Ten years stitching inspired by the Bible 

A huge textile exhibition is to begin a three year tour of UK cathedrals on 16 January.

Creator and Baptist church member Jacqui Parkinson explains how she wanted to produce artwork everyone can understand, get involved with and enjoy – and possibly bring them closer to experiencing God’s love

 

It's December and I’ve just finished stitching the very last of 44 huge panels which make up Threads through the Bible. This is possibly the largest textile art exhibition by a single person, and is set to be on show in Britain’s largest cathedral, Liverpool from 16 January to 3 March. The exhibition will continue to tour cathedrals until 2027.

But I never planned it that way!
 
Threads through the Bible consists of the three sections:

• Threads through Creation
• Threads through the Cross
• Threads through Revelation

It’s the end of ten years’ work. How did that happen? I didn’t know where things would lead, ten years ago.


Threads through my own life

The Bible has fascinated me every since I became a Christian as a teenager. It fired my imagination…

When I married Methodist minister Rob Frost, as a very young minister’s wife, I found congregations daunting, and was most comfortable with young people in youth groups and Sunday School, telling many Bible stories.  We moved to south London, where I taught drama in a  secondary school and later set up the Lantern Arts Centre. 

This was one thread developing in my life – making the Bible accessible to people of all ages, particularly youngsters, through drama. 

Have you ever looked back and noticed some small event that set bigger things in motion? People often wonder how I’ve been so lucky to be able to exhibit in dozens of cathedrals. I’ll tell more about a little later.

Essentially my work has developed as a result of several small events.

First was Rob challenging me to ‘do something different’ as a New Year’s resolution and getting me to go on a day’s class in embroidery. It folded because of low numbers, but I was hooked – and decided to do an degree in Embroidered Textiles.

How could I use what I’d learnt? I felt that churches and cathedrals needed art pieces that spoke plainly of faith. So I approached the Deo Gloria Trust which gave me a commission to stitch a small exhibition for touring cathedrals.

That grew into ten more, which visited most cathedrals in England. Significantly I now had a good introduction to many cathedrals when the work expanded.

Rob died in 2007. I moved to Devon, met and married Andrew. He has brought his own valuable skills to my projects – with a lot of experience in writing, photography and marketing. Together we have been able to produce material that’s highly accessible and enjoyable for visitors.

What to do next? On holiday in France, I saw some of Marc Chagall’s huge paintings. I realised what I wanted to do was ‘go big’! That was a challenge, though, using fabrics and threads.

I realised that what I really most wanted was to produce artwork that everyone can understand, get involved with and enjoy – and possibly bring them closer to experiencing God’s love. My parents, a down to earth working class couple from Manchester who weren’t much interested in art and even less in religion, were at the back of my mind.

How to do it? I was first planning to create huge panels from putting together small sections, when I discovered a wonderful sewing machine at a quilt show – chance, coincidence, or God-given opportunity?  This machine allowed me in effect to draw in stitch on very large sheets, and it’s been going now for more than 25 million stitches…

Working big also means you need a lot of space. I found the perfect large studio almost on our doorstep which opened up the opportunities to work on a large scale. 


Threads through Revelation

The book of Revelation has always fascinated me. I love the drama, the extraordinary images. In just over three years, I created Threads through Revelation, 14 huge textile panels imaginatively interpreting that last book in the Bible. 



My previous contacts in cathedrals helped the exhibition to tour 14 cathedrals between 2016 and 2018 and was seen by over half a million visitors. 



Threads through Creation

Then, from the last to the first pages of the Bible! The first pages of Genesis are so inspiring and uplifting and amazing. I wanted to bring it to people as a simple story with immense depth and – if they chose – something to study in detail.

I  finished Threads through Creation in 2021. One of its greatest challenges for me was depicting lots of animals, and it took a lot of practice.

It went to 21 cathedrals, abbeys and priories, and hundreds of thousands of people have clearly enjoyed it. What I’ve found particularly rewarding is that It’s been enjoyed by many thousands of school children, and triggered workshops in various crafts, dance and music.

 



Threads through the Cross

What next? I knew all along that I would have to tackle story of Jesus and his journey to crucifixion and resurrection. This is Threads through the Cross.

I had left it last - because I was scared! It was such daunting prospect. I had only just begun to work out how to depict figures – Adam and Eve – in ‘Threads through Creation’. 

Now I would have to depict lots of people which is very difficult with fabric and thread. The human form is so subtle, a challenge for sewing. For example, if you’re not very careful, hands and fingers can look like a bunch of sausages.

I chose 18 key scenes starting with the birth of Jesus and finishing with Pentecost. The whole series is a bit like a picture book – with bright vivid colours and powerful designs. And I’ve just finished the most difficult panel – Jesus on the cross, an almost monochrome panel.



 
Threads through the Bible

So now Threads through the Bible is finished and starts touring from 2025 to 2027.

I hope many people will enjoy it, celebrating God’s love with 25 million stitches! 
 

Find out more by visiting: jacqui-textile.com/bible 

Jacqui Parkinson is a member of Chudleigh Baptist Church in Devon 

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