About Susan
Susan has been teaching embroidery for many years and loves to share her enthusiasm for a wide range of techniques.
She completed her City and Guilds Part II in Embroidery with the inspirational Anthea Godfrey at the London College of Fashion (as it then was). Over the past twenty years, she has taught a wide range of classes including City and Guilds and leisure classes, with the WI, and most recently independently in the Wivenhoe and the Colchester area of Essex.
Susan took early retirement in 2013, giving her more time for embroidery and textile related activities. She enjoys being an active participant in the local branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild, visiting more exhibitions, attending workshops and reading more about her favourite textile art topics both in print and on-line.
She has also become a student again, signing up for the City and Guilds in Patchwork and Quilting with Creative Stitch Suffolk. According to Susan, “It’s been great to take on new challenges and learn new skills.”
Susan blogs regularly on her website, Threadlines, where she gathers together various elements of her long-standing fascination with embroidery and textile arts more generally. Her hope is that Threadlines will widen her circle of embroidery and textile art friends, and encourage non-embroiderers to try it – just once (that’s all it takes!
Signature Technique
Embroidery
Susan’s Top Tips
- The simpler the stitch, often, the more you can do with it.
- One of the (many) aspects of textiles that I love is that you don’t need to be doing just one project. Try new things…several at a time!
- Doing something completely new with a group of friends makes it extra special.
- If you want to know the ‘right’ way to embroider then turn to a technique manual.
Books and Patterns
Posts
Crazy quilt at Lady Sew & Sew
I was thrilled to see that my quilt is on display at Lady Sew & Sew as part of their Henley Arts Trail participation - obviously fabrics used are from their shelves! We were there over the weekend and also got to see quilts by Linda Seward and to meet Nel Watmore, who had a special exhibition on too.
Sewing Retreat at Denham Bucks
A weekend away sewing with like minded people and no responsibilities - what a great idea that is! Pictures by Matt Bigwood 15 ladies joined Valerie and Maggie at the Denham De Vere Hotel and you can see they were hard at work. They all worked on their own projects but there was inspiration in the form of quilts on the wall and a small shop of goodies provided by Creative Quilting.
Fine Cell Work exhibition
We spent a whole day filming this small but great exhibition that is being hosted by Lady Sew & Sew at Henley on Thames. Founded by Lady Anne Tree in 1997, Fine Cell Work trains men and women in prison to do high-quality, paid needlework in the long hours spent in their cells. Last night we were fortunate enough to meet up with and interview Tracy Chevalier who is a leading author and patron of Fine Cell work - indeed she commissioned a quilt entitled the Sleep Quilt which was made by 60 men and women from 9 different prisons - and this is on display in the exhibition.