about us

The Thread House is made up of Jo, Karen and Lynne who joined forces in 2016 to launch a new Retreat and Pattern company offering retreats in exclusive locations in the UK with an emphasis on creativity, intimacy and seclusion. 

Following on from this Jo, Karen and Lynne have combined their many years of experience hosting quilting retreats, nurturing the online quilting community and designing awesome quilts to produce an annual subscription club which includes an exclusive Block of the Month quilt along. And in 2023 we launched our online teaching Academy! 

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JO AVERY

Jo has been playing with fabric and yarn for as long as she can remember, culminating in her current role as a designer, teacher and entrepreneur. Her natural affinity with expressive colour informs all her work and her love of intricate techniques such as needle-turn appliqué and embroidery allows her to embrace both modern and traditional quilting aesthetics. She is a regular contributor to a number of quilt and embroidery publications and enjoys inspiring others through workshops at events such as the Festival of Quilts and QuiltCon. She spends her days designing and making in her Schoolhouse Studio near Edinburgh. She is an Aurifilosopher with three Aurifil collections to her name. She is also the author of New Patchwork and Quilting Basics and Modern Crewel Embroidery, both published by Stash Books.

KAREN LEWIS

 

Karen is a screen printer, fabric designer, author and quilt designer. She and her family live on the edge of Leeds, Yorkshire with much adored Cockerpoo, Scout and when Karen isn’t knee deep in paint and fabric, she and Scout can be found exploring around and about the fields by her house. Her work is regularly seen in Love Patchwork and Quilting and Today’s Quilter magazines. As well as running workshops at her home in Leeds, she has taught at the Fat Quarterly Retreat and around the UK, as well as in Denmark, at Quiltcon in the US and at Sewtopia. Karen is the author of Screen Printing at Home and Wabi Sabi Sewing. She has designed four fabric collections for Robert Kaufman and her second for Figo Fabrics, Hampton Court ships to stores in September.

LYNNE GOLDSWORTHY

 

Lynne is a quilt designer, author and regular magazine subscriber.  Her love of quilting started back in the 80s on a trip to Washington - dropping into a shopping mall on the way back to the airport she fell in love with the American quilts on show there.  She has been designing and making quilts with some level of obsession ever since.  She regularly contributes to Love Patchwork and Quilting and Today’s Quilter magazines, has designed for fabric companies around the world and has taught at quilting events around the world as well as running numerous quilting retreats in the UK.  She is the co-author of several books including 500 Quilt Blocks and the Fat Quarterly Colour Workshop and sole author of Quick and Easy quilts.