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For #WorldEmbroideryDay: Anne and Grace, daughters of Thomas Cromwell. We only know they lived through Cromwell’s will; he bequeathed them marriage portions, but they died in childhood. Handling that will, seeing their names crossed through - ah - I do not cry in archives, but that day I did.

After a year’s intensive research featuring 1530s Augmentations Books, endless notes, maps, and index cards, I am embarking on a huge stitched work listing the names of the men and women who were pensioned after the dissolution of the monasteries. The lives of these people were turned upside down.

I have been busy moving studio - but I am finally all set up for more #StitchingCromwell

The Room of CromwellMoving Studioopen.substack.com

I learned this the hard way.

On The Thread of her Tale, I wrote about three things that make the truth shimmer out of focus: a drowned village, a house with my family name; a purple coat.

Three Card Trick:Things may not be what they seemopen.substack.com

Four strong women for #InternationalWomensDay. More than wives and bodies. Political advisors. Religious reformers. Diplomatic negotiators. International players. Women in their own right. (Also remembering Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr; but I can only stitch the queens Cromwell knew.)

Much of this also applies to creating artwork. The space between the thoughts and the material result.

Especially for @whitstabletail.bsky.social

The first Wolf Hall Quilt - all 46 ft of it - has its own sofa this week.

Today we talk Stitching Cromwell @worcesteruni.bsky.social

Having a good time at The Hive @worcesteruni.bsky.social with Stitching Cromwell.

Stitching Cromwell in WorcesterI am writing this piece from The Hive in Worcester, where I am supposed to be stitching for the week, alongside my Stitching Cromwell exhibition.open.substack.com

Today I saw the Cromwell Textile Cloth - a representation of a list of textiles in Thomas Cromwell’s hand - hanging properly for the first time. In 22 years of quilting, I have made precisely two pieces I am completely happy with. This is one of them.

I suspect Cromwell would approve of the Chamber of Commerce taking an interest in the Stitching Cromwell exhibition..

Artist Unveils Cromwell-Inspired Textiles in Major Exhibition at The Hive | Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of CommerceA decade-long journey of creativity, literature, and archival discovery will be unveiled at The Hive in Worcester, as textile artist Dr Lucie Bea Duttonhwchamber.co.uk

Thomas Cromwell looks into his future.

I wrote about Anna of Cleves, Agnes Strickland, and stitching an admirable lady.

Never did any lady conduct herself with greater prudence and dignity than this ill-treated princessReading Agnes Strickland’s Lives of the Queen’s of Englandopen.substack.com

Very much looking forward to exhibiting #StitchingCromwell @worcesteruni.bsky.social next week! Come along and see me; I’ll be stitching in The Hive Monday to Friday.

Oh goodness. I had to read the shooting script for the #ReluctantWidow for a book chapter I wrote a few years ago. The script is even more bizarre than the final film. I seem to recall that it started with a shot of Napoleon. All very odd.

I wrote about Agnes Strickland’s opinions of Jane Seymour. And some carnations.

Such outrages on common decencyReading Agnes Strickland’s Lives of the Queen’s of Englandopen.substack.com

For a day of hearts: initials inside a heart. Included in the First Wolf Hall Quilt (2020-2021): inspired by a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, referenced in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, and now held in the Vatican Archives. photograph by Michael Wicks

“He comes into his hall to find versions of himself in various stages of becoming: a tentative outline, partly inked in. Where to begin with Cromwell?” - Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall When I stitch a portrait I usually leave the face until the very end. For Cromwell, the stitching started with the face.