News to make a morning

And excellent news - hot off the press! - that has made my morning. Exhibition organisers Twisted Thread confirms that we can unveil the winners of the British Sari Story at this year's Knitting and Stitching Show.
That means we will be reaching an audience of 50,000 of keen embroiderers - and a new audience with the British Sari Story competition.
The Knitting and Stitching Show will be at Alexandra Palace from 7-10 October 2010. It's Europe's biggest textile show.  Our partner in the British Sari Story, sari retailer RCKC, will be making up the winners.

Left: Alexandra Palace, north London

More on the V and A's Bank Holiday weekend of Stitching

Planned around the Quilting Show.  Click this link for a full programme.

A meeting with RCKC and a silver cabbage in Mayfair

An early morning meeting in Wembley with Amit Rastogi of RCKC and Julian Day of the Knitting and Stitching Show. We discuss how we might work together this year.
RCKC, as usual, is a magical oasis of sparkle and embroidery.

Shoppers who have been to Fenwick, down the road at Brent Cross.

Petals by the Visitors' Book.
Much later, after a drink with a friend, walk back to the tube via Albemarle Street in Mayfair and spot a silver cabbage in a jeweller's window. More sparkle. And the silver looks almost tissue-like.

 

In Fenwick, Bond Street (second Fenwick reference of the day!) see an almost cabbage green Paul Smith dress in the window.

A sewing cafe in Paris

News of a sewing cafe in Paris. A brilliant idea - you can rent a sewing machine by the hour. That is very appealing. One of the things that stops me taking out the sewing machine more often is the idea of heaving it out of its box and then packing it away afterwards.

Haberdashery at A1 fabrics

Call in with my daughter at A1 fabrics, Shepherds Bush market, to buy deckchair canvas.  They only have ticking... Will this be strong enough? Buy it anyway, as it is pretty cheap and anyway have no alternative... We go upstairs to the new haberdashery section for the first time. It is a treasure trove!

 

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.

Friday Late Stitched Up

Katrina reminds me that there is a Friday late night stitching evening on 30 April at the V&A, to coincide with the Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition. More on the V&A website.

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.