Karen Turner Stitching Life textile artist stitching by hand

July 2025

I say it every month, but where does it go? Blink and you miss it. Time just escapes, scampering out through a door that can’t be shut.

Today is just herringbone stitch, which looks deceptively complicated (it isn’t) when worked in close rows like this:

As always, the stitching is very simple: mostly running stitch and straight stitch in various combinations.

There is a seam where I had to join two strips of linen. I like the fact that it’s visible but not too obvious. One year (not next year, that’s already planned) I will work the daily stitching on lots of patched and joined pieces.

As always, it’s a kind of map. Setting out, hoping for the best and finding a path through each day.

There is never a plan for the stitching. Choose a colour, thread a needle, and begin. See where it goes.

August ahead:

The blue thing you can see in the top left corner is the simple bag I keep it in. I made a sample of the template when I first designed it and then I stitched it to the front of a hand-dyed cotton drawstring bag.

The back has a single motif:

If you want to begin a similar daily practice, take a look at my online course here – you can watch as many times as you like, you can download the videos, and you get lifetime access (lifetime effectively means as long as I’m alive, or as long as I stay with Teachable, the platform that hosts my classes).

Happy stitching!

Tabula Rasa

I started some new work. It was a bit of a surprise; I didn’t see it coming.

Sometimes it just happens that way. Your hands know what they need to do and the brain is a bit slow to catch up.

It’s partly inspired by these words, by Pierre Janet:

“Every life is a piece of art, put together with all means available.”

It will be rolled up on a wooden bobbin, eventually, as a life that unfurls.

Much of the stitching is beneath the surface but still visible through the translucent layers.

Tabula Rasa, stitches beneath silk chiffon

Tabula Rasa, buried threads and stitches

At this point I don’t want to say too much more about it. For now, I’m listening to what it has to say and thinking about where it might be going.

And back again

After a few days in lovely Rosedale, North Yorkshire, I’m about ready to get back to work. We walked many miles in clean air, had lots of good food, and stayed in a quiet B & B with a garden shared with a barn owl, tawny owl and pipistrelle bats.

Of course there was time for a little on-location sketching and painting too.

The colour palette at this time of year is beautiful.

I do like a dry stone wall.

We came across a stone cross on the moors, originally marking a barrow, I think. It had some really interesting marks carved into it:

It had to be done in collage and stitch when we got home:

stitched sample, black cotton thread on eco-printed cotton

I have more images and colours to explore from the photos I took, and I’m looking forward to getting on with that this week.

It’s amazing how refreshing a few days away from it all can be. A bit of time and space to find yourself again.

The shop is open for fabrics, threads, daily stitching templates and collage papers, and you can find my online courses here for daily stitching, hand stitching, and mixed media sketchbook classes.

Not here

I’m taking a break for a week or so to recharge.

I won’t be checking emails or social media comments/DMs, so if you’re trying to message me please don’t expect a response until 21st July at the earliest.

My Big Cartel shop will be closed for a week or so; my Teachable school (for online courses and PDFs) doesn’t appear to have a holiday mode so that will stay open and accessible.

See you on the other side 🙂

Collage papers

I found I had probably more painted collage papers than I need so I’ve made up a few mini-packs for the shop .

Mostly small (approximately postcard-sized and smaller) pieces; there are some nice varieties, colours, and textures that will make lots of beautiful little collages.

There’s also quite a lot of thread still available, plus some very pretty silk thread sets:

I’ll be taking a break next week, so the shop will remain open until 2pm (UK time) this Friday after which it will be closed for a week or so.

June 2025

Another month, taking us halfway through the year.

It’s a bit of a wobbly video, but here’s how it’s looking so far:

the year so far

Today is a few wild flowers. We don’t call them weeds in our house.

There have been some very long days, and some very hot days.

As always, a few very simple stitches to witness the days passing.

It doesn’t need to be complicated. Life is challenging enough without making extra work for yourself.

July tomorrow, and the second half of the cloth. There is a seam where I had to join two lengths, but you’ll hardly see the join once a bit of stitching covers it.

I often look at the blank month ahead and wonder what it will bring. It seems strange to think that this time next month I will know what it brought, and today’s future will become the past. Good job I have a needle and thread to anchor me into the present.

Still achromatic

Probably a better descriptor than ‘monochromatic’, since the latter could feasibly be any single colour. You can probably see how much I’m still enjoying my achromatic sketchbook – basically all just black and white, exploring compositions through painting, drawing and collage.

murmuration, pen and watercolour on cotton paper

I’m using two shades of black (ivory black and mars black), white, and buff titanium. I’m also allowing myself a little Payne’s grey and Goethite (a subtle warm sandy colour) here and there – probably a little outside the black and white rule but then I make the rules so I can also break them.

