Jo Avery
Jo has been sewing since she was 6 and patchworking since she was 10 years old. She's been constantly crafting ever since and started the myBearpaw blog 10 years ago to share her makes with the world. 8 years ago she set up her Edinburgh craft shop and studio so that she could teach sewing, quilting and crocheting to a new generation of crafters, and in 2013 she launched the first Stitch Gathering Retreat. These days she spends her days designing and making quilts for magazines and books, and her evening and weekends teaching. Any spare time is spent planning the next Thread House Retreat alongside her partner Karen Lewis.
Jenni Smith
Lucy Engels
Lucy is a quilter, printmaker and occasional teacher who lives and works in Edinburgh. She works out of her studio designing quilts, bags and screen printing fabric. Alongside creating products and patterns, Lucy collaborates with companies in the sewing industry to create one off promotional pieces. Lucy's work has been exhibited throughout the UK and at Quilt Con demonstrating a colourful graphic style.
Lucy's website
Carina Envoldsen-Harris
Carina Envoldsen-Harris is a Danish designer, author and teacher who lives in Essex. Carina has been embroidering since 2005 and, under the name Polka & Bloom, she has been designing and selling happy, colourful embroidery patterns since 2009. She is the author of Stitched Blooms, Romantic Motifs and Mandalas to Embroider. Carina's work has been published in Cross Stitcher, Mollie Makes, Australian Homespun, Hoop-La! and can also be found in Doodle Stitching The Holiday Motif Collection, and Mollie Makes Embroidery among others.
Lucy Brennan
Lucy's passions are combining fabric, playing with quilt layouts and hand sewing. She is a quilter and blogger, designs projects for magazines, regularly teaches quilting classes and is a designer on The Sewing Quarter. Inspired by the history and varied techniques of patchwork and quilting, Lucy always has a few projects on the go. When she's not quilting Lucy can be found doing some embroidery.
Sarah Ashford
Lisa Dolson
Illustrator, textile designer and sewing enthusiast Lisa Dolson is a Scottish artist, whose designs make a big impact. Trained in Illustration, Lisa has developed a passion for surface pattern, and her style has evolved greatly. From originally creating illustrations for the children’s market, Lisa now produces patterns with a more “grown-up” aesthetic.
Inspired by nature, birds, colours and patterns found in unusual places, Lisa keeps a sketchbook, which she adds to every day. With this method, she finds she always has a source of drawings that can be referred back to during the design process. These sketches and ideas are then developed to create unique prints for her hand embroidery kits. Lisa teaches hand embroidery classes around various locations in Scotland and loves to share her passion for embroidery with other creatives who want to learn a traditional skill in a modern way.
Tatyana Duffie
