailed and informative introduction to her work and textile journey. As you will see from the images below her work is very colourful and full of texture. Hannah is a younger stitcher who is continuing to develop her work vision and skills. She shared her inspiring and creative portfolio and her enthusiasm was infectious. Her work included a dress made from ties she completed for her GCSE, shown below, which she has worn herself. After school and college Hannah went on to do a mixed media degree at De Montfort university. Hannah uses a digital colour palette and employs collage and stencils as well as some machine embroidery, stressing sustainability and up-cycling fabric faux fur and leather scraps sometimes trapped with netting.

Inspired by the life under the sea, including jelly fish and anemones and by bioluminescence, she produces unexpected pieces, making use of appliqué and reverse appliqué and also using water soluble fabric. Objects like bottle tops and brightly coloured beads are made use of as shown below. Hannah also showed us another, later dress made with a base woven from fabric strips and with embroidered detail. Again it has been worn but apparently wasn’t very comfortable it looked lovely however.

Hannah was a finalist in the 2023 Hand and Lock award. Her entry was the poncho shown below made of repeated panels. When interning with Hand and Lock she also worked on a jacket for Elton John.

Hannah can be found on instagram hg_textile_arts and at HMGLOSSOP@GMail.com.

We also held our usual raffle this evening the colour was blue/turquoise. The large bag was made by Claire the smaller bag by Cas both very effective as you can see.

Our next meeting on 14th July is our summer party and competition the raffle colour is pink. There will be treats on hand from the committee. In the meantime we are looking forward to our exhibition.

We had a very sociable evening making items to sell at our Exhibition Which is happening on 28th June 2025. Among other things we made key rings, name badges, needle books. Pictures below just capture a little flavour of our work on the evening.

We also held the monthly raffle with yellow as this month’s colour. The bags are pictured below: the very vibrant large bag completed by Jayne and the delicate hand stitched bag completed by Hel. Meriel is also hosting a making day at her home on Friday 23rd May 2025, when some members will add to the items that will be on sale, including tote bags and cards. Members will also be hard at work at home completing other projects.

We have a busy time ahead and lots of members have already signed up to help at various points. Some of us will also meet on 31st May for a workshop. The next meeting will be on Monday 9th June, 2025 a talk from Hannah Glossop entitled Luminous Depths which sounds very intriguing. The raffle bag colour is Blue/Turquoise please bring contributions and don’t forget for members there is a lot more information about what is ahead and what part you can play on the notices sent out by Meriel.