April walk - I've got a stitch

I usually work weekends but the Museum of Making was closed on Easter Sunday so I went for a stroll, what a treat. Blackthorn blossom, nettle, cleaver, wild garlic, celandine, wood anemone, rain, sun, hale - it was wonderful to walk well loved paths. 

This nettle growing by the side of a cattle trough (built into the wall of St John the Baptist's Chapel, Matlock Bath) has inspired the next embroidery on my 'I've got a stitch' shirt 🌱

creative Fridays at salcare - march

I'm half way through our project at Salcare in Heanor, Derbyshire already - time flies! Inspired by all things Heanor, memory, making and nature connectedness we've drawn, played with colour, created 3D forms with PVA & lace, tried calligraphy, designed, cut and printed our own Lino blocks! The April sessions will begin this week with fabric and stitch 😀

Thank you to MAKE/SHIFT and Derbyshire Makes for this opportunity. So looking forward to the Derbyshire Makes Festival 2026 in Heanor on Saturday 2nd May.

Colour wheel

Careful observation

Inspired by Heanor lace

Calligraphy

Linocut design

Colour mixing & inking the Lino block

i've got a stitch - process

Photographs

Tracings

Embroidery

Magpie - Matlock

Raindrops - A6 between Matlock & Matlock Bath

Tracing - thinking about placement

Hand embroidery

Lungwort from my sister Clare's garden in Matlock

Alder leaf - Matlock

Apple - near Bonsal

Apple & hawthorn - gathered and 'caught' on the same walk

i've got a stitch - linen shirt

Beginning in July 2025 I've taken days 'off' here are there to walk familiar routes around Matlock/Cromford in Derbyshire and note sights that stopped me in my tracks in wonder: hoping to catch a felt response before thought kicked in.

Wanting to work with a second hand shirt and embroidery threads I searched charity shops without luck, then 'won' this shirt & a bundle of threads on eBay. So far the wondrous sights are - magpie, raindrops in a puddle, lungwort, alder leaf, harebell, house martin, sherd, apple, hawthorn sprig (attached to my backpack and discovered by surprise), cone with tiny mushroom and sherd with feet!

I'll keep going until I know it's finished.

I've not had a studio space for 3 years now and no means to afford one, so this is how I'm keeping the flame of my practice alive. I keep the shirt hung up so I see it everyday.

In this cost of living crisis how do you keep your practice present, even if it's just a whisper?

Linen shirt

Inspiration for the next embroidery - sherd with feet

creative fridays at salcare

Happy to share I'll be spending Friday mornings in March, April (& 1st May) at Salcare in Heanor, getting creative in the lead up to the Derbyshire Makes Festival 2026 🎉

share the harvest

Was so delighted to stitch this banner as a gift for Thrivemind Village (39 Iron Gate, Derby, DE1 3GA) in celebration of their brilliant COMMUNITY FRIDGE!

I dropped the banner off this week and grabbed tasty apples from the fridge. It's open to everyone and contains locally grown, mostly organic fruit and veg and anyone can share or take food.

The Community Fridge is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3-6pm and Saturday 11am-4pm.

Nothing new was purchased to make the banner - it includes pre-loved textiles from my stash and bits and bobs from the Play and Recycling Centre in Derby and Ashgate Hospice charity shop in Heanor. Some of the patterned elements are from my mum's 1970's aprons! Doreen liked a pattern and it was particularly nice to work with these textiles as it would have been her 90th birthday on 13th October this week.

I'm hoping the banner will attract passers-by to step over the threshold of Thrivemind Village and discover all the amazing creative, connected, nurturing things going on while grabbing nutritious food for tea!

dare to dream - heanor library craft group

The Heanor Library craft group embraced Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream with open arms. Here's a selection of their textile patches in celebration of all that's important to them in Derbyshire - place, industry, heritage and history. 

During my final visit with the group they began to arrange their communal banner - taking up space on the library floor and I loved the relationship between the books and textiles 🙂

Can't wait to see the finished banner! 

Pickaxe and hammer

Millstones

Home

Crich Stand

Museum of Making