When did you start your creative practice and why?
My community-engaged textile practice has evolved over the last five years, bringing together a lifelong love of textiles with my Masters degree in Public History. During my studies, I became fascinated by the way textiles can hold and communicate stories, carrying memories, histories and experiences in ways that can be both deeply personal and collectively meaningful.
This led me to explore how making with textiles can become a way of bringing people together: creating spaces to connect, share stories, learn from one another and feel part of something bigger. My practice has grown from this intersection of textiles, storytelling and community, and I now create collaborative textile artworks with people and communities to explore place, identity, memory and belonging.
For me, the making is just as important as the finished artwork. It’s about the conversations that happen while our hands are busy, the stories that emerge, and the connections that are made along the way.
How would you describe your artistic style to someone unfamiliar with your work?
I would describe my work as storytelling through textiles. I work primarily with embroidery, appliqué, patchwork and quilting, often creating large-scale collaborative pieces that bring together many individual contributions.
My approach is deliberately slow and tactile. I’m interested in the marks of the maker, the wonky stitches, uneven lines and little imperfections that tell us that a real person was here. I often say “connection, not perfection” in my workshops.
What themes or ideas do you find yourself returning to most often?
I’m drawn to the stories that make us who we are: memory, identity, belonging, place, family and connection.
I’m particularly interested in personal and often overlooked histories, and in creating opportunities for people to share experiences that might otherwise remain unheard. My work frequently explores women’s stories, lineage, motherhood, loss, ageing, resilience and transformation.
I’m fascinated by the idea that textiles can become vessels for memory , something small and ordinary, like a piece of fabric or a stitch, can hold an extraordinary amount of meaning.
How does your immediate environment or location play in your work?
Place is hugely important to my practice. I’m based in Derbyshire and much of my work grows from the histories, landscapes and communities around me.
I’m interested in what makes a place feel like ours, the people who live there, the stories they carry, the buildings and landscapes they recognise, and the things that might otherwise disappear from collective memory.
My community projects often begin with a particular place and then grow through the contributions of the people connected to it. The resulting artwork becomes a kind of collective portrait, a record of a place through the eyes and experiences of its people.
What tools, materials, or techniques are essential to your practice? Is there a colour you just couldn't do without?
My work is rooted in simple, accessible textile processes: hand stitching, embroidery, appliqué, patchwork and quilting. I work with fabric, thread and reclaimed or vintage textiles wherever possible, and I love materials that already carry a history of their own.
And it has to be red! Red thread appears again and again in my work. I love its symbolism — connection, love, lineage, life and the idea of a thread running through our stories and linking us to one another.
Have you got a project / award / residency / or idea you are excited to share with us?
I’m currently developing The Red Thread, a more research-led strand of my practice exploring women’s stories, memory and personal narrative. I’m interested in the idea of textiles as vessels for stories and particularly in the threads that connect us to the women who came before us.
Alongside this, I continue to develop my community textile practice through projects that bring people together to create large-scale collaborative artworks. I’m always interested in finding new ways for people to contribute a small piece of their own story to something much bigger.
What is your website and how do we find you on social media?
You can find out more about my work, projects and textile practice at:
I’m also on social media as:
Instagram: @laura_burrill_
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/EveryStitchAStory
