An exhibition of embroidery

lured me away from the things I should have been doing yesterday afternoon. (Actually I made time to go by getting up at a ridiculously early hour.)
I went partly because I was invited to do and partly out of curiosity and partly because embroidery interests me. 
Let it be said that I cannot embroider to save one of my nine lives (and I have already used eight of those it seems). I don't have the manual dexterity to embroider but that doesn't stop me being interested in it as a craft. Indeed I have, over the years, taught myself a good deal about it. I look at it in terms of "now how could I knit that idea?"
So I prowled off and was warmly greeted by a number of people sitting there sewing needles in hand. No, they didn't stitch me together. 
I ignored the offer of a catalogue. I prefer to look at such things with an open mind. As it was I recognised the work of a number of people. There was texture to look at, colour to look at, form and shape. 
My problem with embroidery tends to be, "It's beautiful and often incredibly skilful - but what in the heck do you do with it?" 
There is a limit to what you can put on the walls - particularly in a house where almost all the available wall space is taken up with bookshelves. 
I also like things to be useful - embroidered bags appeal to me. You can put books and knitting in those. Yes, you can see where my real interests lie. 
But embroidery, even the sort you "simply hang on the wall" is not a waste of time. There was an impressive range of work from the junior members of that guild. It was lively, colourful and creative. 
    "We lose them for a while," one of the convenors told me, "In their teens and twenties they are studying and going to work and don't find the time - but they often come back."
It was that "often come back" that was so important. We desperately need to give those juniors creative experiences, creative experiences they can enjoy so much that the urge to create something will, even if it lies dormant for a bit, resurface. 
We grow when we create.