Embroiderers' Guild North Eastern Regional Day * 22 May 2010 * 10am

I just cannot wait for this event, held at Emmanuel College, Gateshead, and a chance to see up close the works of and listen to the Orcadian quilter Sheena Norquay. You can see her work in the Quilters' Guild Collection. I have a passion for northern landscapes and landscape lore, as told by the Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown in his books - my favourite is Beside the Ocean of Time. I chose this excerpt from a quilt of Sheena's to show you for the oyster catchers who I love to watch drilling on the reefs at Robin Hood's Bay - and who, casting their saucy eyes at me, famously took me for a walk (ride?) in the midnight sun on Lofoten. I shall also be giving a talk: 'Samplers - Lives in Stitches'.