It’s hard to believe it’s only been a few weeks since Stitching Ashbourne began, and already more than 100 people have taken part! I don’t think any of us quite expected the level of excitement, creativity, and care that’s filled the first four workshops. Every session has had its own character, full of conversation, laughter, and those quiet moments of concentration that come when everyone’s lost in the rhythm of sewing.
And now, finished squares are starting to arrive. Each one is different, bright, delicate, bold, playful, but every stitch has meaning. Together, they’re starting to form something truly beautiful: a picture of Ashbourne told through thread and texture.
Certain themes are emerging, lots of countryside scenes, walking and cycling the Tissington Trail, food, flowers, hobbies, favourite views. It’s wonderful to see how much people treasure the open spaces around town and the simple joys of everyday life.
But it’s also made me wonder… what’s missing from Ashbourne’s stitched story so far? What places, people, or moments haven’t yet been represented? Are there stories of the high street, our schools, the Shrovetide ball game, music, or even those little acts of kindness that make our community special?
If you’re still planning your square, maybe this is your moment to tell one of those untold stories. Think about what Ashbourne means to you, not just the places we walk through, but the memories, traditions, and connections that make this town home. And don’t forget to include a few words or a note with your square, I love hearing the inspiration behind each design!
We’re well on track to exceed our original hopes for participation, and I can already see the final piece starting to take shape in my mind, full of colour, texture, and community spirit. I can’t wait to see what arrives next.
What a fantastic launch workshop! The Stitching Ashbourne launch yesterday was everything we hoped it would be and more, lively, welcoming, and full of creativity. More than fifty people joined us, with a real buzz of excitement and queues out the door! It was heart-warming to see so many people come together, chatting, stitching, and sharing ideas about what makes Ashbourne such a special place to live, visit, work and go to school.
Right from the start, everyone got stuck in, filling the space with conversation and colour. Early designs began to celebrate the town’s beautiful surroundings, the rolling countryside, trees, fields and open skies that make Ashbourne such a joy to walk, cycle and explore. The much-loved Tissington Trail came up again and again, with its mix of walkers, cyclists, dog owners, parents and grandparents enjoying time outdoors. And it’s clear Ashbourne is a town that loves its animals too, with The Ark Rescue Centre finding its place in designs alongside wildlife and much-loved pets.
As the afternoon went on, themes of friendship and community connection began to shine through. Local gathering spots like Smith’s Tavern, a familiar meeting place for many, and the Cornerstone Café at the Methodist Church featured prominently, places that hold so many shared memories. The newly refurbished church, with its bright red doors, also made an appearance, symbolising warmth and welcome. Cultural favourites such as Shrovetide Football, the Lantern Parade and the Christmas Tractor Lights brought smiles all round, reminders of the events that bring everyone together year after year.
Food made its way into the mix too! Ashbourne Gingerbread popped up in early sketches, and we’re already wondering what other local treats will find their way into stitches over the coming weeks. Plenty of people also took home packs to work on, including students from local schools, we can’t wait to see the range of ideas that come back from makers of all ages.
We were also absolutely delighted to welcome Helena, our official project photographer to the event. Originally from Ukraine, Katerina brings a wealth of experience and a wonderful creative eye. Her involvement has been made possible thanks to generous support from Ashbourne Arts, who have provided £500 in funding to help document the project. This support means we’ll have a beautiful visual record of Stitching Ashbourne as it grows, something lasting to accompany the finished textile artwork.
If everyone who came along brings back their stitched square, we’ll already be halfway to our goal of 100, what an amazing start! There are still plenty of opportunities to get involved. Upcoming workshop dates are listed on the workshop page, with 16 workshops to choose from hopefully you’ll find one that suits you. If you can’t make it to a workshop but would still like to take part, just email Laura for a postal pack. Finished squares (with feedback forms) can be returned at sessions or posted directly to Stitching Ashbourne.
Thank you so much to everyone who came along and helped make the launch so special. Your enthusiasm, creativity and warmth are at the heart of Stitching Ashbourne — this really is a project shaped by our community, for our community.
Saturday was a big day for the 80 candles quilt project as participants from across the East Midlands came together to unveil the completed quilt. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon of sharing research, connecting and celebrating what we have achieved together.
Through 9 workshops, supported by The Multi Faith Centre, The National Holocaust Centre & Museum, Ashbourne Methodist Craft & Chat Group and Brailsford Methodist church, and 9 postal packs, 76 individuals have participated in the project. People joined the project from across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and even as far as London and the South West. The stories documented range from very personal stories of family members to well-known survivors and lesser-known individuals selected because of a shared name, hobby or job, or because of the very absence of their stories from traditional Holocaust narratives. The body of research created is impressive, and the Unveiling Event provided a wonderful opportunity for individuals to share details about the person they have honored.
Thoughts now naturally move to how do we share the 80 Candles Quilt and the stories it contains? Over the coming months the quilt will be on display at various location across the East Midlands, starting at the Multi Faith Centre on 27th January, moving to the Derby Cathedral, Swadlincote Tourist Information, Ashbourne Cornerstone Cafe, Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, Nottingham Liberal Synagogue and the National Holocaust Centre and Museum. We are also in the early stages of creating a book! The book will share the making of the quilt, and the research carried out by participants. Fundraising to support publication has already begun with the sale of postcards and printed booklets which will be for sale at £2 each at exhibitions.
At the risk of being crass, running community projects takes money; workshop space, fabric, threads and of course my time as a professional Textile Artist & Community Arts Practitioner. Funding for projects can be tricky to come by, but the 80 Candles Memorial Quilt Project was something I really wanted to do. It feels important and timely.
