What are your main hopes for Summer 2021?

I always have loads of ideas about how I should organise myself but inevitably my head goes off at a tangent, so my to do list is forever growing. I have lots of ideas but very li le actual time as client commissions take priority over self-indulgent pa erns. So, this year’s big hope is work/life balance. I am so lucky to make a living as a cross stitch designer and I enjoy it immensely but doing something that you love as a job turns it into work. Every year I watch the Chelsea Flower Show, get my pad out and redesign my garden and sort of move pots about, but it hasn’t actually changed much since our boys were young. They no longer need a playground, so I have big plans to fill it completely full of floral inspiration.

What’s your favourite summer stitching memory?

Oh, definitely when the sun was shining, and I was in the garden with my big floppy hat on stitching samples for my Sewing Quarter debut.

What does summer mean to you when it comes to designing?

Summer pa erns are inevitably designed in the winter, so summer is all about making notes and sketches, collecting ideas and inspiration whilst you’re up to your neck in Christmas and Spring.

Which has been your favourite summery design, and why?

I love the Summer Holiday Suitcase Sampler, it’s cheery and fun and reminds me of our annual mums’ getaway. For the last four years, me, my sis and a couple girls jet off for a cheeky weekend in the sun. It’s a great tonic – not sure what we’ll do this year!