We lost one of our founder members of the Cross Stitch Guild recently and I will miss her dreadfully, not just because she worked for me creating treasures for my Finders site, but she had become a family friend.
Jane Herbert passed away after a short illness, and we will all miss her so much. Bill will miss her marvellous marmalade – I still do not know why she spoiled him with a jar tucked in amongst the things I ordered from her, but it was always there! Jane had been as fit as a flea and always busy and even at 80 she was a Cotswold Warden and earlier this year was filmed for Country File repairing a dry-stone wall.
Jane’s family were in touch, and her two sons asked me if I could take away all her stitching stuff as they knew Jane and I were friends and that she had worked for me and for the CSG. I have to say that I was in for a shock when I arrived at the house. There were six boxes ready sorted and labelled to go in my car. The shock was not the quantity, but when I opened the cross stitch boxes, they were all my designs and there must over 100 pieces of work. I knew that Jane had been a fan, but I had no idea that she had completed so much work. My friend must have stitched in her sleep.
With her son’s blessings, I am sharing a selection of Jane’s work over the next weeks as unique treasures. I will also take some to our Together we Stitch Weekend at Warwick University to raise funds for Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres, the CSG’s chosen charity.
Jane always joked that her sons would hire a skip when she shuffled off but they were both amazed and very proud of her work. They are thrilled that these treasures will go to good homes, and that a big cheque will be going to charity.
