Plans for the Meena Bazaar

A meeting with Suraya Sadiq of the Amadiyya mosque, Morden, south London, to discuss plans for the future. Might we hold embroidery classes at the mosque? Suraya suggests that we go along to the Meena Bazaar (Ladies Only) at the mosque on Sunday 14th May. We will display embroidery created by women in the project so far - and see who is interested. Around 5,000 people are expected at the Bazaar. Some of the women in the Asian Women's Group (Wandsworth) attend the mosque. Suraya will ask them to embroider during the day.
I take the work they created for Stitch Wandsworth with me, as Suraya hasn't seen them before.

She finds a cushion of her own which reminds her of a piece worked by Savita of the Asian Women's Group....She explains how this is done with an 'aari' needle.
Savita's embroidery was inspired by a pattern on ecclesiastical robes in Liverpool Cathedral. Interesting how the floral motifs are so similar to the patterns on this cushion.

Red dots on the map and a day of traffic and planning

A day of driving round Wandsworth talking to people about more embroidery and further classes with the Royal School of Needlework. Late to the Furzedown Project because of gridlocked traffic on Hammersmith Broadway. Talk to the centre manager about organising classes through the summer, once Thames College Adult Education classes finish. Perhaps the keen embroiderers from Restart 50+, who attend the centre on a Monday, might be interested in coming along as mentors/assistants.
It is a beautiful day. Decide to make the most of sitting in traffic and try to put the roof down on my elderly car. But it jams.
And only just in time for lunch at the Asian Women's Group, Mantle Court, Wandsworth. Return the rare fish scale embroidery loaned by Zafia Qureshi ....who asked for more calico so she could keep embroidering. Make a note in my notebook (which I manage to leave behind after a chat with the centre manager on whether we could involve non-Asian residents).
Discussion at lunch over the cauliflower curry. The potato has been left out in a gesture towards healthy eating. Carrot halva less healthy but delicious.
We discuss taking classes to the mosque in Morden, attended by many of the women. We wonder who else we could invite.  Call Suraya Sadiq, who organises many activities at the mosque, and plan a meeting for tomorrow.
Good to meet Maureen Docherty who is at the AWG recording oral histories. She works for Wandsworth Libraries and Heritage. There is a move afoot in the Borough to record stories from as wide a selection of residents as possible. She has started by asking the women in the AWG to place a red topped pin on a map, to show where they were born. A cluster in Pakistan, and  one or two in east Africa.

Goldwork classes at the Asian Women's Group

Royal School of Needlework tutor Owen Davies teaches goldwork at the Asian Women's Group. On the table - a cushion he embroidered while training at the Royal School of Needlework.

Asian Women's Group visit the V&A

The Asian Women's Group visit the V&A. For many, it was their first visit. Again, curator Mor Thunder talks about 17th century printed patterns for embroidery.


































Lunch outside afterwards. Centre: Therese Rajadurai, Asian Community Librarian in Wandsworth.