Tender Whispers from the Heart
There’s a healing that happens when we read, write and embroider. In the quiet moments of embroidering poetry and prose, we listen to whispers from the tender, hidden parts of our hearts and we connect with ourselves. Words, meanings and memories become stitched into our souls and we understand their significance, why they resonate with us, why they have stayed with us for days, years and decades.
Tender Whispers from the Heart is a collaboration between Rebecca Devaney and Sura Qadiri, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone literature at, St Catherine’s College, University of Cambridge. In this online embroidery course, we will be sharing our love of poetry and prose, embroidery, textiles, art, community, connection and bien sûr, France. Be still my beating heart!
Tender Whispers from the Heart is different from my other online embroidery courses in that it will be a year-long programme culminating with an exhibition of your work at Cambridge, England and Paris, France. Fantastique!
Course Description
There will be 10 monthly sessions on Zoom on the first Sunday of each month. Each session is based on a different theme such as longing, love, healing, beauty, connection, nature. For inspiration, I’ll give a presentation about textile artists that explore these themes and then Sura will read a French poem or prose and I will read an English one. After the session, you’ll receive a pdf of both poems/prose and some recommended reading. Sounds like a lovely evening already and we haven’t even started stitching!
Following the presentations and readings, I will teach a 30 minute embroidery tutorial and you will learn how to embroider text onto fabric, developing your skills and techniques each month. There will be 10 embroidery tutorials in total. Many of you have completed Stitches & Stanzas and it is one of my most popular embroidery courses!
“Thank you for the fabulous embroidery courses, they were absolutely wonderful! Well researched, clearly presented and always so inspirational. I constantly use the videos you sent as an “aide memoire" for the various stitches and know that in the coming months I will return to them again and again as I start new embroidery projects. Your lessons were so calming and were without doubt the highlight of my week throughout the autumn.”
With each session you’ll receive a lovely package from Paris with a gorgeous vintage French linen and a glistening spool of Au Ver à Soie silk thread. You will select which poem to embroider, the French poem selected by Sura or the English poem selected by me. You can embroider both, or choose a favourite poem that represents the theme for you! As the course continues we will share your embroidered poems and prose on the Threads of Connection Facebook group and in our presentations at the monthly sessions. Sounds fabulous? Je suis d’accord, but hold on, there’s more to come …
At the end of the course you will select your favourite embroidered poem and send it to Cambridge University where our beautiful embroidered poems and prose will be exhibited in a group show in 2026. The exhibition will travel to, yes you guessed it, Paris, where your work will be displayed in the city that has inspired artists, poets and writers for centuries. Magnifique!
More Details Please?
The dates for your diary are below. We will meet on the first Sunday of each month on Zoom, time to be confirmed. The sessions will be recorded and available throughout the year (January 2025 - December 2025), for anyone who is in a different time zone or who is not available for a session.
Sunday: 5th of January, 2nd of February, 2nd of March, 6th of April, 4th of May, 1st of June, 6th of July, No session in August, 7th of September, 5th of October, 2nd of November, No session in December.
There are two options for this course:
Monthly access to the live sessions & recordings, pdf with theme, links to Visual Artists, French & English poem/prose, 30 minute embroidery tutorial, vintage French linen and a 20 metre spool of Soie Perlée silk thread from Au Ver à Soie, invitation to exhibit your work at Cambridge & Paris in 2026. €50 p/m (shipping of kit included).
Monthly access to the live sessions & recordings, pdf with theme, links to Visual Artists, French & English poem/prose, 30 minute embroidery tutorial. €30 p/m (no kit included)