I gathered together a wide range of substrates when I made this book, including canvas, cotton rag paper, cartridge paper, watercolour paper and handmade papers. Each one takes paint and ink slightly differently, making this sketchbook perfect for all kinds of exploration.

pebbles, painting (left) and collage (right)

I’ve also used plain black india ink here and there.

And some collage:

There’s some figurative work (or play) too. I like birds. I think the ability to fly would be my superpower if I could choose one.

Raven, coloured pencil on watercolour background

Something a little looser:

I also created some printed/stamped papers that I’ve stuck in here and there.

watercolour (left) and hand-printed paper (right)

Today I’m looking through some fabrics to make some textile/stitched samples.

I’m actually starting to run out of pages, and I can easily see the attraction of a second volume. I would never have expected black and white to be so interesting and engaging. Just proves the value of venturing outside your comfort zone and having a go. I do like a creative adventure.

Monochrome

Recently I wondered what a monochromatic mixed media sketchbook might look like, containing explorations of line and shape but exclusively using tone instead of colour. I figured there was only one way to find out.

I’ve made a sketchbook, about 10″ square, including black and white papers of various thicknesses and textures. It had to have a cover, of course:

I’ve painted some collage papers using only black and white paints and inks.

Early days, but so far it’s interesting. The absence of colour is making me consider tonal value much more carefully and consciously than I usually would.

The paper you can see in the photo above is very unusual and really beautiful. It has some sort of fibre or yarn embedded in mulberry paper to form those circles.

I included some of my favourite Two Rivers watercolour paper and only used Mars Black watercolour with details in fine drawing pen.

Most of the other pages are still in progress, and I’ll probably move backwards and forwards between them.

I guess some things really are black and white or shades of grey.

Fabrics

I’ve been sorting through my fabrics and scraps, and I’ve put together a couple of options that are now available in the shop.

The first is a sheer and semi-sheer/textured fabrics scraps pack that looks a bit like this:

FSH – sheer fabrics scraps pack, example

You can see average contents here:

sheer fabrics collection

The second is a lightweight fabrics selection, mostly hand-dyed, and mostly cotton with some scraps of silk and/or linen:

And one in the making:

lightweight fabrics

Both packs are good for layering, to create little landscapes or stitched samples. I used some of the scraps to create a very long cloth, which I’m starting to explore.

Not sure where this one is going, but it looks like a long road. It’s about 4″ wide by about eight feet.

Have a lovely weekend.

May 2025

And that was May.

May always feels like quite a long month to me, but not this year. The days continue to fly by and even though the days are getting longer here in the northern hemisphere, there never seem to be enough hours.

As always, a few stitches every day.

It’s been mostly winding/processing thread (and orders, thank you) and checking in with the various Making Zen groups and posts this month. Next month I hope to make a little time just for me.

Of course we can’t ‘make’ time. It’s all the same time. The same twenty-four hours in every day, perpetual motion as the minutes pass and the world turns.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the minutiae of daily life, and sitting with needle and thread for a few minutes every day is very calming.

I calculated that it’s 1,247 days since I started this practice. I guess that’s a lot of stitching.

I sometimes wonder where these annual stitch calendars will end up. I was half-joking when I said in my Making Zen chat with Kate that I might exhibit them when I’ve got ten years’ worth. Only another six and a half years to go, if that turns out to be a thing.

The other side is important too: the side we don’t see, the side that forms the foundation and stability for daily work. The side that shows where you went and how you got there. It doesn’t need to be tidy or neat. Beneath the surface I suspect we’re all a fairly chaotic jumble of thoughts and feelings. It’s a kind of map, I guess. I think of these things as maps of time.

Looking forward to meeting June tomorrow:

A warm welcome to all of you who are new to the blog as a result of Making Zen. Nothing much happens here, but if you enjoy a few quiet moments now and again then you’re probably in the right place. If you’re thinking of beginning your own daily stitching journey, please do take a look at my online class Intuitive Daily Stitching. Learn at your own pace, and watch as many times as you like.

And if you enjoyed my Making Zen workshop, you can take those ideas and techniques a bit further with my Stitched Samples for Sketchbooks course.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Karen Turner Stitching Life

July 2025

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Tabula Rasa

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And back again

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Not here

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Collage papers

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June 2025

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Still achromatic

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Monochrome

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Fabrics

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May 2025

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