News from the Chat and Stitch Group
You may have noticed at the back of the ‘Olton Messenger’, our magazine, under the ‘Directory’, mention of ‘The St Margaret’s Chat and Stitch group’, formerly known as ‘The Craft group’. This has been established for many years and was initially created in response to the need of maintenance of the material fabric of the Church.
Several ladies from the congregation continue to meet on a Thursday afternoon to work on the fabric of the church. This has expanded to include projects to enhance and raise funds for St. Margaret’s Church.
The nativity scene has always been a popular display during Christmastide and a vital aid in the popular Crib service. The original figures, which have done sterling service over the years, are quite fragile and younger members of the Church were discouraged from touching them. It was suggested that a more appropriate set should be used which could be handled by all ages. The group worked hard on a set of knitted characters and the Nativity figures were introduced during Advent 2015. They were widely handled from the very young in the Step to Step service and those who were involved in the Crib service in the knowledge that they were virtually indestructible. Meanwhile, the set, that has done wonderful service over the years, was safely on display by the main entrance to the Church. Hopefully the knitted set of nativity figures will be a welcome addition to the Christmas festivities in years to come. Due to popular demand we are knitting smaller versions of the Nativity sets for sale. We have to say that we have now closed our order book for this year, and the funds raised will be for our church.
As mentioned fabric housekeeping of the Church was the principle aim of the group. To this end, repairs have been made to kneelers, altar linen, money bags, choral and clerical vestments and many more. The group has also responded to the need for banners to signify the important festivals and periods in the Church calendar. This is work in progress and to date we have those representing Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost and Harvest.
We have made the costumes for the production of the ‘Journey to the Stable’, and we are pleased to say that these have been used for events in this Church and others, including the recent Women’s Day of Prayer at the United Reform Church. The Group has made the bunting for the Summer Fete and also to enhance the church hall. Our main fund raiser is the Christmas Fayre, to which end we work together throughout the year.
If you would like to learn more about the chat and stitch group, please contact us and we’ll let you know more!