Gather

Gathering with one another in person is something few of us have done in recent weeks.

We have, however, most likely done some gathering of a different kind as we used the extra hours we’ve found in each day to bring together our UFOs in one place, collect supplies from far and wide as we window shop our way through the internet, assemble our wish list of future stitches, techniques and projects, or we may have simply gathered our thoughts as some of the hustle and bustle of daily life was no longer with us.

However, we were inspired to think about gathering a little differently recently.

In the March/April issue of ‘Needle Pointers’, the magazine of The American Needlepoint Guild, their president echoed a challenge she’d previously issued where she encouraged her readers to gather new people to their group.

Now, while not all of us belong to a formal stitching group of one kind or another, how often do we think about encouraging a love of needle and thread to those who are yet to experience its joy?

There are countless ways to do this, but perhaps none as simple as the idea put forward in ‘Needle Pointers’…

‘Take your stitching with you when you venture out.’

What a fabulously easy way to evangelise our love of needle and thread, by simply engaging with our passion in front of people who are yet to pick up a needle and thread of their own!

No doubt, there are many among us who’ve found ourselves sitting with needle and thread in hand whilst out in public who can testify to the comments and queries it evoked, but I wonder if there’s a more deliberate way we could each approach venturing out with our stitching in the hope we plant the seed in a curious onlooker?

Not only will they thank us for it as they come to appreciate the truly meditative and transforming qualities of the push and pull of needle and thread through fabric, our craft will thank us for it too as we ensure our passion is taken up by those who will steward it into the future.