The 10th Beating Around the Bush was always going to be a cause for celebration. After all, it was 29 years in the making and would see 18 tutors and 282 students from around Australia and across the world converge on Immanuel College in Adelaide for eight days of stitching bliss.

And celebrate we did! From Registration Day on 3rd October right through to Gala Dinner on the evening of 10th October, it was one and all sharing an unrivalled passion for all things needle and thread.

There were endless hours of stitching. A lot of chatting as we caught up with friends, both old and new. We shopped to our heart’s content. Answered quizzing questions and crafted clever solutions to craft challenges. Toured our home town of Adelaide. Listened and learned from both tutors and students. Donated generously to some worthy causes. And all whilst fitting in homework that was required of us between workshops!

Not that we needed to add anything to that mix, but we also took the opportunity to officially launch Inspirations #100, A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII and the Inspirations Index Issues 1-100 all at the same time.

So, this week join us for a special edition of All Stitched Up! as we unpack Beating Around the Bush 2018 and announce the winners of this year’s Stitch Your Heart Out competition.

For those of you who were a part of this year’s event, we hope it brings back treasured memories and for those of you yet to make the journey to Adelaide, we hope it inspires you to join us at our next Inspirations event!

One of our key values at Inspirations is giving back and what better time to be generous than when we gather together? At BATB 2018 we once again chose to support Fine Cell Work.

Fine Cell Work trains prisoners in the skills of creative needlework. The skills learnt, with needle and thread, enable prisoners to earn money from finished pieces which are made during the long hours spent in their cells.

You can learn more about this amazing charity and even purchase products the prisoners have made at their website HERE.

Through events at this year’s BATB including Quiz Night, An Evening with Nicola and Phillipa and Gala Dinner, the incredibly generous Beating Around the Bush ‘tribe’ raised almost AU$3,500 which is something we can all be tremendously proud of.

Thanks to the generous support of The San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, and Michele Hill and Anna Scott in collaboration with Nicola Jarvis, we had the privilege of holding a live charity auction at our Gala Dinner, with 100% of the proceeds going to support the work of some very worthy causes.

With proceeds being donated to Fine Cell Work, The San Francisco School of Needlework and Design generously donated a certificate to attend a week-long personalised needlework experience at their studios on Union Square in San Francisco. Not only did we raise AU$760, but our generous winner is now planning a trip to the US to make the most of her purchase!

‘Blue Birds and Berries', a silk work cushion designed by Nicola Jarvis (pictured above left) and stitched by Anna Scott, fetched AU$350, with all monies raised going to the extremely worthy cause of The Smith Family who help disadvantaged children and their families throughout Australia.

'Birds in the Strawberry Bed' quilt was a piece designed by Nicola Jarvis and stitched by Michele Hill. Measuring 1.40m x 1.10m, this quilt was made specifically for an exhibition at the William Morris Gallery, London in 2013. The AU$1,600 received for this item will be going to the wonderful work at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

Not only did each of the auction’s winners take home a ‘money can’t buy’ needlework must-have, but their incredible generosity will be most appreciated by each of the charities represented.

Our first round of winners are from the Design Diva category, where entrants submit original pieces that have been both designed and stitched by their maker. And the winners are…

Jacqueline Weemaels-Michiels from Belgium - A Little House in Provence

Chrissie Mann from the UK – Stumpwork Figure

Victoria Laine from Australia – Traditional Band Sampler

The next category is Stitching Up A Storm which is for entries that are re-creations of existing designs. And the winners are…

Emma Haley from the USA – Partridge and Pear Tree

Sue Barrows from Australia – Elizabethan Casket

Emma Haley from the USA – Jewel Box Bag

This year the special themed category was ‘10 x 10’ which was chosen to tie in with celebrating the 10th BATB and required each entry to be contained within a 10cm x 10cm square. And the winner is…

Cheryl Kealy from Australia – Golden Eggs in Silk Nest

In this category, everyone attending BATB is encouraged to vote for their favourite entry of the competition. After the ballots were counted, the winner of the People’s Choice award is – Victoria Laine, for whom this was her second prize, for her piece ‘Traditional Band Sampler’ from the Stitching Up a Storm – Counted/Cut/Drawn Thread category.

Victoria’s sampler includes a panel for each state and territory of Australia represented by emblems and motifs specific to that state/territory.

How does one choose an overall Grand Prize winner from over 80 entries of such high calibre? This was the very difficult task of our esteemed judges and after carefully considering each entry on its own merits, taking into account technical difficulty, stitching proficiency and overall design aesthetic, they finally came to a unanimous decision.

Drum roll please… the winner of the Stitch Your Heart Out Grand Prize for 2018 is:

Susan Davis of Australia – Or Nué Paisley Motif

As the winner of the Grand Prize, Susan has won a complete set of Soie d’Alger Silk Threads valued at over AU$4,000. A huge thanks to Marc and Nathalie from Au ver à Soie who kindly agreed to once again be our major sponsor and generously donated this highly coveted prize.

Congratulations Susan, we can’t wait to see your future designs, many of which will no doubt be stitched using Au ver à Soie!

This year a special mention was made for one piece that unfortunately arrived too late to be included in the competition, but the judges felt worthy of commendation:

To help commemorate the 10th Beating Around the Bush, some decorative bunting was created with a little help from the students and tutors at this year’s event. Each attendee was sent a template and piece of fabric prior to the convention and was encouraged to simply stitch away. The results were nothing short of spectacular!

Thank you to everyone who help created this keepsake that has already become a treasured reminder of this milestone event.

It takes a village to put on an event such as Beating Around the Bush and some of the many ‘villagers’ we couldn’t live without are our incredibly generous sponsors.

Firstly, there were all the treasures that were donated for inclusion into the gift bags. Then there were the bountiful prizes that brought joy to all who were fortunate enough to win them. Without the generous donations of our sponsors, much of what we do would not be possible.

Perhaps the biggest winner of all was the very lucky Gala Dinner attendee who won their choice of one of four tours from Needlework Tours valued at AU$8,995.

Congratulations Penny Wolswinkel, we can’t wait to hear which tour package you end up choosing and we know you’re in for a trip of a lifetime thanks to the amazing generosity of Simon and Maureen Laughlin from Needlework Tours who donated the prize.

Inspirations #101 has only just been sent to print and don’t tell anyone we told you, but it’s a celebration of all things Beating Around the Bush.

Featuring eight of the timeless projects featured at this year’s convention, it’s definitely an issue not to be missed!

For those of you familiar with our publications, you may recognise the name Mike Annese. Mike is one of our photographers who has a magical way of bringing projects to life on the pages of our publications. It was a privilege to have Mike as our official photographer throughout Beating Around the Bush 2018 where he was able to capture this year’s event in the same magical way.

You can browse the ever-growing gallery of images from this year’s Beating Around the Bush HERE.

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~ Osho ~

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.