thread, stitch, knot, repeat

slow, quiet note no. 73

It’s a bank holiday here in the UK, a three day weekend, and the beginning of the half-term school holidays. It’s also too hot to think for longer than twenty minutes at a time (see heatwave) AND there’s a birthday in the house.

There has been a welcome flurry of new subscribers, followers and readers over the last couple of weeks and for all the reasons above I thought today would be a good opportunity to share a few posts from the last seventy or so Sundays.

The idea is to give a flavour of what goes on here for newer readers and give me an opportunity to do a little mid-ish year review and think about what I might want to write about in the future.

I do feel that I might have developed the confidence by now to write and schedule these Sunday slow, quiet notes in advance and be able to seamlessly produce new, interesting words every week in a timely, planned fashion but, I’m afraid that hasn’t quite happened. In truth, I like to write, edit and share pretty much in one sitting and, true to form I am, as often is the case, sat in the kitchen with a cup of mint tea, early morning, ready to rock and write.

First up, we’re going all the way back to the beginning, January 2025, a time before I decided to call these posts slow, quiet notes and a time before I worked out how to arrange photographs in headings.

Next up, a couple of months in, I’d started to share more about my reasons for writing here and my interest in hand stitching, time and daily(ish) creative practice….

This next post from August last year is one I’d like to update sometime. I’m often asked about finding the time to stitch, draw and write. It’s a subject that often comes up at workshops and events (I’m also a fiend for a cluster of french knots).

I was lucky enough to take part in a creative textiles residential a couple of months ago and it shifted the way I think about my work and give me the time and headspace to think through many ideas for future writing and making. I also love making fabric-collage landscapes and this one is one of my favourites.

Last but not least, a throwback to last year’s open studios where I showed a lot of my work in one space for the very first time. I’d like to do something a little different this year, perhaps a weekend of short bite-sized workshops. Something to think about while I’m sipping a glass of cool ginger cordial in the shade later this afternoon.

I hope this gives an idea of what happens here. I would be interested to hear if these re-posts are of interest (or not). I think it’s possible to batch previous posts into themes - something I probably need to think about.

I leave you with my latest sample, made for next weekend’s in-person workshop with Blackheath Embroiderers.

And there’s this beauty…just because….

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s slow, quiet note and welcome to those of you who have followed or subscribed recently - it’s great to meet you.

These weekly Sunday posts are free to read but if you would like to support my writing further, I have set up an option to buy me a coffee on a one-off or monthly basis. Alternatively, if you have a moment, please like, share and restack this post to help me connect with other artists, makers and writers here.

Janice x