­Don’t the years roll round? It seems no more than a few weeks since welast hoped you had a good Christmas and wished all our readers a happy and healthy New Year.

We were delighted to meet MK Embroidery Group leader Mary Sayers when she called on us during her holiday in the West Country. Mary brought an unusual quilt entitled While the Cat’s Away, depicting the group surrounded by cartoon style pictures of the hobbies their partners enjoy while the members are busy with their embroidery. Very apt and well worth sharing.

Daleen Lubbe’s A Taste of Trapunto details an alternative method of achieving this effective raised quilting; Dawn Cowling takes us through twin needle techniques. As always, Evy Hawkins inspires us to make full use of the versatile embellisher with a colourful tutorial. A beautifully illustrated interview with textile artist Naomi Renouf details her fascination with the island of Jersey.

Projects include: The Midas Touch, featuring embroidery on metal, from Sandra Carter who has discovered an ingenious way of sourcing her raw material; Any Which Way, a colourful reversible jacket from Janice Croft; Off the Cuff, glorious Gothic-type wrist ornaments from Tracy Curtis.

Janet Carley has been Inspired by Nature to sew our cover picture, an enchanting, lifelike pansy, while Sue Munday explains her technique of painting on Bondaweb in A Little Bit of Gold.

Childhood memories revisited by George le Warré are captured in Grandma’s Pillow Sham and our own Tori Keegan and Carolyn Sinclair provide more computer and software tuition.

Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the actual paper rather than what is written on it. With environmental issues being very much to the fore we have decided to print Flair on woodfree paper*. We hope you agree it is well worth
doing our bit for the environment.

Best wishes

* Woodfree papers are a blend of natural fibres and post-consumer or agricultural waste, which minimises the need for virgin wood pulp paper. Sometimes known as fine paper, in the US it is known as free sheet.