Sound of the Mill

Hand Embroidered Sound of the Mill

Sound of the Mill #1 & #2 – created as companion pieces for ‘Worker Bees’ – feature Lancashire Dialect poetry from The Cotton Mill poem, first published in The Bolton Chronicle in 1864.

Sound of the Mill #1
Sound of the Mill #1

The growth of cotton manufacturing during the industrial revolution changed the landscape of Northern towns forever. Workers lived in rows of terraced homes within earshot of the Mill they worked in, each long day of work starting with the call of the factory bell. By 1860 there were 2650 cotton mills in Lancashire, employing more than 440 000 people and producing half of the World’s cotton.

This extraordinary poem, by an anonymous machine operator, with its onomatopoeic effects and rhythms echoed from heavy industry captures concisely the atmosphere of the working mill. It moves from the sounds of the machines to the behaviour of the human operators.

Sound of the Mill #2
Sound of the Mill #2

Size: each panel 13 x 9 cm. Hand embroidered and hand stitched using vintage Sylko threads onto cotton cloth which has been eco rust printed.

These pieces were created as a nod to James and Jane Nixon, my ancestors who worked as weavers in the Mills in Blackburn at the time this poem was written.

Sound of the Mill and Worker Bees
Sound of the Mill #1 & #2 and Worker Bees

I was delighted to share them in an exhibition of my hand embroidered work at the Saltaire Arts Trail 2022, Salts Mill, Bradford.

recent exhibition of work at Saltaire Arts Trail 2022, Salts Mill, Bradford
A recent exhibition of work at Saltaire Arts Trail 2022, Salts Mill, Bradford

These pieces form part of a body of work on Lancashire dialect poetry from the Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861-1865.

Giant Cauliflower Harvest

Giant Cauliflower Harvest, is my latest piece of needlework created as a companion piece for the upcoming Fifty Bees 5 exhibition curated by Textile Artist Lydia Needle.

The exhibition concept is that Lydia hand stitches 50 British bees and each invited artist creates a companion piece for just one of the bees.

My little bee is the Long-Fringed Mini Mining Bee (Andrena niveata).

This little Mining bee is a solitary fellow foraging amongst crucifer-rich habitats along cliff tops and heathlands, excavating burrows as its home. As agriculture & erosion have slowly changed this beautiful landscape the bee numbers have declined and it has been listed as rare since 1987.
In 2008 it found a new home when it was spotted on an allotment, foraging amongst a vegetable patch full of crucifer vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower and sprouts.
This reminds me of some of my fondest memories including Dad’s allotment and the year he produced a bumper crop we named ‘The Giant Cauliflower Harvest’!

Size 21 x 21cm. Vintage Sylko thread, cotton cloth.

The exhibition is open at ACE Arts in Somerton, Somerset from the 8th April – 14th May 2022.

Giant Cauliflower Harvest - embroidered word, red thread about my father and his allotment
Giant Cauliflower Harvest

This piece forms part of a body of work about my Lancashire roots.

In and Out of Lockdown

I’m pleased to announce that ‘Fragments‘ is part of ‘In and Out of Lockdown’ – the Embroiderers’ Guild Members’ Challenge 2022.

In and Out of Lockdown
Fragments – Part of ‘In and Out of Lockdown’

Hand stitched cotton cloth, eco-dyed and marked with leaves from my Lockdown garden.

Fragments - Part of 'In and Out of Lockdown'
Quarter inch hexagons

This is the fourth Guild Challenge I’ve taken part in – previous entries include ‘Matchbox Challenge‘, ‘Take Time to smell the Roses‘ and ‘Sound of the Kenwood Chef‘.

The Embroiderers’ Guild Challenge 2022 artworks will be on display at The Knitting and Stitching Show in 2022.