At a special stitching show and craft?s sale to be held on Saturday, a group of thread-savvy women hope to use their talents to raise money for charity, and perhaps entice new members into the needle arts.

The Bermuda Guild of Stitchery is planning a show of member?s needlework and a sale to benefit PALS at the Mount Saint Agnes Academy auditorium. The Bermuda Guild of Stitchery is ten years old and currently has around 35 members.

?Most of our members are women who have learned some sort of needle craft and now have a group that they can get together with and enjoy this craft together and admire each other?s work,? said guild vice president Gail Rego. ?It is a coming together of people, of all different walks of life to enjoy something we all have a passion for.

?I started off just doing cross-stitch and I am now doing things I would never have dreamed I would do. Now we have workshops.

?I think there has always been groups of ladies who have come together to stitch. There is the Quilter?s Guild, for example.?

Mrs. Rego said it is all about fellowship, and spending time with people with a similar interest.

?We have a morning group and we also have a very large evening group, that is for women who do work all day,? she said. ?We also sometimes have these weekend stitch-ins where, on a Friday night through to a Saturday, we stitch. It lets the morning and evening group members meet.?

The craft?s sale will include many handmade items including knitted socks, cards, cross-stitched book marks, handmade pillows and many more beautiful items.

?If you are looking for a special, one-of-a-kind Christmas gift for someone special, that doesn?t break the bank, this craft?s sale will be just the ticket,? said one member.

Rita Scott-Landy was making quilted pillows for the sale, available in the $25-35 range.

?I am not a quilter,? said Mrs. Scott-Landy, holding up part of a quilted cushion she was embellishing with embroidery. ?I do quilt, but I am not an expert quilter. I am a novice. This is a bird of paradise pattern. I have set it up like this, with batting and a quilt stitch. Now I am also embellishing and making certain features of the pattern to pop out.?

On the back of the pillow Mrs. Scott-Landy had created her own design using huck embroidery, which involves pulling thread through the fabric, rather than straight stitching.

?I make my thread long enough so that I don?t have to break off,? she explained. ?I know how to needlepoint, crochet, embroider and others.?

?I am not a knitter,? said another stitcher, who went on to tell us she had just knitted 21 one pairs of socks for the sale.

Although they are sometimes too shy to admit it, many of the 32 members of the guild are multi-skilled.

The Bermuda Guild of Stitchery meets on the first Thursday of every month. Members can choose between morning and evening meetings.

?There is a real variety of stitching in our guild,? said guild president Wilma Frith. ?The majority do cross-stitch. There are a couple of people who do needlepoint. Some of our members elaborate on patterns or make their own designs.

?All the donations from the crafts sale are being made to PALS. We did it two years ago, but whether we use the same charity, we haven?t really decided.?

Unfortunately, the guild is suffering from a generational gap. Many of the members told a familiar sad story. They managed to interest their offspring as children, but when their children were older they gave it up, because it would be uncool to do something their mothers and grandmothers did.

Mrs. Scott-Landy said sadly, ?I have tried to pass it on to my children, but they are not interested. It is a dying art.?

?If we don?t get younger people interested, it won?t be passed on,? said Mrs. Rego. ?Within the executive we are definitely concerned, because that is when you are thinking about the future of the guild.?

Advantages of joining the club include stitching fellowship, a newsletter, group correspondence courses, informal stitch-ins, meetings with hands-on programmes and lectures and sometimes guest speaker.

Recently, famed cross-stitch designer Teresa Wentzler visited the group, and even designed a special pattern for the guild, which she has agreed not to sell.

The guild is affiliated with the Embroiderer?s Guild of Canada. It meets the first Thursday morning of every month at the First Baptist Church on Middle Road in Devonshire from 9.30 a.m. to 12 and in the evening from 7.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Members choose a morning or evening meeting.) For information about membership telephone 292-8385 or email wilfrithnorthrock.bm .

The show and sale is between 11. a.m. and 3 p.m. at Mount Saint Agnes Academy. Tickets are $5 and refreshments will be available.