Now, if you’re wanting to do any classes with me this year, for Beating Around the Bush, the needlework conference being run in Adelaide at Easter time, two of my classes have changed. Beating Around the Bush is a fabulous event, and last time one of the things I loved best about it was simply being with so many other people who also love embroidery.

My one day class is now going to be an Elizabethan Strawberry Roundel, replacing the Hardanger class.

Replacing the difficult and unusual stitches class will be your first chance to do a class in Portuguese Whitework with me! We’ll be making the handtowel out of my upcoming book “Portuguese Whitework”.

The Mountmellick lily cushion class remains the same.

I would absolutely love you to join me for these classes! Bookings for Beating Around the Bush can be made at the Try Booking website.

I taught them the remainder of the stitches needed for our project, and then they were free to continue on with their project and ask me to teach them any extra stitches that they wanted to learn from my Mountmellick book.

I always enjoy the last afternoon of a two day class when the students have learnt all they “have” to learn for the project, and they can ask me curly questions. Its good to do a bit of problem solving on what they have been having difficulty with, and to help them explore extra stitches if they so desire.

The standard of stitching at the Lake Macquarie group was excellent. There were a large number of *very* talented needlewomen there. I was treated to seeing some of the other projects that they are working on i.e. non-Mountmellick.

Ladies, thank you for your kind hospitality and for making me feel so very welcome!

You see, Mountmellick embroidery is a little bit unique in terms of the fact that its supplies are quite difficult to get. If you were doing a Hardanger class, it would be reasonably easy to collect together your supplies from local or internet shops. It would be reasonably easy for the vast majority of people to turn up with the right things.

Some people think that its ok to use perle cotton or candlewicking cotton, and damask fabric for Mountmellick embroidery, but I do not. None of these were traditionally used, and if you use them, you will not get the feel for working with the correct products, or creating an authentic effect.

I maintain that if you’re going to learn something new, you should learn it properly. That means with the right supplies, and the right techniques. For Mountmellick embroidery, there are very few suppliers who have the right products, and Vetty Creations is the main one. So therefore, it makes sense for me to supply a kit. You’ll be getting the right products, and therefore have an authentic experience.

If I asked people to bring their own supplies for a Mountmellick class, I’m pretty sure that some people would bring the right things. But some people would collect together things that are “close enough” from their stash – I know this, because most of us do try to use up what is in our stash, and that is an admirable aim!

But if you were going to do a stumpwork class with Jane Nicholas and she asked you to bring specific silk threads, and specific silk fabric, and you turned up with rayon threads and homespun fabric, you couldn’t expect to get the same effect as on Jane’s class model. You would find working with those threads and fabrics quite a different experience than Jane had intended.

Neither could you expect to turn up to one of my Mountmellick classes with other supplies and expect to get the same experience as I had planned for you. This is why I supply kits for my Mountmellick classes. If you use something else, I cannot give any sort of guarantee of a similar result or experience.

Please understand that I am not trying to bleed you of more money. My kit prices (especially for classes because there is no postage included) are quite reasonable. It is all about giving you a experience that is pleasurable and the same as the rest of the students in the class.

It will all be lots of fun. The people who turn up to my classes are always so very lovely, and what could be better than spending a day stitching in company?

However, it will also mean that I am away from the office a bit. You may hear from me just a little less, and orders may be delayed a day or so. I apologise for this, but am pretty sure you’ll understand!

I spent the day yesterday working on making up my Portuguese whitework cushion. Mmm… I love it very much! Today I will make the inner cushion to stuff it with, add the button closures to the back, and then it will be all done. I was writing the instructions as I went, which is much easier to do than trying to remember later how it was done.

Next comes the fun part of photographing it.