I’m delighted to share that Breaking Bread is part of Feast – the Embroiderers’ Guild 2025/6 Members Challenge.
There’s something fitting about a piece called Breaking Bread sitting alongside other makers’ responses to the idea of feast. Food, and the rituals around it, carry so much of what we mean by home, gathering and sharing – it’s also the kind of ordinary everyday moments that I keep returning to in my work.
The Guild set a theme open to interpretation – food and celebration, a “feast for the eyes,” or something closer to indulgence and excess. All the submitted artworks feature in a Guild digital flip book, alongside the makers’ own descriptions and notes – it’s well worth a browse.
Screenshot – Breaking Bread – part of the EG Members’ Challenge Flip Book
Screenshot – Breaking Bread – part of the Feast EG Members’ Challenge Flip Book
The pieces will also be on show at the Embroiderers’ Guild stand at the Knit and Stitch shows in London and Harrogate later this autumn, so there’ll be a chance to see them in person too.
I’m sorry to say that I have made the decision not to take the retreat in Fes forward.
This wasn’t an easy decision. Fes is a place that does something to you creatively, and I genuinely wanted to share that experience.
Ultimately, regional uncertainties and logistical challenges have made it impossible for me to finalise an itinerary with enough certainty — and I didn’t feel comfortable asking anyone to make plans or commit to something I couldn’t guarantee. That didn’t feel right.
To everyone who got in touch to register their interest — thank you for your understanding. Your enthusiasm meant so much, and I’m genuinely sorry this won’t be the adventure we get to share.
Introducing Fes iv: Weave – the fourth artwork in the Arabic Red Box series. This work is inspired by the pulse and rhythm of life flowing through the narrow alleyways and streets of Fes.
Weave
The story behind the artwork
Making the most of every day of the residency, I’d walk up and down the maze of alleyways, through the souks – from the heart of the medina up to the Blue Gate – and observe, photograph and take notes.
The words for this artwork are sourced from these notes, tracing a walk with a friend – from her home at Dar Drouj, weaving through the souks and the lively medina, and up to a busy weaver’s loom shop near the elaborately embellished Bou Inania Madrasa.
Weave
Weave
I first wrote the full narrative in English and then, working with a friend in Fes, translated it into Darija (Moroccan dialect of Arabic) to ensure the phrasing felt natural, authentic and true to the original sentiment.
“Through winding streets under the watchful gaze of the cats of Fes … sitting, sleeping, waiting to be fed. A constant hum of people moving, porters pushing hand carts carrying bread from baker to vendor, bartered exchanges, and noisy conversation. The pulse, the dance of daily life halted for a moment to stand aside and make room for donkeys carrying cargo on the steep and narrow streets. The occasional group of tourists thread a long string, pulled by a guide eager to share knowledge. Stalls selling Khlea, dates and prickly pear, vibrant heady spices piled high in endless buckets and pans, herb sellers with upturned crates laden with mint, lemon verbena, and marjoram. Past tanneries with their pungent vats of leather, indigo and dye. Uphill past a spinner, twisting thread stretched between nails on the wall and his electric drill, winding, making cord for kaftans. Onwards to a doorway, climbing steep, worn steps to a room of muted sunlight … shelves of cloth, cones of spun thread … and the timeless rhythmic click-clack of the shuttle on the loom.”
Original words composed by Catherine Hill.
Reverse of Weave
Size: 21 x 21cm approx. This piece forms part of a series shaped by time spent on an art residency in Fes, Morocco. Hand‑embroidered in vintage red Sylko thread, the work nods to one of the national colours of Morocco.
