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Stitching Ashbourne: A Celebration of Place, People & Stories

everystitchastory

Last week I launched a brand-new creative adventure: Stitching Ashbourne!

Stitching Ashbourne is a community-led textile art project that invites people of all ages across Ashbourne to come together and help create a large-scale appliqué and embroidered artwork. At its heart, it’s about more than fabric and thread – it’s about celebrating what makes Ashbourne special, together.

Thanks to the support of Ashbourne Methodist Church and a wonderful team of volunteers, the project is already brimming with energy and enthusiasm. My hope is that everyone in Ashbourne will feel able to get involved, from experienced stitchers to those who have never sewn a single button, everyone is invited to be part of this creative journey.

The vision:

Over the next few months, we’ll be working towards creating a 2-metre-square artwork featuring some of Ashbourne’s most loved landmarks – from St Oswald’s Church to Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, via the Gingerbread Café and the beautifully refurbished Market Square.

Surrounding a centerpiece will be over 100 individually stitched squares, each created by local residents, schools, and community groups. Every square will tell its own story – a memory, a personal connection, or a celebration of what Ashbourne means to them.

Why Stitching Ashbourne matters:

Stitching Ashbourne is about more than the finished artwork. It’s about:

  • Celebrating our local heritage and what makes Ashbourne unique.
  • Bringing people together through creative workshops and shared stories.
  • Encouraging creativity and showing that anyone can take part, no sewing skills required.
  • Reigniting local pride in the place we call home.

The first steps:

I’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm, kindness, and creativity pouring in already. Here are some of the exciting things underway:

  • Workshops are already booking up! Year 6 students from St Oswald’s Primary School will be stitching their story with a workshop being held in October. QEGS, House of Beer, and U3A are also on board, with Ashbourne Creative Stitchers and the Craft & Chat group keen to join too. The Methodist Church will also be hosting drop-in workshops – details to follow.
  • Media buzz! I was interviewed on BBC Radio Derby last week, which aired over the weekend. The project has been warmly received on social media too, and press releases have been shared with the local papers.
  • Venues & display plans – Ashbourne Town Hall have already asked to host the artwork once it’s complete, which is so exciting!
  • Community support – Donations have started coming in through our crowdfunding page, and local business Curtains Up have kindly offered fabrics. I’m also thrilled to have a local amateur historian joining the planning team.

Word is spreading fast and the project is gathering real momentum. What began as a simple idea is quickly growing into something bigger, shaped by the enthusiasm and creativity of those already involved. It’s wonderful to see it capture people’s imagination – and I know many more will want to join as we go.

How you can join in

There are so many ways you can be part of Stitching Ashbourne:

Come along to a workshop – all materials are provided, and no experience is needed. Dates will be released soon. In the meantime, email me to have your name added to the workshop mailing list.
Schools and groups – if you’d like to host a session, I’d love to chat.
Venues – if you have a café, pub, or community space that could host a creative session, please get in touch.
Shape the design – tell us which landmarks feel special to you by filling in this short survey.
Support financially – every little helps us make this vision a reality. Donations can be made via our crowdfunding page.

Be part of the story!! This project is already inspiring people across Ashbourne and I’d love you to be part of it too. Whether you stitch, host, or support, every contribution matters. To get involved drop me a message at laura_burrill@outlook.com

Bunting for Peace: Stitching Memories and Celebrations Together

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My time at Erewash Museum has come to an end, and what a journey it has been. While we didn’t quite reach our ambitious goal of 50 meters, we created over 40 meters of bunting, each flag stitched with laughter, memories, and stories of what celebration looks like today.

The aim of Bunting for Peace was to bring people together in commemoration and celebration of peace, just as communities did in 1945. During the war, stitching fabric was a necessity. Today, we’ve used it as a tool of joy, a way to connect people through shared experiences, memories, and dreams of festivity.

Over the course of August, more than 120 people, aged 5 to 71, joined me to cut, stitch, knot, and embroider. As we worked, I asked participants to reflect: What does a celebration look like to you? What belongs at every good party?

The answers were wonderfully varied, there was lots of tea and cake, of course, but also pizza, jelly, bunting, friends (including cats!), and games. These conversations stitched humour, memory, and imagination into the fabric, showing that what truly defines a celebration is tradition, community, joy, and the pleasure of indulgence. Each flag carries a fragment of someone’s voice, marking a moment in time, and together the flags form a kind of time capsule of contemporary celebration.

For some, this was their first ever attempt at stitching. For others, it was a reconnection with skills passed down through generations. What mattered most was not perfection, but participation, the act of making together across ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Children worked alongside parents, grandparents, and friends, creating special moments of intergenerational learning.

The bunting fluttered for the first time at the War Time Variety Show, and a section will shortly be included From Gas Masks to Garden Parties exhibition. But its story doesn’t end here. This bunting was designed to last, to travel, and to keep carrying our collective voices of love, joy, and hope into future celebrations.

For me, this project is proof of what craft can do: it creates space for conversation, nurtures creativity, and transforms scraps into symbols of togetherness. Just like the street parties of 1945, it reminds us that peace is worth celebrating, and that making, mending, and remembering together are powerful acts.

80 Candles Quilt Touches Hearts in Melbourne

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From 4th to 18th August, the 80 Candles Quilt found a beautiful home in Melbourne Parish Church, where it was welcomed thanks to the support of Creative Melbourne Gallery and Melbourne Festival (who are busy preparing for this year’s exciting Art & Architecture Trail next month.

