Hand Sewing & Quilting at Goodnestone

Kent, UK, 8-16 October 2021

Join quilt artist and author Heather Jones in October 2021 on a special nine-day hand-quilting retreat in Britain at Goodnestone Park, a glorious manor house and family seat of Julian, 22nd Lord Fitzwalter. Built by his ancestors in 1704, the house was frequently visited by Jane Austen after her brother married into the family and it reputedly inspired her novel Pride and Prejudice.

Heather has designed an exclusive improvisational quilt project for this retreat. Drawing for inspiration from a magnificent medallion coverlet Jane Austen, her sister, Cassandra, and mother hand-stitched in the early 19th century, Heather has based her contemporary design around the large, central diamond motif found in the old coverlet. It finishes at roughly 28” square and featuring 9 blocks with sashing around the edges. Depending on your level of skill, the size or complexity of your chosen design, you may prefer to focus on hand stitching the quilt top during the week. More experienced quilters may find they are able to complete their quilt project including hand stitching the batting and backing. Heather’s tuition includes full instructions for completing the project at home.

The retreat will begin and end in Richmond-upon-Thames in southwest London and include five days of full-time tuition at Goodnestone as well as trips to a historic moated castle, the iconic Arts and Crafts home of William and Janey Morris, a local restaurant renowned for its food, a typical pub and the cathedral city of Canterbury, built by the Romans and a pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages. Jane Austen was as skilful with a needle as she was with a pen and on one evening professor Jennie Batchelor of the Kent branch of the Jane Austen society will visit us at Goodnestone to talk about her book, Jane Austen Embroidery.

Added to all this will be leisurely guided walks through the 15 acres of grounds, including the 17th century walled garden and the option to enjoy bike rides, massage and beauty therapies (treatments at extra cost). The house has recently emerged from a dramatic restoration that took it down to its bare bones and the new incarnation is a sensational take on the original with many stunning features including de Gournay hand-painted wallpaper, two grand pianos, roll-top bathtubs and showers in the bathrooms and the gorgeous first floor Jane Austen sitting room.

Picture yourself on a sofa in the Jane Austen sitting room, overlooking the parterre gardens, hand stitching a unique quilt inspired by one of the world’s favourite authors…

Essential information

- 9 day/8 night creative retreat
- Single or double occupancy luxury and standard rooms available
- Minimum 10 participants. Maximum 18 participants

Prices
From £3500-£3900
£650 deposit on booking
30% due on 15 October 2020
Full balance 15 March 2020

Included
8 nights accommodation, 8 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 8 dinners including wine, 5 full days tuition with artist Heather Jones and exclusive pattern designed by Heather. Sewing accessories. Copy of Jane Austen Embroidery by Jennie Batchelor. Trips. Entrance fees to venues. Transport to and from Richmond-upon-Thames and local transport.

Excluded
Airfares, baggage insurance, excess baggage, visa applications, airport departure charges, airport transfers to Richmond-upon Thames, travel and health insurance, personal expenditure, treatments at Goodnestone Park, quilting fabrics and threads.

“We dined at Goodnestone and in the evening danced two country dances and the Boulangeries”

Jane Austen wrote to her sister, Cassandra, in September 1796

Heather Jones

Heather Jones is an artist, designer, and educator whose work questions and pushes traditional conceptions of both quilt making and painting. Her work explores the formal possibilities of colour and shape, often through geometric and striped compositions. She is drawn to fabric, to its familiarity, its inherent qualities of saturated colour and textural luminosity, and its invitation to be touched. heatherjonesstudio.com

Goodnestone Park Gardens

Take time out from stitching to stroll through the Woodland Garden to see hydrangeas, autumn foliage, Michaelmas daisies and perennial grasses or wander into the Walled Garden to admire the climbers covering the old brick walls. Follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen along the restored 18th century Serpentine Path winding through parkland, woods and chalk grassland. goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk

The Jane Austen Quilt

Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra and her mother hand-stitched this medallion quilt, made using the English paper piecing method. It features over 64 fabrics with birds and flower motifs. Believed to have been made in the early 1810s, the quilt is the inspiration for our retreat with Heather. The quilt is on display at the Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire. Read the full story here jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk

BOOK YOUR PLACE

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Bedroom Preference

Single occupancy double ensuite Master bedroom, £3900

Single occupancy double ensuite bedroom, £3800

Single occupancy double bedroom with own bathroom adjacent , £3700

Single occupancy double bedroom with shared bathroom (shared with one other), £3600

Double occupancy twin bedroom with ensuite bathroom at £3500

I would like to bring a non-participating partner, £1650

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