Excerpt from Stitching with Beatrix Potter
Posted by Liz Aneloski on Jan 5th 2017
Please enjoy the short excerpt from Stitching with Beatrix Potter by Michele Hill below!
“Helen Beatrix Potter was born at Bolton Gardens, London, on 28th July 1866, the first child of Helen and Rupert Potter. Beatrix wrote, aged 75, that even though she and her brother, Bertram, were born in London–'our interests and our joy were in the North Country.'
Like many wealthy Victorian children, she did not see her parents very often but was looked after by a nurse and educated at home by a governess. Beatrix did not have many friends her own age because her parents did not want her to pick up bad habits or illness, but she had her younger brother, Bertram, for company, and they were allowed to keep a great variety of pets–rabbits, mice, lizards, a snake, a bat, a frog, and a tortoise. The children studied these animals carefully, recording their habits and making sketches of them.
As Beatrix grew older her father began to take her to art exhibitions and she met several influential artists, including John Millais. Around this time, at the age of 15, she began to keep a diary written in secret code. She wrote about people she met and the exhibitions she visited. This code was not cracked until several years after her death.”
Beatrix Potter with her father and brother, Lindeth Howe. Lindeth Howe Country Hotel, lindeth-howe.co.uk.
Like what you read? Stitching with Beatrix Potter is available for pre-order now.
• Stitch 10 projects by hand and by machine the whole family will love
• Learn about the life and work of Beatrix Potter with historical vignettes
• Amazing appliqué tips from best-selling author of William Morris in Appliqué and More William Morris Appliqué
Photo by Michele Hill.
Photo by Michele Hill.