Determined not to let the lack of funding out there deter me, I have forged ahead and ‘trusted the process’. Previous projects have taught me that if you have vision, passion and determination, and you can share that with others, it really does all work out in the end. This project is proving no different, not only have the Multi Faith Centre, Ashbourne Methodist Craft & Chat Group, Brailsford Methodist Church and the National Holocaust Centre & Museum supported the project by donating venue space to host workshops, participants have been asking how they can donate towards costs too.
I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated so far, with a final quilt measuring nearly 1.5 meters by 2 meters it’s a costly piece to create. To honour those who had everything taken from them, right down to their clothes and shoes, I have strayed from my usual practice of utlising vintage and reclaimed fabrics and opted instead for beautiful linens and organic cottons.
The results so far are truly inspiring. The workshops have been beautiful spaces for storytelling, connection and creativity. The first squares finished are wonderful miniature visual narratives or people’s lives and have offered the time for contributors to really connect with the experience of others and share that story more widely. If you’d like to get involved with or support this project there are three ways to get involved:
Take part in a workshop, dates and links here and make a donation towards costs.
Order a postal pack and complete your contribution from the comfort of your own home.
Donate to the project and have your name embroidered on the back of the quilt.
We currently have 30 participants and nearly 40 squares in progress, please help us create this beautiful memorial and join the team!
Trying to pick just one person to represent in a quilt in memorial to those affected by the Holocaust is daunting. As a champion for telling stories through the creation of textiles I knew I wanted to honor a fellow ‘sewist’, someone who had stitched something whilst in a concentration camp.
Meet Sonja Jaslowitz, a young German speaking, Jewish Romanian girl whose creative talent lives on through her poetry and embroidered belt.
Sonja’s story…
On 4th June 1942, Sonja Jaslowitz, together with her German speaking Jewish parents, Lotte and Adolf Jaslowitz, were deported to Cariera de Piatra Concentration and Camp.[1]
Sonja was just 15 years old. She left behind her home, a first floor flat owned by her grandmother, in the bustling town of Czernowitz, Romania. [2] Czernowitz had a large Jewish community, but as fascism rose in popularity across Romania, antisemitism increased. [3] Between 1941 and 1944 approximately three hundred thousand Jews and Roma perished in the Romanian administered region.[4]
Sonja and her family were sent eastward to a region that came to be known as Transnistria. Transnistria was a ‘holding’ or ‘containment’ place for deported Jews, a ‘dumping ground’ to await mass transfer across the Bug River.[5] The family spent time in the makeshift Cariera de Piatra concentration camp. Once a granite rock quarry, inmates found ‘shelter in wrecked guard and storage sheds that had been built partially into the rock’. [6] More than five hundred people were crammed into wooden barracks built to accommodate just eighteen. [7] From here they were sent to Obodovka Concentration Camp and then onto the Tiraspol ghetto. With limited documentation we can only imagine how Sonja and her parents managed to survive the brutal environment. Together they would have faced deprivation, starvation, dehydration and bitterly cold temperatures.
Amongst all this horror Sonja chose to create, and perhaps more remarkably some of her creations survived. These surviving acts of resistance include a black blanket-stitched belt embroidered with whimsical flowers, mushrooms and quaint scenes of houses with picket fences, trees, fluffy clouds and sunshine; and a body of poetry written in German, Romanian and French. Composed in the camps and ghettos of Transnistria her poetry gives us a glimpse of the girl she was, thoughtful, observant, resourceful, sarcastic, courageous, defiant.
Using simple verses and metaphorical phrases Sonja conveys her deeply felt emotional state of pain and longing whilst painting a picture of her surroundings. She gives agency to hope, nurturing her confidence and mental energy in order to survive.
Sonja and her parents were liberated in 1944 and repatriated to the Romanian capital, Bucharest. Here she typed an illustrated some of her poems. Sadly, she was killed during the shelling of Bucharest, April 1944. Collateral damage victim of shrapnel from Allied bombs intended for German-controlled oil installation near Romanian capital.[10] Sonja’s father died shortly afterwards having contracted tuberculosis in the ghetto. Her mother moved to England, bringing with her Sonja’s creative works.
How would Sonja feel about her work being shared? Did she create privately for herself or intentionally to share her story? Was she determined to document her experience, exercising her own limited agency within the confines of Nazi rule, or simply filling time?
There is a vulnerability in creating and being creative, works set free into the world can easily be dismissed, ignored, criticized or misunderstood. But there is also power in creating art; the power to tell a story and share ones inner most self for others to see. It provides space to contemplate and regulate emotion and room for play and experimentation. Sonja’s embroidered belt is what drew me to find out more about her, I was sure an object of such whimsy and beauty created in such horror had a story to tell. I wonder what Sonja would think of the square I am dedicating to her?
Square one, work in progress. ‘Remembering Sonja Jaslowitz’, Laura Burrill, linen on calico.
[5] Hirsch, K, Spitzer, L, ‘Small Acts of Repair: The Unclaimed Legacy of the Romanian Holocaust’, Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies, Volume 4, No 1-2, Spring/Fall, 2015 p.13-42p25
[6] Hirsch, K, Spitzer, L, ‘Small Acts of Repair: The Unclaimed Legacy of the Romanian Holocaust’, Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies, Volume 4, No 1-2, Spring/Fall, 2015 p.13-42P.27
[9] From poem ‘Longing’, S. Jaslowitz (Translated) Hirsch, K, Spitzer, L, ‘Small Acts of Repair: The Unclaimed Legacy of the Romanian Holocaust’, Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies, Volume 4, No 1-2, Spring/Fall, 2015 p.13-42, p.29.
[10] Hirsch, K, Spitzer, L, ‘Small Acts of Repair: The Unclaimed Legacy of the Romanian Holocaust’, Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies, Volume 4, No 1-2, Spring/Fall, 2015 p.13-42, p.14.
Every Stitch A Story 