I’ll be taking a break soon so my online shop will close at lunchtime GMT (ish) on Wednesday 25th February and will reopen week commencing 9th March.
Teachable doesn’t seem to have a vacation mode, so that will remain open and accessible for online classes and PDF template downloads. If you need to contact me and it can’t wait a couple of weeks, please be patient because I won’t be checking emails every day.
There will probably be a daily stitching video on my YouTube channel tomorrow but after that I’m largely unplugging from social media for a week or so.
I’ll be having some quiet time at home, maybe working a bit on these:
Tabula Rasa, detailTabula Rasa, detailunnamed quilt, in progress
A (very) small update this week with a few extra threads for the shop.
Limited quantity of Random threads collections
What’s currently in the shop is all I have until later in the spring, so when it’s gone it’s gone.
silk threads, limited quantities remaining
I hope to have a dyeing day next month – or even later this month, if we get lucky with the weather. I need good light and a couple of decent drying days, so let’s see what the weather gods bring us. After dyeing it’ll be a few weeks of winding and labelling skeins, so I’m aiming for new thread in the shop by late March/early April.
In the meantime I’m finding time for a few quilting/couching/stitching lines on the quilt.
My new year’s resolution to work smarter seems to be going well, and for the first time in years I find that I do in fact have some time for my own work as well as the business.
I did a little more on the winter sketchbook. It may be early spring, and the snowdrops are looking beautiful, but the weather is decidedly behind the curve so I feel justified in clinging to glorious cold winter for as long as I can.
winter sketchbook page with found poetry lineswinter sketchbook pagewinter sketchbook page, mixed media collagewinter sketchbook page, handmade paper collage
I’m also trying to be a bit more organised about what goes where. My Ikea drawers are very slightly short of A4 size in the width, so I made some custom trays out of mount board and they fit nicely, two per drawer.
mark-making tools, rounded up and contained
The sides are covered with 2″ wide washi tape that I found hiding in another drawer. I should probably line the boxes to make them prettier but for now I’m happy enough with functional.
stencils and collagraphs all neat and tidy
And finally, I’ve resurrected a patchwork quilt top that’s had quite a few false starts.
quilt, take three or four
I had a look at it, wasn’t happy with it, and decided to unpick everything and start again. I wanted a fairly big circle on the surface and didn’t have a yarn that was anything like what I had in mind.
I’ve ended up stringing lots of thin threads together to create something like what I wanted. It’s a very fine silk noil yarn that dyed beautifully but is no good for stitching with – breaks too easily, too nobbly – but a few strands together are couching down quite nicely.
couching a bunch of fine threads
I’m wondering if maybe the whole thing will be couched rather than quilted. Always an adventure.
Time flies. The first month of daily stitching for 2026 is complete, and the cloth fills up almost on its own while we’re looking the other way.
January 2026, daily stitching
There were early days
early January 2026
There were cold sparkly frosty days
early January 2026
And in-between days
late January 2026January days
New for this year are YouTube videos of daily stitching. Definitely not every day but maybe once or twice a week, when I can. I have some responsibilities at present, and much depends on how much of that needs my attention.
For now, we go onward into February
February ahead
And some snowdrops for Imbolc
1st February
If you’re having your own daily stitching adventure this year, I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. This is my fifth year, and it’s still just as necessary and enjoyable as it ever was. I think of it as a little oasis of peace in an increasingly turbulent world.
