Stitch Sanctuary

Today we're relaxing in Sonia's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Sonia loves hydrangeas for their abundant blooms and glorious colour. Her perfect garden corner is all about comfort — a shady lounger, a cold drink, tasty snacks and a vibrant display of hydrangeas creating a cool retreat from the summer sun.
💙 A shady lounger amongst hydrangeas and sunshine...

Today we're visiting Sally's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Sally's favourite flower is the Flannel Flower, loved for its soft texture and simple beauty. Her dream garden includes a dovecote surrounded by flowers and birdsong — a welcoming, colourful haven filled with sunshine and creativity.
🕊️ A dovecote amongst flannel flowers and sunshine...

Today we're visiting Helen's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Helen's favourite flower is the towering delphinium, loved for its height, colour and ability to attract busy bees. Her perfect garden corner features a lily pond filled with frogs and surrounded by beautiful delphinium blooms.
💙 A lily pond amongst delphiniums and curious frogs...

Today we're spending time in Heather's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Heather loves the delicate Snakeshead Fritillary, one of spring's most enchanting flowers. Her dream garden includes a bench beneath cascading wisteria, surrounded by fritillaries and flowers — the perfect spot for a coffee, a glass of wine and a little stitching.
💜 A bench beneath wisteria, with fritillaries at its feet...

Today we're visiting Becky's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Becky's favourite flower is the beautiful Snakeshead Fritillary, loved for its delicate bell-shaped blooms and distinctive chequered pattern. Her perfect garden corner is a vine-covered pergola surrounded by flowers, vegetables and dahlias — a place to sit, stitch and enjoy the beauty of nature.
💜 A vine-covered pergola amongst fritillaries and flowers...

Today we're visiting Amanda's corner of the Sanctuary Summer Garden.
Amanda's favourite flower is the poppy — a bloom she loves not only for its beauty, but for its symbolism of remembrance, peace and resilience. In her dream garden, a hammock nestles amongst poppies and wildflowers beside the sea, where the sound of the waves mingles with birdsong and the scent of flowers carried on the breeze.
A peaceful place to stitch, dream and simply be.
🌺 A seaside hammock amongst poppies and wildflowers...

If Anita could choose just one flower, it would be the tulip.
Not because it stays perfect.
Not because it never changes.
But because it does.
As Anita puts it:
"Even as a cut flower, the stem keeps growing, and it continues to change. Then as it dies off, it still looks beautiful."
For Anita, the tulip is a gentle reminder that beauty isn't something we leave behind as we get older. It evolves, deepens and becomes richer with time.
And if she were creating her own corner of our Sanctuary Summer Garden?
It would be a peaceful glass hideaway, tucked amongst the flowers, with views of the garden stretching out in every direction. A quiet place to stitch, reflect and simply be.
This summer, Anita will be bringing her love of tulips to The Stitch Sanctuary with her delightful Stashbusting Tulip project, alongside her Birch Tree and Lily of the Valley designs.
Tell us in the comments:
🌸 What is your favourite flower, and why?

🌿 Meet the Collective 🌿
As we prepare for the Sanctuary Summer Garden, we thought it would be lovely to introduce the teachers behind the classes – and to take a peek into the garden corners they dream of creating.
Today we're visiting Sonja Galsworthy's corner of the garden.
Sonja's favourite flower is the Passionflower. She loves its delicate structure, dramatic blooms and the way its fine tendrils reach confidently towards the light.
If she could create her own Sanctuary Garden retreat, it would include a large pergola draped with passionflowers, wisteria, honeysuckle and grapevines – a shady place to sit with stitching, enjoy the scent of flowers on the breeze and perhaps even steal a grape or two while watching the world go by.
This summer, Sonja will be teaching:
🪡 Introduction to Silk Shading – Lilies
🪡 Stylised Flower Sampler
Every teacher in our Summer Garden has chosen a favourite flower and a special corner of the garden. Over the coming weeks we'll be sharing them all, one stitch, one story and one garden path at a time.
🌿 Sanctuary Summer Garden
📅 15 July – 15 August 2026
Find out more at:
www.stitchsanctuary.com

A beautiful new class has just opened for booking at The Stitch Sanctuary… and it marks a very special moment for us. ✨

I’m delighted to welcome Amanda Rymel as the first guest teacher to join our growing Sanctuary teaching team. Amanda is a wonderfully skilled embroiderer, and her brand-new class “Wheel of Blue Leaves” explores a striking design combining goldwork and freestyle embroidery techniques.

Students will create this elegant circular design while learning a range of stitches and techniques, and each participant will receive a beautifully prepared kit containing everything needed to begin stitching.

This class also marks the beginning of something new at The Stitch Sanctuary — a wider community of talented teachers sharing their knowledge, creativity, and love of embroidery with you.

📅 Class begins April 27
🧵 Suitable for confident beginners and experienced stitchers alike

You can read more and book your place here:
https://www.stitchsanctuary.com/wheel-of-blue-leaves

If you have any questions, feel free to pop them in the comments — I’m always happy to help. 💛