We’re all part of a tribe . . . or two, or more! The tribes we belong to may be made up of family, friends, work colleagues or acquaintances. Some of our tribes are formed online while others are shared in person.

For those of us who share a love of stitching, chances are we’ve tried to find our stitching tribe. Somewhere where our obsession with needle and thread is considered normal and we find ourselves surrounded by likeminded people! Some of us have found our tribe at a local Embroiderers’ Guild or Stitch and Chat, while others without such groups close by, may be part of an online tribe.

Most of the time, the Inspirations Tribe is held together through the pages of the magazine, our weekly newsletter, email and phone correspondence. But, once every two years, some of our tribe gather together in person as we celebrate our combined love of all things needle and thread at Beating Around the Bush, our International Needlework Convention.

This week sees the team at Inspirations wrapping up the 10th Beating Around the Bush, so we hope you don’t mind, but All Stitched Up! has a slightly different format than usual!

And just so you know, we’re honoured to have been part of the ‘tribe finding journey’ for many of you reading this newsletter.

As sad as we are to be wrapping up the conversations we’ve had in person during this year’s Beating Around the Bush, we love that the connection to our tribe can continue through the conversations we all get to be a part of in All Stitched Up!

‘I meant to write in just after my trip, but somehow didn't get to it. Better late than never, I suppose! Last fall I contacted Inspirations and asked for suggestions for shops to visit during my trip to Australia and New Zealand. Through the newsletter I received a lot of wonderful suggestions and wanted to give some feedback.’

‘The first part of our trip was a cruise around New Zealand. Unfortunately, they did the route in reverse, so when we got to Auckland it was a Sunday and the shops I had intended to visit were both closed. I did, however, stumble upon a shop called New Zealand Fabrics & Yarn in the Queens Arcade in Auckland and had some fantastic luck! They carry yarn, quilting fabric, and some embroidery supplies and kits from New Zealand. I've already stitched one of the kits I bought there, and the small embroidery kits featuring birds, animals, and flowers from New Zealand I brought home as gifts were a big success.’

‘In Australia, I managed stops at All Threads and Lyn's Fine Needlework and brought home several kits, patterns, books, and threads. I've already stitched two of the Cross-Stitch kits. I don't usually do much Cross-Stitch, so these were a fun change of pace for me. The friend I was traveling with is a quilter, so of course we had to stop at Aboriginal Fabric Gallery in Alice Springs. That place has some amazing fabric and of course I just had to buy some - now to figure out what to do with it! Thanks again to everyone in the Inspirations community who made suggestions.’

Mary, you are absolutely more than welcome! It’s our joy to be able to point people in the right direction.

‘I have been sewing since I was very young. First it was dolls clothes and traced embroidered doileys and then later on, clothes for myself and my children. Then I moved on to patchwork and after 23 quilts I decided to try embroidery. Two years ago while we were on a caravan holiday we called into the Junee Museum in New South Wales, Australia. There I found in a beautiful glass display box a sampler that my Grandmother had stitched in 1906 when she was in sixth class, along with another one stitched by her sister. It was indeed a very moving moment for me, realising that all these years later I was doing the same stitches that she had done. I guess my destiny was put in place many years ago!’

Yvonne, what an incredible full circle moment! We can imagine how moving that must have been and thank you for taking the time to share your story with us.

‘I found the embroidered post cards of great interest in All Stitched Up! #151 (HERE), so I thought that I would send you a copy of the post card that my grandfather William Alfred Barnes sent to his grandmother from the Western Front.’

‘The photo of my grandfather was taken before he was sent to Gallipoli. There must be other families that would have similar post cards and in commemoration of the end of the First World War, they may like to send you photos of their embroidered post cards for your magazine.’

Cherie, we love your suggestion and would welcome the conversation of embroidered postcards to continue, especially with those of you who have a very personal link to them!

In fact, we’d love to hear from anyone in the Inspirations Community who’d like to Have Your Say as it’s by sharing our thoughts and ourselves that we become and stay a tribe with one another.

Following on from last week’s What Are You Stitching? (HERE), this week we continue to share stitching that has a direct link with our International Needlework Convention, Beating Around the Bush.

Julie, we love that you were able to adapt Margaret Light’s design and pair it with a method of construction that created a piece that is uniquely your own.

Become part of the Inspirations family by subscribing to the magazine... we'd love to have you join us!

~ Unknown ~

Stay informed of upcoming needlework events taking place all around the world in our new What’s On page on the Inspirations Studios Website HERE.