Have Your Say

Your Voices

While some of us in the needlework community continue to endure periods of isolation, either through coronavirus lockdowns or extreme weather events of late, here at Inspirations HQ we’re grateful for the ability to remain connected to everyone, regardless of their circumstances, through tools like this newsletter and the wonderful emails we receive from our readers.

Without you, we’d simply be talking to ourselves, so it’s always fabulous to hear from you.

We’re still receiving feedback from many of you with stories about your stash, following on from the series of articles we published at the end of 2020. In true ‘new year’s resolution’ style, Trudy Snaith found satisfaction in organising all of her needlepoint projects and frames. She chose to photograph each one so she could see exactly what she had, then packaged everything together in individual kits. It sounded like the perfect way to start the year!

You might remember Teresa Cain, the reader who simply loved threads and who had stored them all in clear plastic boxes. Well, Teresa shared with us her new acquisition of some exquisite French silk, which, we’re pleased to note, is also now organised beautifully along with all her other threads. Are we envious? Yes, Teresa, we certainly are.

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Lorraine Knox also wrote a wonderful email talking about the origins of our abundant stashes. She rightly pointed out that every skein of cotton and piece of fabric came to us after being grown, harvested, produced and delivered, often under adverse circumstances and made even more difficult over the past year.

She wanted to remind us to appreciate what we have and to try and value it in ways we might not have thought of. Thank you, Lorraine, for the gentle yet important reminder.

In All Stitched Up! issue #267 we wrote an article about scientific names. Although enjoying them, Lana Lipsett also mentioned how she loved the common names for plants and flowers, especially as they reflected what she learned as a child. It is because of this history that, for her and probably many others, they carry so many fond memories. From Tigerlily to Lady Slipper, Indian Paintbrush to Sweet William, common names reflect the lives and pasts of ordinary people and can be just as meaningful as their Latin counterparts.

Both Catherine Gerardson and Clare responded to the introduction, ‘A Role to Play’, from All Stitched Up! issue #268.

Catherine shared with us the difficulties her 87-year-old mother has faced during the lockdown, particularly as she, like so many of us, was unable to mix with her friends. She suffered several bouts of illness, but during her recovery and rehabilitation had needlework to see her through. Catherine’s support and her gift of two new embroidery kits for her Mum at Christmas has helped even more.

Clare shared how her embroidery group, also unable to meet face-to-face, overcame the difficulties. They are collating photographs of their ‘lockdown’ projects which will be put in a book and held at their local library as a reference.

As Clare rightly says, through this collaboration a little piece of history has arisen out of necessity.

Finally, Sandra Sparrius sent us a question to put out to our community. As she was working a beading project, she contemplated how important tension is in our work.

Even between stitching sessions tension can vary, but good, even tension is vital to success. Anyone who has ever tried to knit or crochet whilst angry will know this all too well…the difference between the work produced under emotional strain and that produced normally can at times be quite obvious!

So, her question is: how do we find and then re-find that ideal tension?

Any tips on tension would be very welcome, as are all of your comments we receive regarding any articles. You can email us at news@inspirationsstudios.com. We eagerly await your replies.