Meeting of the Minds

I belong to several sewing-related clubs. I love getting together with like-minded people. I always come away inspired and eager.

Tuesday, I went to my first meeting of Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan. It's mission statement is to "foster the art of needle work, with special emphasis on work done with a needle with an eye and related disciplines, with an eye to encourage high standards of design and technique and to bring together members who shall learn, share, teach and participate to the fullest extent in this endeavor.

That's a pretty heavy statement!

In the morning, there was a lecture by a lady from a university, who works in the drama department, teaches costume design, and heads that department. She had a slide show and samples of things such as masks, armor, etc., and talked about how to make the bases of costumes out of non-traditional materials. Very interesting.

In the afternoon, there was a knitting workshop by one of the members, who sells her work in boutiques. The project is a shawl, very simple knitting, but done with a variety of weights of yarn and mixing fibers. It forces creativity, not having a set of rules to follow. Just pick up some yarn and knit. Mix it up.

My shawl is looking really crazy. I have yellow, light teal and dark teal textured yarns, and throwing in eyelash in different sizes, and some sequined yarns.

I had a wonderful time. I'm looking forward to next month, when Christine Reilly will be there for a 2-day workshop. We will be making a beaded evening bag.

Fall brings wonderful things!