Wow! Look at Georgia Tappan's Wemyss Lion carpet bag! What a fabulously creative and modern way to finish this historic design. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work Georgia.

This is Carrie's beautifully completed workshop project from Phillipa's 'Rarely Seen Stitches' class which she taught during The Spring Residential in March. Thank you for sharing it Carrie, we can see you've really enjoyed those Laid & Couched Work variations.

This design is a vine leaf motif on Lady Anne Clifford's embroidered early 17th Century waistcoat. Her full costume is currently being replicated by Phillipa and her team of local volunteers from Appleby. The waistcoat and other elements of the costume were seen for the first time during our Lady Anne's 2016 Retreat (pictured below at Dalemain House). The head dress, shoes and cuffs are still work in progress. More on this story later...

Thank you Sarah Hearn for sending us a photo of your completed Wordsworth Cuckoo. We all agree it's a beauty!

As the Spring Residential drew to a close on Saturday morning we waved goodbye and reflected on what was truly an enchanting week. New friends made, new skills learned and renewed vigour in our passion for needlework.  

The Ryebeck Hotel served as our home from home for the week with exclusive use of the whole establishment and its grounds. The superb staff attended to our every need and all noted that the food was fantastic. They made the whole experience comfortable and set up an ideal learning environment for us.

The weather was kind, we had lovely fresh and crisp spring days with plenty of sunshine. Many enjoyed a trip out on the middle Wednesday for a very special visit to Dove cottage, William Wordsworth's marital home in nearby Grassmere.

The English Lake District really is at its best in March - Wordsworth's famous daffodils, delicate spring flowers, early nesting birds and two fawns delighted us in the breaks between our hours of embroidery.

This retreat was aimed at the more experienced embroiderer. In depth lectures, discovering and perfecting skills, new techniques, making wise stitch and design choices combined with lectures and restful visits to two contrasting properties made the learning experience informative and enjoyable for all.

Tutors Nicola Jarvis and Jenny Adin-Christie always develop brand new designs for our Retreats, a privilege which was not lost on us nor on our group of experienced stitchers. Jenny and Nikki are two of the most highly-regarded hand embroidery tutors in the world and they each spent over a year creating these incredible and immaculately presented projects. Both designs were pitched at intermediate/ advanced level and were perfect for taking our group of stitchers to the next stage of their stitching.

You can read more about the trip from a students perspective on Jillian Dellit's blog.

In 2018 we will be embarking on our next big adventure - The All England Needlework Tour, Part I. This Retreat will be the first in a new three part series exploring needlework in some of the most beautiful parts of England. 

We are delighted to announce that your project will be taught by the renowned embroiderer Alison Cole. Alison is well-known for her inspiring teaching style and is a jewel in the crown of the Australian embroidery world. The subject of her project will be this beautifully preserved 17th century embroidered Gentleman's Nightcap. You will use conservation standard silks and metal threads to apply the same techniques and colours as featured on the original.

The Nightcap, which was created circa 1600-1625, is embroidered on to a base fabric of cream linen using coloured silks in a variety of stitches, including a variation of Detached Buttonhole, as well as silver and silver-gilt metal thread in a variation of Braid Stitch. This typical 'Elizabethan' design includes the rose, borage, pansy and strawberry, all enclosed within a coiling stem. We have been given exclusive permission to replicate this design on the Gentleman's Cap by the Shakespeare Museum Trust in Stratford, a great privilege given the rarity of this historic piece. 

We will mostly follow our usual well-received routine of castle and museum visits in the mornings, embroidery tuition in the afternoons and a cocktail hour with a lecture in the evenings. We'll take you to both public and privately owned historic houses and castles, where you will be given the chance to explore their rarely-seen needlework collections. Your tuition will allow you to make the most of what you have seen and to put into practice the techniques, colours and designs that inspire you during our visits. During this tour we explore our own country's textile treasures in great depth with experts on hand to answer all your questions.

Our journey will start near Heathrow Airport with a busy two days of tuition and lectures from Alison and Phillipa. We will then travel on to see, among other highlights, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Montacute House, Cornwall (where we stay in Bovey Castle), Trerice (pictured), and Bath (Roman Baths and The American Museum). In the historic market town of Stratford upon Avon we will be given a private tour of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Museum to see the original Nightcap and other Elizabethan embroidered artefacts. Workshops with Alison and Phillipa will continue throughout the Tour and needlework will be the subject we return to every day as we travel through villages and countryside you thought only existed in films!