April 2025

The end of April, and that means a few more stitches for 2025.

It’s been a busy month, and next month might be even busier.

Mostly, as always, a few stitches with no plan or design. Just choosing a colour, threading a needle and beginning. And isn’t that how most days begin too? We set out as usual, never knowing what will happen next.

I’m enjoying the spring palette, in real life as much as here in stitches.

It occurred to me recently that in four years of doing this I’ve never yet missed a day. If I did miss a day, I’d leave it blank. The point here isn’t to fill a cloth with stitches, it’s to sit and witness time as it passes out of my life. If I forgot to stitch, or didn’t have time (the irony!) then I feel ‘catching up’ the next day would be kind of missing the point. I would leave a blank space to remind me that on that occasion I didn’t slow down enough to watch those few minutes ebb away.

The other side of time is always worth a look. Knots, loose ends, a scramble of thread, but that’s how it is.

If you missed my last post, I’m very happy to be hosting a workshop at the fabulous Making Zen stitching retreat.

You can sign up here:

For transparency, if you use this link I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you), and you will be helping to support my work as an independent artist. Thank you.

Today is shaping up to be quite full. People are writing to me to tell me I haven’t got much thread in the shop. I know, thank you, I’m onto it. The shop will be closed for a couple of days while I attend to this:

Dyeing, washing, drying, sorting, winding, labelling, photographing and listing a batch of thread takes about a month, so thread update maybe towards the end of May, if all goes well.

Making Zen: 5-day event for mindful makers

Bright and early on a Monday morning, and here’s the first of my two Big Newses I’ve been waiting to share: I’m delighted to be hosting a workshop on the fabulous Making Zen online stitching retreat, happening from 26th May, and you can get your free ticket here:

🎨 Get your free ticket to Making Zen here!

Making Zen is much more than just another free event. It’s an opportunity to slow down, tune out the noise, and reconnect with your inner artist. If you’re looking for a quiet pocket of time to make something with those delicious scraps of fabric and threads, then here’s an invitation to somewhere special.

It’s called the Making Zen Online Retreat, and it’s five soul-soothing days (26–30 May 2025) hosted by Kate Ward of Zen Stitching, where 32 (!) makers, artists, and creators share an invitation to slow down, reconnect with your creativity, and rediscover the joy of making with your hands.

You’ll discover:

How to turn your scraps and remnants into stunning art (and peace of mind)
Cultural traditions in art to explore
Why listening to your gut might be the most creative move you make

And I’m delighted to be there too, sharing my session on zero waste stitching.

If you’ve already purchased the course, the Making Zen workshop will still be of value. In addition to the workshops there are free gifts and exclusive extras, plus you get to join over thirty other workshops from some incredible artists including Jody Alexander, Ann Smith, Mirjam Gielen, and many more.

And the best thing about all of this is that – yes! – it’s 100% free to attend.
No strings, no catch. Just art, peace, and a community of makers who understand the value of quiet, mindful making.

🎟️ Get your free ticket here

I’ll look forward to seeing you there, with an open mind and hands full of thread.

For transparency, you will see that this email contains a few links to the Making Zen ticket. These are affiliate links, which means if you later decide to upgrade to the VIP Pass, I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) and you’ll be helping to support my work as an independent artist. Thank you so much for signing up – there’s so much to enjoy here.

And PS – for anyone looking for information on pricing (for the VIP pass) here are the prices:

Fast action – $67 for first hour after signing up

Early bird – $97 until event begins

Regular – $147 until the end of the event.

Stitched samples for sketchbooks

Good news! My new course is about ready, I think. It can be hard to tell when these things are done because you get so immersed in the process of making, videoing, editing (and re-editing) that it can be difficult to be objective about it in the end.

Stitched Samples for Sketchbooks is all about turning your fabric scraps (and other odds and ends) into something beautiful, useful, and inspirational.

I’m probably primarily a textile artist, but I spend a lot of time working (or playing) in mixed media sketchbooks to explore different themes, colour palettes, textures and different ways of stitching. Most of that happens behind the scenes, but it’s essential groundwork for whatever I happen to be working on at any one time.

This course shows you how I go about preparing and adding stitched samples to my sketchbooks.

By layering your scraps and adding some simple stitching you can create unique little samples that you can add to your sketchbook, or indeed turn into any piece of decorative work.

There is layering, stitching, painting, sketchbook work, and more.

As always, you can watch the preview for free before you commit to anything, and you get lifetime access to all lessons. You can download the videos, watch as many times as you like, and learn at your own pace.

I had lots of fun putting this one together, and I’ve made some interesting samples for my own sketchbooks too.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

And stay tuned for some exciting news coming next week…

Scraps

This week I’m in the scraps box as I start compiling my new forthcoming course on making stitched samples for sketchbooks. New courses take a while to create, but I do enjoy making them.

However much I take out of the scraps box, it never seems to get any emptier. It always reminds me of the fairy tale about a magic porridge pot that keeps refilling itself. Not complaining, but I do wonder where they all keep coming from.

I like to use lots of layers in my stitched samples. I think of them as transparent layers of time.

The one below is made from scraps of antique and modern lace covered with two layers of very fine tulle, with some textured cotton yarns couched onto the surface.

I’ve also been painting some lovely patterned tulles:

Fibre reactive dyes won’t work on synthetics, but fabric paints do. I use Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow, which are very liquid and behave more like dye than paint. My Stitch a Little Landscape course has a section on painting fabrics this way. You could even use standard watercolours, if you don’t need them to be washable.

At some point it will all come together nicely.

layered stitched scraps ready to become something useful

Month: April 2025

April 2025

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Making Zen: 5-day event for mindful makers

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Stitched samples for sketchbooks

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Scraps

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