Beginner's Guide to Blackwork

Lesley Wilkins discovered embroidered samplers on a school visit to the V&A Museum in London when she was 10, and has been hooked ever since. Her fascination with the craft led her to become not only an embroiderer of extraordinary skill, but also an expert in the history of blackwork and embroidered samplers. She has collected thousands of patterns from all over the world, and her own work is inspired by historical motifs, patterns and borders. Her designs have appeared in Needlecraft, Needlework and Stitch magazines, and she also edited her own Blackwork magazine and embroidered sampler magazine Antique Samplerstitcher for 9 years, all of which can be found on Etsy. She is now editing Quaker Samplers magazine.


Now retired from local government, Lesley self-publishes a variety of embroidered projects, especially Quaker style, online. You can visit her Etsy shop: etsy.com/uk/shop/QuakerSamplerDelight. Lesley lives in Derbyshire, UK.