Welcome to The Thread of Her Tale
A weekly look behind the scenes of my Cromwell Stitching project
Showing my workings
Do you remember being told to “show your workings” - particularly in mathematics - when you were at school? In my case, showing my workings was generally useful for showing why my sums didn’t add up properly; I have never been good with numbers. But for the last few years, I have enjoyed taking part in the annual #septtextilelove challenge hosted by Seam Collective on Instagram. There’s a prompt each day for the 30 days of September, and, to me, they provide an opportunity to show your workings, make new connections, and reflect on creative practice. I find that process enormously helpful and look forward to the challenge every year.
I have been stitching Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy on and off for nearly a decade, and on www.stitchingcromwell.com I write about the work I make and some of the research that sits behind it. But I don’t write much about work in progress there, and I don’t reflect regularly on my creative practice there. The site focuses on pieces that are finished or a significant way into their development - and because hand stitching takes a long time, I don’t post as often as I would like to.
In view of the pleasure and value I get from #septtextilelove, I thought it might be useful (to me) and interesting (perhaps to others) to have a space for work in progress, for showing my workings, to thinking “out loud”. So here is The Thread of Her Tale, where I plan to post weekly about what’s been going on (or not) in my studio; something I have seen; and where my Cromwell Trilogy stitching project is going.
What caught my eye?
The signature of Anne of Cleves:
Last week, I had a couple of my regular research days at the National Archives at Kew. One of the documents I had ordered - an account book from the household of Anne of Cleves - was being repaired, so with the help of the excellent archive staff, I was given an appointment in the Conservation Studio to view it - very exciting. I was unexpectedly touched to see the words “Anne the Quene” and a symbol of As and what look like two hearts combined, were written at the bottom of many of the pages. I like the idea of Anne looking over her accounts and carefully signing them off.
In my studio
Other commitments last week meant very little studio time. But I made some slow progress with a series of Cromwell house pieces - I’m working on the House at Fenchurch Street at the moment. And thinking about the shape of Austin Friars.