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
Hand Quilting with Paula a great success
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Paula Doyle's video on hand quilting. I was transfixed throughout, her advice and tips so useful, a pleasure to watch and learn.
Thank you Paula and Justhands-on.tv
Can I mitre the corners on my quilt?
Yes of course you can - BUT you need to be aware that you need more fabric at the corners to work with than you think you might - so not one to be attempted if you are short of fabric! You can also use more than one fabric - so a double or triple border with a mitre is also possible.
What can I use to hold up my quilt sandwich when basting?
If you are using the basting gun it is so much easier to have the quilt sandwich lifted up from the surface; there used to be a basting grate that could be purchased, but this seems to be a thing of the past; a tip from one viewer is to use the cake cooling tray, and another uses an upturned plastic cutlery tray - just a couple of lateral thinking ideas!