Out & About
Once upon a time, I added to my old blog regularly. How do I get back to writing my journal? That question has been simmering at the back of my mind for quite some time.
How do I restart journaling? What do others do to pick up where they left off without it being too odd? Do I just pretend I never stopped? Or start writing as if this is the first time - even when it’s not? In any case, today is as good a time as any.
I am in a hotel, not far from Dundee, Scotland, enjoying this pretty view from my window.
I am here to teach a five-day stitching retreat organised by Creative Experiences starting tomorrow. Most times when I teach away, I fly in the day before and just hit the ground running. This time I treated myself and arrived with a full day to spare, so yesterday I played tourist and spent the day in Dundee. It felt nice to have a day to meander after the 25-ish hour journey from Australia. I stopped in at The McManus Art gallery & museum before spending the entire afternoon at the V&A Dundee. It is such a beautiful place and an absolutely stunning building.
I was joined by 15 eager stitchers from Canada, Denmark, England and Scotland. It is hard not to have a good time when you are surrounded by like-minded people and we spent a week stitching and chatting, stitching and making new friends, stitching and laughing, exploring embroidery and stitching. It is really hard to describe in words how fabulous these retreats are, so I hope the following pictures will show just a bit of how we filled our days.
We had a fabulous, big room to work in. Nadine and Mark supplied trestles and good work lights for everyone.
The thing I love the most about these retreats is TIME. It means I can offer a choice of projects so everyone doesn’t have to work on the same thing. It also means there is plenty of time to show and share stitches and techniques.
Crewel work in progress.
I had designed this new design particularly with the Dundee retreat in mind and it was ‘the star of the week’. Most participants worked on the crewel work piece and it was impressive how far along many got by the end of the week.
Fine silk and gold embroidery in progress.
This is such a delicate design, with lots of fine detail and stitching. It may not offer a vast variety of stitches but the challenge here is to maintain consistency in the silk embroidery.
Everyone working on this piece in Dundee made great progress.
Raised embroidery in the making.
Juicy, ripe strawberries, delicate white flowers a fluffy bumble bee and a curious and hungry snail developed under the needle of some stitchers.
This design was released in issue 123 of Inspirations magazine the same week. It is always fun to see my designs on the glossy pages.
As much as everyone loves sitting with needle and thread all day, it is nice to see a bit of what is around. So between the stitching and chatting and stitching, we had a couple of outings.
It just so happened that the exhibition Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk was on at the V&A so we made time to go and see it one afternoon. It was awe-inspiring. Not just the embroidery, but the colours, patterns and graciousness of the garments on display.
I don’t think you can be in Scotland without visiting a castle (or two, or three), so one day set aside for a trip to Glamis Castle. It is a privately owned castle, so no photography inside - sadly. Along the well-guided and rather entertaining guided tour, we spotted so many fabulous embroideries and other decorative items. It would be very easy to spend a whole day there with a sketchbook.
… and before we knew it …….. the week had flown by and it was (as always at the end of a class) a mad scramble to make sure we covered everything.
Thank you everyone for the most fabulous time. This worldwide community of embroiderers we all are part of is just so special and precious.
Thank you Nadine and Mark - you did it again. It is always such an incredible pleasure to work with you two and I am excited to see you again in the French Alps in August 2025.
Best stitches,
Anna