The first thing we saw as we drove into East Riddlesden Hall was the hanging festoon style fairy lights and a beautiful wedding brightening up the typical Yorkshire drizzle. We weren't visiting for the wedding, we wanted delicious National Trust cake and a nosey around the Hall and Gardens - a day out to bring old friends together.
Ducks quacking away in the pond as we walked up the driveway, we were greeted by friendly National Trust volunteers. As we made our way into the 17th Century Manor House, it didn't disappoint. One thing I couldn't help but notice amongst the grandeur of the rooms was the fact that every single surface was highly decorated and well considered.
Creaking around on the rustic floorboards, you instantly get a feel for what life could've been like for the families living there over the years. Without electricity, the light peeps in from the tiny panes of glass, I started to wonder what life without our modern distractions could've looked like. The time and space to concentrate your well trained attention span on just one project, whether that was carpentry, plasterwork, textiles or gardening.
Even the not so decorated areas were filled with beautiful textures from the natural materials.
There was a bit of romance around the idea of being curled up in your four poster bed with the fire crackling away and working on a bit of needlework for your next bed spread. Although, that does make my eyes strain just thinking about that. No notifications to interrupt your thoughts - the ultimate digital detox - because it hadn't been invented yet. Maybe I'm just romanticising about hours of creativity with fewer interruptions...
The Hall had many different types of embroidery on display too, from finished pieces displayed on beds and walls to samplers that would normally be hidden away, framed with any information known about the artist written up.
When you wander around the gardens to the rear of the property, it's not difficult to see where a lot of inspiration for the embroidery work will have come from. There are so many natural forms, shapes, colours and textures covering the area. There were far too many for me to choose from on the day, however I really enjoyed seeing the wildflower areas and the fruit trees.
Now that I'm back from our day out, I want to run into the studio and start painting those delicious little white speckles on the apple (above) and start looking deeper at the organic and natural forms that are in my home garden. I've also revisited my illustration and embroidery mood board that's been a work in progress over the years.
East Riddlesden Hall was a perfect day out for us on a drizzly Saturday, there was plenty of children's activities and lots of great food options in the cafe. I had a raspberry and ginger scone incase you're still wondering.
Personal projects are important for the soul. There's something about creating a gift for someone you love or for your own home that has a magical quality to it. I find it's these projects that inspire brilliant new ideas.
Last year I had the absolute honour of becoming 'Aunty Moll' as my twin sister gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy. As an aunty with no other responsibilities and an embroidery degree, I leapt straight into my pile of fabrics and threads to make this little lad something special.
I haven't made anything for a baby before and I enjoyed the challenge of keeping everything nice and simple. I put a huge amount of pressure on myself to make a good first impression - not that he even knows what an embroidery is yet...
Knowing that baby's room was soft neutral colours with a jungle theme, I started to embroider a tiger. I chose the terracotta red/orange colour based on the bridesmaid dresses we wore at my sister's wedding the year before. With a bit of time and material left over, I made the zebra embroidery too.
Both of these designs were made by stretching material into an embroidery hoop and using a sewing machine to free hand embroider the background colours, the stripes and details were added by hand later.
I took these projects to my fortnightly sewing club over a few months, I find social stitching is the best way to achieve accountability with projects like these, especially if there's a deadline looming.
As the designs were finished, I pressed them and put them into frames for my sister and brother-in-law to unwrap. Baby is quickly approaching a year old now and I'd like to set about making him a new embroidery - perhaps some little felt vegetables to play with.
'Home' to me is Manchester.
It's been donning this unusually rare blue sky for a few weeks now and what a beauty it is.
I set out in search of some inspiration for my studio work as well as for my little 'yarden' project and thought I'd revisit somewhere tranquil that's still within reach of the busy city.
The north of England is well known for its cotton mills and back to back terraced houses. Manchester in particular still holds so many hints of its industrial past, converted mills sit squat amongst the glass new-builds, canals pass under buildings and streets and old railway lines sit disused.
No matter how hard I tried to fight it as a teenager, textiles runs deep in my blood and I'm embracing it more now. Including the points that I'm distantly related to Samuel Crompton (inventor of the spinning mule), I have a Textiles in Practice degree at the Manchester School of Art and my current day job involves using sewing machines in a converted cotton mill on the outskirts of Manchester... and yes, I do go home to a terraced house at the end of the working day - it has Wi-Fi and running water, don't worry.
So whilst the sun was shining bright, where would be a better place to visit than the Castlefield Viaduct, a 'sky garden' by the National Trust. The project has involved taking a section of disused railway to transform into a garden space for the public and nature to enjoy.
This little gem feels very hidden in the city, it's tucked away from busy shops and sits up in the air watching over the Castlefield Bowl and canal networks below. It's a perfect little hideaway to enjoy the vast scale of the city from the comfort of plants and quietness - with the soft reminder of industry when a tram rolls past on the parallel tracks.
If you look to the left or right whilst standing on the viaduct, your eyes follow the natural shapes of the plants in front of the harsh strong lines of the metal structures and followed by the softer glass buildings in the distance and as shadows are cast onto the floor, thick bold stripes appear. Theres loads of contrasting textures from the decaying metal work and grassy plant life tied together with a soft colour palette and the planters stay very much in keeping too.
It's a great way to see a space in use, whilst I was visiting there was a pocket with people sharing poetry and across the path sat a couple enjoying some time by the pond. There's so much information about the plants, wildlife and the history of the area too.
At the time of writing this post (May '25) the viaduct is free to visit and will only be open until September 2025 so I would suggest going sooner rather than later. I've heard rumours that the project will be extended in the near future so I have high hopes!
I'm taking what I've learnt back to the studio to reflect and I can't wait to add some of these ideas to my little 'yarden' (garden/yard) when I get home.
A few more bits:
SO MANY ideas for tiny gardens/ balconies in the book Green by Ula Maria
A great podcast from Gardener's World
Join my mailing list here to hear more about my garden project and studio inspiration