The quilt has always been about connection, remembrance, and compassion and the response from visitors during its time in Melbourne reflected exactly that. People paused, looked closely, and shared heartfelt words about what it meant to them.

Through the visitor comment forms, people shared moving reflections about their experience with the quilt. One person wrote that they were “drawn to this and amazed at each new detail the longer I stood and observed it. The humanity and intimacy of it is what makes it – the ‘pairing’ of someone now and someone then.” Another described it as “powerful and thought provoking. May we remember all those lives and light candles in the darkness.”

Visitors also praised the artistry of the quilt itself, describing it as “a beautiful and impressive display,” “so moving – a wonderful project,” and “really beautiful, with each individual square telling its own story.”

We’re so grateful to everyone who visited and took the time to reflect, and to our partners in Melbourne who made this display possible.

What’s Next for the Quilt?

The next stop for the 80 Candles Quilt will be at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Newark, where I’ll be giving a talk about the quilt and the stories it holds on Sunday 21st September.

We are continuing to look for new venues to share and display the quilt. If you would like to host it, please do get in touch with me at laura_burrill@outlook.com.

Sunshine, Music & Making: Our First Drop-In Sessions at Erewash Museum

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We’re off to a flying start! The first two drop-in sessions for our community bunting project at Erewash Museum were a huge success, filled with sunshine, music, and plenty of creativity.

Visitors were treated to lively entertainment from Imagination in Motion and uplifting brass music from the Beeston Big Bands, setting the perfect atmosphere for making and sharing together.

And what a start we’ve made 10 meters of bunting are already complete towards our ambitious 50-meter target! From tying colourful rag ribbons to carefully stitching embroidered flags, participants of all ages joined in, sharing their ideas of what makes a brilliant party. Suggestions ranged from the sweet and simple, lollipops, party dresses, and cake, to thoughtful reflections on family memories and community spirit.

But we’ve still got a long way to go… and we need your help! You can get involved by:

  • Adding your own ribbon to our growing rag bunting.
  • Joining one of our creative workshops to design an embroidered or appliqué flag, inspired by memories of VE and VJ Day as well as what celebration means to us today.

This project is all about bringing people together to collaboratively create a 50-meter-long community bunting installation, ready to be unveiled at the Erewash Museum’s War Time Variety Show on Friday, 29th August.

Drop-in workshops will be held throughout August, where visitors of all ages and abilities can take part. Whether it’s a quick ribbon tie or a carefully stitched memory, every contribution helps us reflect on the past while celebrating the present.

Embracing the “make do and mend” ethos of the 1940s, all bunting is made from reclaimed red, white, and blue fabrics, connecting us to history while creating something new together. A section of this collaborative creation will also feature in the upcoming exhibition “From Gas Masks to Garden Parties”, opening in September, and the bunting will continue to bring joy at future museum events.

So why not join in? Pick up a ribbon, share a memory, or sit down for a stitch, together we can create something truly special.

The Art of Holding Space: A Day for Those Who Hold Others

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In community and wellbeing spaces across Derby, artists, educators and facilitators hold space for others every day offering room for creativity, connection, and healing. But who holds space for the practitioners?

That’s the question that brought us together on Sunday 20th July at Brailsford Methodist Church for The Art of Holding Space, a half-day workshop created especially for those working in community and creative practice. It was a gentle, powerful space for rest, reflection, and reconnection, offering creative tools and trauma-informed approaches for those who spend so much of their time supporting others.

The day opened with grounding rhythms from Chris Sylla, whose drumming circle invited us to settle into our bodies and the space. Some participants had never drummed before and left surprised at how deeply it helped calm their nervous systems and shift anxiety into rhythm.

Marie Hegarty from Scraggy Moo then introduced the principles of trauma-informed care, sharing practical and thoughtful ways we can shape safer, more responsive spaces for others — and for ourselves. One participant noted a key learning moment around using boundaries not as barriers, but as tools for care: a reminder that supporting others also means protecting the group from harm.

We closed with a slow stitching workshop I led, creating space to explore gentle creativity with hands and heart. Threads moved quietly through fabric as people reflected, shared, and simply breathed together in stillness — a chance to make something, slowly and softly, just for themselves.

The feedback from the day left me full of gratitude, not just for what was learned, but for what was felt and shared:

  • “Today created space for healing and a sense of togetherness.”
  • “I feel empowered. I’ve connected with others running similar work and feel more confident about trauma-informed practice.”
  • “It reminded me that we are an incredible resource — full of compassion and skills. We need to connect more.”
  • “I was able to reflect on my own needs, my boundaries, and my self-care as a facilitator.”
  • “It was warm, supportive, and full of ideas. I’m taking this energy with me.”

Moving forward… Holding space for others is beautiful work, but it can also be heavy, complex, and isolating. Days like this are a reminder that we need each other just as much as our communities need us. We need space to reflect, to reconnect with ourselves, and to be in the company of others who understand the unspoken weight of this work.

I’m deeply grateful to everyone who showed up with open hearts and open hands. And I hope this is just the beginning, of more conversations, more collaborations, and more care for the carers.

If you were part of the day, thank you. If you weren’t, I hope we meet next time. Because the art of holding space isn’t something we do alone, it’s something we learn, share, and strengthen together.