New Book | Life in Seasons Volume 2 Out Now

To help us do justice to the news that this week we’re officially launching the highly anticipated sequel to Life in Seasons by Nicola Jarvis, we’re doing something a little different.

Inspirations Studios CEO, Kristian Fleming, is joining us at the All Stitched Up! news desk today to share his own perspective on what working on the Life in Seasons series has been like. Over to you, Kristian…

‘Hi everyone - it’s great to be joining you this week, thanks for letting me take part.

I asked to jump in and write a short note about the release of Life in Seasons Volume 2 | Summer & Autumn because this series has been years in the making and is a special achievement I wanted to celebrate with you.’

‘We first started talking to Nicola about the idea of working together on a book back in 2018, when she was in Australia for the needlework convention Beating Around the Bush.

It wasn’t until 2021 that we settled on the concept of Nicola sharing the wonder and beauty of her daily walks through the Warwickshire countryside, told through the changing seasons in stitch.’

‘Given the scope of the idea, we decided early on that this would be a two-volume project, spanning all four seasons.

Agreeing on a vision and an approach for a project is one thing; bringing it to life is quite another altogether. Collectively, we have been working on this series for almost five years - which is part of the reason that today feels so special.

With the release of Volume 2, we can finally share the full story and the complete body of work with you all.

One part of that story I wanted to share firsthand is just how extraordinarily talented, hardworking and committed to excellence Nicola Jarvis has been throughout this entire process.’

‘In a world with a seemingly insatiable appetite for creative endeavours, we often celebrate storytelling and world-class execution from so many famous individuals and organisations. Yet right here, within the needlework community, we have our very own powerhouse of talent - easily rivalling the best from any artistic discipline.’

‘To help explain what I mean consider this: to bring Life in Seasons to fruition Nicola has not only created sixteen masterful embroidery pieces across the two volumes, she has also sketched and hand-painted every background, photographed an extensive library of reference material, written beautiful poems, researched each backstory, authored pages of accompanying text, meticulously documented all instructions and materials, and created beautifully illustrated maps.’

‘All this from one single artisan. Disney would require entire studios of people to achieve the same!

Then, for each volume, Nicola carefully packaged up her precious original projects and artwork and entrusted them to a very nervous journey - travelling more than 10,000 miles from her home in England to Inspirations here in Australia - so we could keep the magic going and turn her vision into finished books.

Beyond waxing lyrical about Nicola’s herculean creative effort, I also want to say how proud I am of our own team.

For the first time in Inspirations’ history, we have created a perfectly matched two-part volume that flows seamlessly from season to season, as we join Nicola and her dog Quince throughout the year.’

‘Every element of these two books has been carefully considered to create an immersive experience.

Whether you choose to re-create the projects in stitch yourself, enjoy walking alongside Nicola as you read through her stories and poems, or use these books to share the fine art of needlework with friends and family, it is my hope that Nicola and the Inspirations team have done you, our needlework community, proud.’

Thank you, Kristian - we can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks when they experience Life in Seasons 2 | Summer & Autumn for themselves.

If you had pre-ordered your copy, the good news is your book should be with you any day now, if it hasn’t arrived already.

For everyone else, you can use the link below to purchase Life in Seasons Volume 2 now and, if you don’t yet have Volume 1, we’ve included a link below for that as well.