
Welcome to the Association of Northern Stitch Groups
An information and communications hub for independent stitch groups in our area
This new group is a co-ordinating group and is called the Association of Northern Stitch Groups (ANSG).
We are not operating as a charity or trading organisation.

Our next workshop
Will be held at Bowburn on Saturday March 22nd 2025
with Tanya Bentham ( fun medieval embroidery). Find her work here,
www.opusanglicanumembroidery.com
The dragon with flower, peacock and rainbow sheep are the kit options
being offered. The flier was sent out to all ANSG groups.
The cost will be £40 plus £20 for a kit (paid directly to the tutor).
Applications are open with a cut-off date of February 18th as kits have to be booked
shortly after this date. Limited places, so book in quick!
The Association Afternoon 2024
The Association Afternoon was held on October 26th at Bowburn Community Centre.
Our annual get-to-gether for the ISGs, was well attended and we enjoyed an afternoon of
catching up with old and new friends.
The gathering was welcomed by our chair, Pauline, who gave us an update on our friend Diane,
wishing her a speedy recovery. All groups were encouraged to forward their 2025 programmes to Sheila,
for inclusion on the web site. All members will be able to access the information
if they would like to attend other groups meetings. Pauline extended her thanks to all the
committee members for organinsing today and welcomed Kate from
Kates Kloths (stand photo below, www.kateskloths.co.uk).
She also mentioned the need for more ANSG committee members!
The fund raiser for this event was stitched greeting cards (see photo below),
which reached over £100 towards funds. The raffle was well supported as well as the book stall.
The Mystery Stitch Packs (including fabric, buttons, threads and ribbon) were distributed, and
after seeing a lot of puzzled faces, dice(?) and paper were also distributed.
Victoria went on to explain her creative thinking behind getting us started. And it worked,
below are some of the photos of work in progress. We were all encouraged to
complete the fabric and then suggestions were made about what we could make it into.
Book cover, scissor case, needlecase, greeting card, glasses case.
It was suggested that we bring along our finished pieces to the AGM in 2025.
The activity was a hit, our thanks go to Victoria (with help from Kate).
Our Last Workshop
Our last workshop was goldwork with Heather Lewis, and was held at Bowburn on Saturday 28th September.
There were two kits to choose from, one suitable for beginners to goldwork,
and one for those with more experience. One finished piece can be seen below, thanks Pat.
From the previous workshop, you can see above, a photo of
Pat Dickinsons beautiful Crewel work.
The AGM for 2024 was held at Bowburn
on April 27th 2024.
The following is a brief report from the secretary on the afternoon events:
The ANSG Annual General Meeting took place on April 27th and it was pleasing to see that all the twelve stitch groups were represented.
Following the Chairman’s report the Treasure explained the financial report that had been distributed to members in advance of the meeting. The committee were re-elected for a further year and look forward to organizing events for members. The temporary amendment to the constitution was approved so that the three officers will step down from their post over the next three years, rather than all three stepping down together next April. After some discussion with members it was agreed that the length of tenure will be reviewed at a future committee meeting and addressed at next year’s AGM.
Following the business part of the meeting members enjoyed an illustrated talk by Elnaz Yazdani who considers herself to be an educator as well as a textile artist. She explained how she uses the medium of stitch in schools across a variety of subjects in the curriculum to encourage children of all ages to develop a love of stitched textiles. Elnaz also works with groups of all ages and ethnicity in the community and helps them to come together using a variety of stitch based projects. Her energy and enthusiasm for promoting the use of stitched and embellished textiles was most impressive.
At the end of the talk members had the opportunity to look more closely at her work and talk further with her about her ideas for keeping the art of stitch alive in the community.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the Association of Northern Stitch Groups, please contact any of our elected members below:
Chair: Pauline Oldershaw: chair.ansg2021@gmail.com
Secretary: Sheelagh Barker: secretary.ansg2021@gmail.com
Treasurer: Pat Dickenson: treasurer.ansg2021@gmail.com