October 2026

Susan Findlay was the speaker for our October meeting. Her talk was about how textiles can make and preserve memories, it was very informative and positive and proved how saying yes can lead one to new ventures.

Susan grew up in a creative environment in Musselburgh, learning to knit and crochet from her gran and mum, and making her own garments. It was by chance she discovered patchwork when she went with her mum to a workshop. Falling in love with English paper piecing [epp] and Suffolk puffs where the classes focused on hand stitching. Susan was asked if she could make a memory quilt from outgrown children’s items. Attending quilt fairs lead to a request for a memory cat which triggered requests for a variety of animals. Susan set up her business “Wee Susie Stitchers” on Facebook in 2019, like many the lockdown had its effect in holding back development. After lockdown there was an influx of orders as people had cleared their homes and garages and required memory items for their families. Susan had a lot of respect for the garments given and discussed with clients’ what pieces were precious, even leaving a little stain visible on for one.

Another request was to start teaching patchwork and in 2022 working with a friend they investigated, applied for lottery funding and set up workshops to bring survivors of bereavement [SoBS] together to create a quilt. 49 members produced a personal block which varied in materials and style, a block was made for each supporting charity, and a sunflower and hope block included to produce 56 blocks. These were joined with purple sashing which represents suicide awareness. In January 2024 the quilt was exhibited at a launch event with the help of a news report on the BBC. This led to further exhibitions in the UK including the Scottish Parliament and Westminster. The guardianship of the quilt as now been taken over by “Neil’s Hugs Foundation”.

Susan will now be able to concentrate on making more memory animals and quilts.