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
Festival of Quilts 2010 – day 1- postcript
Val; What a first day!! Advance ticket sales must have been huge - they were starting to queue at 9am (doors didn't open until 10!) still Starbucks did a roaring trade. It was BUSY; hopefully everyone had a good time; we didn't get to have lunch until 4pm! Lots of overseas visitors (and by that I don't mean just north and west where they print their own version of our money!).
Festival of Quilts 2010 – day 1
Val: Well after sailing through all the checkpoints yesterday because there were girls in charge, we had a slow crawl through this morning; give a man a yellow jacket and a clipboard and 'jobsworth' rains. Still a few last minute things to primpt and price but otherwise ready for action.
Girls on the move
Val: Three girls and a van full of fabric join hundred sof others at the NEC for the the major textile event of the year - Festival of Quilts; Isabelle from Creative Quilting with Lesley Owens and Valerie Nesbitt ready to roll up the M40: complete with jacket for Sunday's filming day!. One empty space at the NEC that needs filling (10m x 2m) ; maybe we should have a picnic and compare notes.