Methodist Tapestries Collection

Methodist Tapestries Collection The Methodist Tapestries Collection will depict the history of Methodism and related local stories.

Its core collection is based round the story of High House Chapel in Ireshopeburn, now part of the Weardale Museum, where the collection will be displayed. Participation in creating panels is very much welcomed, both within the UK and across the world. Individuals and groups can get in touch with us at [email protected] or by leaving a message on our page.

Today we're taking a closer look at the man's head in Sheila's panel 'Abolition of Slavery'. As you will see from the ph...
31/08/2026

Today we're taking a closer look at the man's head in Sheila's panel 'Abolition of Slavery'. As you will see from the photos, this is quite a small area (the outer circle is only 30cm in diameter) but Sheila has succeeded in packing in a great deal of detail. Using split stitch, two strands of cotton thread in various tones were used to work most of the face, with a single strand for the eye details. Like many of our other embroiderers, Sheila chose French knots for the hair, combining these with bullion knots, all in wool.

Sheila completed her 'Abolition of Slavery' panel a while ago, but we've not previously shared many of the detailed clos...
28/08/2026

Sheila completed her 'Abolition of Slavery' panel a while ago, but we've not previously shared many of the detailed close-ups you'll see later in this sequence of posts.
The campaign to end the trade in enslaved people was supported by many people, including the Quaker Anthony Bezenet who had a strong influence on John Wesley. Having preached against 'this execrable villainy' in his writings and during sermons, the issue was so important to Wesley that, from his sickbed only six days before his death, he wrote a letter urging the young William Wilberforce to continue campaigning on the matter.

25/08/2026

Word is spreading. I’ve been asked to give a talk in Quebec next spring. I wonder if I should make it a tour and go to Toronto.

On second reading the invite is from Quebec, County Durham.

But I am going abroad next month to Dunbar.

Here are some details from Pippa's work in progress, 'Travels of John Wesley'. As you can see, she is using similar tech...
24/08/2026

Here are some details from Pippa's work in progress, 'Travels of John Wesley'. As you can see, she is using similar techniques to Sarah's 'Revival' - an innovative method which has a fantastic effect. We particularly admire the way the hills and mountains are shown in relief, which emphasises the difficulty of the long journeys entailed in the preacher's travels.

Pippa is hard at work on her panel 'The Travels of John Wesley'. As you can see, she's already made a lot of progress! I...
21/08/2026

Pippa is hard at work on her panel 'The Travels of John Wesley'. As you can see, she's already made a lot of progress! It's astonishing to think how far Wesley travelled, even just within the British Isles - an estimated 250,000 miles. David's design shows some of the different journeys that were made, with Wesley often preaching several times in the course of one day.

People are often fascinated to see how our embroiderers set out their equipment! Carol Ann, for her 'Votes for Women, US...
17/08/2026

People are often fascinated to see how our embroiderers set out their equipment! Carol Ann, for her 'Votes for Women, USA' panel, is using an embroidery frame along with a magnifying lens. Each of the different colours she will use is to hand, as well as things like needles and of course our artist David's design.

Continuing with Carol Ann's panel 'Votes for Women, USA' we look in more depth at the stitching on the flag carried by t...
14/08/2026

Continuing with Carol Ann's panel 'Votes for Women, USA' we look in more depth at the stitching on the flag carried by the suffragette. Much of the time, people look at a photo of one of our panels without realising the level of detail required from the embroiderer! To put this into context, the outer circle of most of our panels is only 30cm in diameter, so the individual stitches are tiny. Even with the magnifying lens, it must require painstaking control of the needle to place each of them.

I like talking to WIs. Denton near DArlington was no exception. Lovely welcome, friendly and genuinely interested in th...
12/08/2026

I like talking to WIs. Denton near DArlington was no exception. Lovely welcome, friendly and genuinely interested in the topic.
Late getting home but well worth it and I was approached for another talk in the winter months, so it must have been OK. Now for a couple of glasses of wine.

Tonight it is a talk for Denton WI in Summerhouse Village Hall. I then get a bit of a rest from talks until the end of S...
12/08/2026

Tonight it is a talk for Denton WI in Summerhouse Village Hall. I then get a bit of a rest from talks until the end of September when I’ve been asked to talk to the East Lothian embroidery group in Dunbar. Exhibitions also resume in September with visits to Hexham Abbey, Lanchester and Ushaw House. We select tapestries from the 54 finished and framed works for our exhibitions changing them around so that they all get an airing from time to time. Tracy has around a dozen finished designs that need mounting and I’m looking forward to taking them on the road, probably next year.

Redhills Miners’ hall, the Pitman’s Parliament which some of our volunteers saw during a tour of this magnificent buildi...
10/08/2026

Redhills Miners’ hall, the Pitman’s Parliament which some of our volunteers saw during a tour of this magnificent building with a great history. The links to Methodism made this a really interesting visit and especially for those of us with links to the mines of County Durham. (Eileen)

What a great visit to Redhills this morning. Not just interesting and memory jogging but fascinating to make links with the lead mining and Methodism of Weardale and the museum. (Sue)

Maria, one of our Tapestry stitchers suggested the story of Redhills and the Pitman’s Parliament as a Tapestry topic and said she would stitch it. It was fascinating to visit and hear their story from Brian their expert tour guide. It will make a very interesting addition to our Tapestries Collection. (David)

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Stanhope
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