She began by telling us a little about how she had got to where she is today. After being a Primary School teacher and then teaching cookery to adults, she did a B.Tech and City and Guilds course, and had also been a student, for about 13 years, of Agnes Wilson who taught embroidery in Lytham.
Textures could be produced on margarine foil, copper shim and other fine metals, by rubbing gently over a textured surface.
We discovered that copper shim can be coloured permanently by heating it with a heat gun or candle. After a time, it takes on the colours of the rainbow.
Sue brushed black acrylic paint onto an embossed piece with a stencil brush. Rubbing the paint gently from the raised surface emphasised the design. If textured, margarine foil when treated as above, produced a pewter effect. Spririt based marker pens can be used to colour metal, and wax crayons (when rubbed over foil which has been textured) creates a coloured design.
Another way to colour is to place sheer fabric over the textured metal, then work some free motion embroidery to emphasise the design followed by burning a little of the fabric away with a heat gun or candle. Sue showed us how wire had been wrapped with strips of fabric and coiled around a knitting needle to form a spiral. She had gathered some of these together to make tassels for a bag she had made from one of her husband's shirts.

It seems ironic that Liz Holden should turn up on Saturday with what seemed like thousands of skeins of stranded cotton in every possible colour, which she had been asked to get rid of. What is it with us embroiderers that we keep so much 'stuff' to the bitter end?