North East England Quilting

1 Oct 2022

8 days from £1,425pp

From hand-sewing workshops with Carolyn Forster, to visits to the spectacular Durham Cathedral and Alnwick Castle, this holiday combines the best that the local area has to offer.

Hand sewing workshops with Carolyn Forster, our accompanying textile expert, kit included
Demo and talk with Kim Suleman
Services of an Arena Travel Tour Manager throughout the tour
Tips for drivers and local guides included in the price

This holiday combines the best that the local area has to offer with hand-sewing workshops with Carolyn Forster and shopping in some of the area’s many quilt shops. The museums are all excellent, Durham Cathedral is spectacular and the Northumberland landscape that we pass on our way to the amazing Alnwick Castle is simply beautiful. This is a real discovery for anyone who have never been to this part of England.

Day 1: Saturday 1 October
Check in is available from 3pm. Dinner is included this evening.
Day 2: Sunday 2 October
Full day hand-sewing workshop with Carolyn.
Day 3: Monday 3 October
Beamish open-air museum tells the story of life in North East England from 1820s to 1950s. We’ll spend a full day exploring the site, but one of the highlights is sure to be the 1820s quilters cottage, where we’ll learn the fascinating story of quilter Joseph Hedley, as well as have an exclusive viewing of some of the quilts that are in Beamish’s extensive collection. A light lunch is included today.
Day 4: Tuesday 4 October
The Bowes Museum is a treasure hidden in the heart of beautiful Teesdale. Purpose built in the 1920s by John and Josephine Bowes, the museum houses one of the largest and most significant European textile collections in Britain, representing all textile techniques and European centres of production, from the 15th to 19th centuries. We’ll enjoy a guided tour of the collection with a museum curator.
Day 5: Wednesday 5 October
Alnwick Castle was built in the 11th Century to control and protect the border with Scotland. Alnwick Castle underwent several renovations in its first five centuries, the most major of which was commissioned by Henry Percy, the First Baron Percy of Alnwick. The Percy family still live in the castle today, in fact Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, second only to Windsor Castle. The grounds surrounding the castle were landscaped by Lancelot “Capability” Brown. As well as being the residence for the current Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle has been used as a filming location for many movies and TV shows including Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone, as well as Downton Abbey.

The brainchild of The Duchess of Northumberland, The Alnwick Garden is a multi-award-winning visitor attraction. The 12 acres of magnificent gardens are home to the world’s largest Tai Haku Cherry Orchard, the Grand Cascade comprising 120 water jets and the world's largest Treehouse Restaurant. The garden is also a charity, any surplus is re-invested into improving and developing The Alnwick Garden for the future through one of their charity programmes. We’ll enjoy a guided tour with a garden volunteer, including the Poison Garden.
Day 6: Thursday 6 October
The Community of Cuthbert arrived in Durham from Lindisfarne in 995 and built an Anglo-Saxon cathedral. In 1083, following the Norman Conquest, a community of Benedictine monks was established in Durham. Construction of the Cathedral as we know it today was started in 1093 by Bishop William of St Calais It is a Christian Church of the Anglican Communion and the seat of the Bishop of Durham.

Durham Cathedral houses some of the best church needlework from the past 11 centuries. We’ll enjoy an embroidery and textile tour, highlights of which will include a 10th century Stole, Maniple and Girdle, recorded as being given to the shrine of St Cuthbert by King Athelstan when he visited Chester-le-Street in 934. These are some of the finest surviving examples of Anglo-Saxon embroidery in England and the only ones to be found which depict human figures. The collection also includes four late medieval velvet copes.

Kim Suleman is probably best known for her website Six Penny Memories and for her appearances on Create & Craft TV. Kim will welcome us to the community hub in North Shields for a short demo and talk.
Day 7: Friday 7 October
Full day hand-sewing workshop with Carolyn.
Day 8: Saturday 8 October
Check out by midday, with fond memories of a week with like-minded friends.

Seven nights B&B accommodation
Dinner on first and final evenings
Travel by private coach, as described in the itinerary
Entrance fee, light lunch and exclusive quilt viewing session at Beamish
Entrance fee and textile tour with a curator at the Bowes Museum
Entrance and guided tour at Alnwick Castle
Entrance and guided tour of Alnwick Gardens, including poison garden tour
Entrance and embroidery & textile tour at Durham Cathedral
Two full days hand sewing workshops with Carolyn Forster, kit included
Tips for drivers and local guides
Services of an Arena Travel Tour Manager throughout the tour

Carolyn Forster

Carolyn Forster is a quilt designer, teacher and author from Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Since self-publishing her first book ‘Quilting on the Go’ in 2007, Carolyn has written ten more patchwork and quilting books with Search Press in the UK and Landauer Publishing in the USA. She has been a regular project contributor for magazines in the UK, including Today's Quilter, as well as abroad.

Carolyn's quilts are an eclectic mix of fabrics, a posh way to say she makes scrappy quilts, and they always have their roots from some point in the past, being inspired by quilt makers who have gone before us. Accessibility is Carolyn’s key philosophy with her teaching, demystifying techniques to allow every quilter to discover their own voice.

Teaching for Arena travel is a great opportunity to combine her love of travel and stitching and the projects for these trips will reflect and explore techniques from Quilting on the Go.

Overview

Located in the historic centre of Durham, the Marriot Royal County hotel is situated in a building dating back to the 17th century. This comfortable hotel has a lounge bar, a restaurant with terrace, a fitness centre, indoor pool and sauna.