Every Stitch A Story

18/06/2026

Playing with all the blues and greens in a little workshop prep for the Dare to Dream Sewing Bee at this weekend.

As I stitch, I'm thinking about what I'd add to our and what I dream for Ashbourne's future.

🐟 Shoals of fish for community and connection
⭐ Starfish for opportunity, curiosity and wonder
🐋 Whales for peace and kindness
🐚 Shells for the treasures we already have all around us
🌊 Waves for creativity, change and new possibilities
Ashbourne is already a thriving market town with so much to offer. My dream is for even more opportunities for people to connect, create, belong and flourish.

What would you add to our ?

Join us on Saturday on Dig Street opposite the Olde Sweet Shop and help create Ashbourne's Sea of Dreams as part of the Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream project.

No sewing experience needed — just bring your imagination! 💙

17/06/2026

The Stitching Ashbourne town-wide tour continues this weekend as the project moves to Ashbourne Town Hall as part of the Ashbourne Festival Summer Art Exhibition.

If you contributed a square, now is your chance to see the finished piece on display and celebrate the creativity, stories and community spirit that made the project so special.

The exhibition features a fantastic showcase of local talent, with artists, makers and community projects exhibiting alongside Stitching Ashbourne. It's a wonderful celebration of creativity in all its forms.

Stitching Ashbourne Souvenir Guides will also be available to purchase, featuring project background, workshop photos, contributor information and details about every square. Guide sales help support the future of the project, so please do pick up a copy if you can.

And if seeing all that stitching inspires you to pick up a needle again, why not head over to Ashbourne Market Place and join us at the Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream Sewing Bee?

Together we'll be creating Ashbourne's Sea of Dreams – a collaborative artwork inspired by this year's festival theme, Ashbourne by the Sea.

📍 Ashbourne Town Hall & Market Place
🕚 Saturday, 11am–4pm

I hope to see lots of familiar faces over the weekend! 💙

16/06/2026

I'm really excited to be joining the Derbyshire Makes Dare to Dream project as it comes to Ashbourne as part of this year's Ashbourne Festival.

I'll be joining the team on the day to help stitch, chat, encourage and dream alongside visitors as we create Ashbourne's Sea of Dreams – a collaborative textile artwork inspired by the festival theme, Ashbourne by the Sea.

Come along this Saturday to the Dare to Dream Sewing Bee and add your own stitched contribution. Choose from simple sea-themed shapes including fish, shells, boats, waves and stars, then add a word that represents your hopes for the future – such as kindness, community, nature, peace or play.

No sewing experience is needed and everyone is welcome. Whether you can spare 10 minutes or an hour, we'd love you to get involved.

The session will be led by Dare to Dream artist Sue Reddish, myself and Dare to Dream Ambassador Alex Murphy from The Great British Sewing Bee!!

📍 Ashbourne Market Place
🕚 Saturday 20th June, 11am – 4pm

I hope to see some familiar faces there! You can find out more here: https://www.derbyshiremakes.co.uk/whats-on/dare-to-dream-sewing-bee-ashbourne

Join us for the Dare to Dream Sewing Bee at Ashbourne Summer Festival – a welcoming, hands-on creative session where imagination, making and conversation come together.

09/06/2026

Today I went to see the Tracey Emin exhibition . Unsurprisingly her textile works blew me away. So many of these pieces I’ve encountered over the years in books, magazines and television programmes that seeing them in person felt a little like coming face to face with a celebrity.

The storytelling, vulnerability and intimacy woven into the works is truly breathtaking. To stand in front of them and experience their scale, texture and emotional weight was something else entirely.

I was particularly struck by the mixed-media elements — the handwritten notes, fragments of text and naively stitched surfaces that feel so immediate and deeply personal. Techniques and materials often dismissed as “craft” are elevated here into something powerful and profound. It was beautiful to see textiles celebrated as fine art; cloth and stitch seem uniquely suited to expressing such intimate, embodied stories. The familiarity of fabric, tactile, recognisable and held close to the body, creates a powerful sense of connection, making the works feel at once deeply personal and universally human.

08/06/2026

One of my favourite parts of facilitating creative wellbeing workshops is seeing the work that continues to evolve once participants return home.

Following our recent slow stitching workshop with Derbyshire Mind at Chatsworth House's Cascade Project, several participants have shared photographs of their finished pieces, inspired by moments from our sensory walk through the grounds.

From the ripples of raindrops dancing across the lake to the deeply textured bark of the magnificent redwood trees, these beautiful stitched responses capture not only what was seen, but what was felt.

What has struck me most is the messages that accompanied them. Participants spoke about the day feeling magical, and about wanting to keep their finished pieces somewhere special as a reminder of the experience.

And that's what I love about creative wellbeing work.

The impact isn't only found in the act of making. It lives on in the memories attached to the piece, in the confidence to continue creating, and in having a tangible reminder of a moment when we slowed down, connected with nature, and gave ourselves permission to play.

The joy of making, followed by the joy of remembering. ✨

Thank you to everyone who has shared their work with me. Seeing these pieces completed and cherished is such a special reminder of why creative spaces like these matter.

StitchAStory

04/06/2026

With Stitching Ashbourne off on its tour, I've had a little time to reflect on the project and revisit your feedback as I look ahead to the next community project... details soon!

I always love finding out what resonated most with people.

When we asked what you enjoyed most about Stitching Ashbourne, here's what you told us... What would you add?

01/06/2026

29/05/2026

is all set up ready for this weekends .arttrail

More than 100 artists, 20 plus historic venues, street food, music and more!w

📍Ashbourne, Derbyshire
📅 Sat 30 & Sun 31 May 2026
⏰ 10:30-4:30 (Sat), 10:30-3:30 (Sun)
🎟 Wristbands valid all weekend
👧 Under 12s go free

Wristbands can be purchased throughout from Handmade Design or F Coffee in Ashbourne, plus multiple locations in the town at the weekend.

28/05/2026

Part 4 | Where to Find Stitching Ashbourne Next ✨

If you missed the unveiling event, don’t worry — this is only the beginning of the journey for Stitching Ashbourne 💛

We’re so excited that the piece will now become part of the brand new ARTbourne trail launching next weekend, before continuing on a tour around the town so even more people can experience and enjoy it.

Upcoming locations include:
📍 St Oswald’s Church
📍 Ashbourne Festival
📍 Hopton Hall Gallery
📍 Ashbourne Library
📍 QEGS
📍 The Heritage Centre

One of the most important things about this project has always been sharing it with the community that helped create it and we can’t wait for even more people to discover the stories, stitches and connections woven throughout the artwork.

If you are — or know of — a local venue, community space, school, café, or organisation that would like to display Stitching Ashbourne, please do get in touch. We’d love to keep the artwork out in the community for as many people to enjoy as possible ✨

Thank you for being part of the journey 💛

27/05/2026

Part 3 | The Big Reveal ✨

After 9 months of stitching, planning, creating, and community collaboration… the moment finally arrived.

These photographs capture the unveiling of Stitching Ashbourne — the reactions, the excitement, the emotion and the first glimpses of the finished artwork in all its glory.

It was such a special moment to finally share the piece with everyone who helped bring it to life and to see people discovering the details, stories, and contributions woven throughout.

A huge thank you to the students from St Oswalds Primary School and QEGS who helped unveil the artwork!