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
How to Make Tumbling Blocks Patchwork
Val: Tumbling blocks are a traditional favourite and often done over papers; it is based on the light/medium/dark theme to give dimension. In this short video our Jennie shows you how to make this pattern without papers and shows you the technique for insetting the seam, which works for both machine and handwork. One of the quilts on display at the current V&A Exhibition shows a scrap version of this - so now you can make your own!
Prism Textile Exhibition – Evolve, Evoke, Expand
Val: Well what a GREAT day we all had yesterday at this exhibition and I'm rushing to share it with you just in case you can fit in a visit - it ends tomorrow Sat 5th June at 7pm. The Mall galleries are just by Admiralty Arch in central london; the content of the show is breathtaking and very varied. If you can't get there, don't despair as you will be able to see much of it with us and it will be showing in August; so whether you get there or view it with us you are in for a treat; these girls push the textile envelope to new boundaries.