Sew & Sew Retreats in England, May 6 to 19, 2024
to Celebrate English Textiles!
We will spend seven days in the English countryside in County Kent
staying at the regal Goodnestone Manor and then seven days in London,
where we will stay at the Petersham Hotel in Richmond.
Besides great sightseeing, there will be six Workshops including one at
the Royal School of Needlework! Jolly Good!
The gifted quilt artist and teacher Heidi Parkes will join us for the duration of the retreat.
She will conduct an on-going workshop while at Goodnestone Manor -- An English Travel Diary Quilt.
Hand quilting is Heidi’s favorite part of making a quilt! She loves to create areas of visual interest and activate the quilt top with the quilting functioning like a drawing on the surface of the fabric. Often using specific textiles, such as an heirloom tablecloth, bed sheet or cloth teabag, Heidi adds subtle meaning and material memories from the start. Ever curious, she works with a variety of quilting techniques including visible hand piecing and knots, improvisation, patchwork and applique.
Photos courtesy of the Art Workers Guild
In London we will hold four workshops at the Art Workers Guild.
Emily Jo Gibbs creates hand-stitched textiles with a delicate graphic quality, observing the quiet beauty of the overlooked. Gently advocating The Value of Making by creating work that celebrates the skill, dexterity and the creative problem solving of people who make things.
Appliqué - Working with Silk Organza:
This course covers the fundamentals and introduces you to the techniques Emily uses to make her delicate appliqué pictures. She will guide us from making test pieces to constructing Still-lifes.
Besides quilting with Heidi Parkes, and silk organza appliqué with Emily Jo Gibbs, there will be several four hour workshops. This includes Blackwork with Kari Bender, Ribbon Embroidery with Linda Sweek and Abstract Embroidery with Ruth Hughes. Plus, we will take a class on Goldwork at the Royal School of Needlework. Really a hand-stitchers dream!
Goodnestone Manor, Photos Lizzie Hulme
First we will spend a week in the countryside at Goodenstone Manor in Kent, once frequented by Jane Austen and the setting for Pride and Prejudice. While there, we will tour the famed Canterbury Cathedral and the quaint town of Rye.
Canterbury Cathedral, Photos Courtesy Canterbury
The quaint town of Rye, Photos Lizzie Holme
Then we will spend a week at the Petersham Hotel in London, seeing the sites and enjoying several workshops. Highlights include a visit to the Royal School of Needlework, which was founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace, exploring the Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum, touring Westminster Abbey, Covent Garden, the crown jewels at the Tower of London, a scrumptous high tea at The Wolsley and a theatre show in the West End.
The Petersham Hotel, Photos Courtesy of Lizzie Hulme
Sew & Sew Retreats brings people together with a similar interest and then offers the opportunity to spend memorable moments creating, learning, exploring, relaxing and laughing with like-minded people. I hope you will join us!
The trips Cost has not been finalized yet. Sign-up to receive Updates.
Registration Opens in July 2023
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