The Stone U3A Hand Stitching and Yarncraft group meets regularly every Wednesday at Wedgwood Cricket Club in Barlaston. The venue is ideal as the many windows give us lots of natural light for our craft work. This is mainly hand sewing as well as knitting, crochet, patchwork, rug making, etc. We don’t usually use machines preferring to sit and chat – putting the world to rights and supporting each other.
We have enjoyed an interesting and productive 2023, especially as group numbers were stable at 22 and we were all able to take part in a number of different activities to not only increase our skills but also consider how these could benefit others.
We have regularly taken on whole group tasks and this year Vanita provided the inspiration and materials for making small, octagonal, stuffed ornamental pincushions called Biscornu. This one was specifically designed by Vanita to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
In May we took part in two community activities and enjoyed a very interesting and humorous session with Stone First Responders learning more about using a defibrillator and CPR. Many of us had experienced these activities before but having our skills refreshed was very productive.
Next our group initiated and organised, alongside inviting some of the other U3A sewing groups, a voluntary day spent machine sewing quilts through the Project Linus charity. This is worldwide and aims to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children, who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed by donating gifts of new, homemade & washable quilts and blankets. Having enjoyed several Project Linus days, we now know the local coordinator Heather quite well and were pleased to be able to finish all the quilts on the day,
We have many talented and creative group members and in October Avril led a session on making Dorset Buttons. Originally these were made as far back as the 17th century from a thin disc of sheep’s horn as a base with a piece of linen pulled and twisted to form a firm conical shape. This shape was then embroidered over with a very fine stitch. Today we use a metal ring and pearl cotton embroidery thread to create different styles of buttons which can include a variety of colours as well as incorporating beads within the decorated patterns – which involves very careful construction.
As we headed towards the festive season Val showed us a quick and easy way to make material coasters – ideal for both hot and cold drinks. She ensured that they would be safe for both because we included a sandwich lining, using shaped heat resistant felt anti-slip table protector cloth between the two different pieces of cotton. The material was then folded to make the shape and hand sewn into place.
Christmas 2023 was soon upon us and on the morning of our Christmas lunch we were treated to a Slow Stitching session from Dereth, who many of us had met at several recent workshops held at Spode in Stoke. Dereth created a festive theme with her angels and we all enjoyed the quiet and thoughtful processes involved in Slow Stitching before celebrating with an exchange of Secret Santa presents over lunch.