Heartlands Cross

The Heartlands Stitchers came together from Rannoch, Killin, Pitlochry and beyond to stitch extraordinary stories of faith and the Heartlands of Highland Perthshire.

This is their story.

What follows is the story of the Heartland panel, and about those who created it.
The Heartland Tapestry Panel came about following a decision by Anna, Kirstie and Andrew that the original A9 Stitch-up group was becoming too large and as the logistics would probably make it unmanageable it should be split. Andrew therefore kindly created a second panel for the group and some of the stitchers, who moved across to the new group which became known as the Heartland Group.
This Heartland Group now includes those stitchers living in the area of Highland Perthshire which is bounded by Killin in the west, Rannoch to the north, and Pitlochry in the east. The Heartland Stitchers group is made up of over 40 adults and more than 40 primary school children who attend 4 different schools across Highland Perthshire. The youngest stitcher is age 4, the oldest being 96 and the project has involved individuals from all decades of life.
The design and theme of the panel is Faith, it is based around a Celtic Cross, and is being surrounded by smaller individual pieces of embroidery - the journey stones. The journey stones also include subjects on various aspects of faith and belief in the broadest sense as well as myths and legends, the local history, and topography and geography.

- The Heartlands Stitchers, The Heartlands of Highland Perthshire

The Completed Heartlands Panel
Image provided by The Heartlands Stitchers

Laying out and tacking in progress.
Image provided by The Heartlands Stitchers

Working on the composition was no easy task.
Image provided by The Heartlands Stitchers

Listen to our audio stories to learn more about our group and panel

Schiehallion and Loch Rannoch Journey Stone (Credit: The Heartlands Stitchers)

Queen's View, Highland Perthshire (Credit: VisitScotland/Kenny Lam)

Laying out and tacking in progress (Credit: The Heartlands Stitchers)

Ben y Vrackie, Highland Perthshire (Credit: The Heartlands Stitchers)

The Nishan Sahib Flag Journey Stone (Credit: The Heartlands Stitchers)

Glen Lochay, Highland Perthshire (Credit: VisitScotland/Paul Tomkins)

Duncroisk Journey Stone (Credit: The Heartland Stitchers)

[Vicki] ...because although the theme was faith, we didn't want it all to centre around one faith, in one church. There are so many faiths represented on that panel because there are so many faiths that are in this area...

[Margaret] Nothing was going to be excluded either from being too poor in style or ability, or the wrong subject, or the wrong person. If we could make it work in anyway it was gonna be on there.

- The Heartlands Stitchers, Faith and the Heartlands Panel

DISCOVER THE MORE ABOUT THE MAKING OF OUR PANEL

The Heartlands of Highland Perthshire

Heartlands - Layout and Tacking

Heartlands - Making Cords at School

Heartlands - Embroidery of the Cross Ends

Heartlands - The Cords

Heartlands - ...And Finally

Tay - Vicki's cat and honorary tapestry assistant.
Image provided by Heartlands Stitchers

The vibrant colours of the central circle.
Image provided by The Heartlands Stitchers

The Heartlands Stitchers were extremely busy stitching their personal stories of the area into journey stones. Some of these have been collected below as part of our digital story archive.

Read on to discover the inspiring stories of the Heartlands!

WITH THANKS TO THE HEARTLANDS STITCHERS

This panel was stitched by over 80 extraordinary stitchers including Margaret and Trevor, Vicki and George, Yvonne, Elizabeth, Helen, Angela, Edel, Laura, Suzy, Kerstin, Anne, Aileen, Kaja, Sylvia, Heather, Annemieke, Eden, Nairn, Wilma, Stefania, Kit, Imogen, Iain, Sue, Isabel, Liv, Ruth, Gordie, Raina and Bou. The ladies of the Kinloch Rannoch Crafternoon Group - Kim, Rosie, Helen, Mary, Kathleen, Sharon, Anne, Margie, Joyce and Anne - are also to thank for their assistance on the panel.

Special thanks goes to staff and P2 and P3 pupils at Breadalbane Academy, staff and P2 and P3 pupils at Aberfeldy Primary School as well as staff and P7 pupils at Aberfeldy Primary School for all your incredible work on the Heartlands' panel.

If you would like to see the panel up close and admire the detail of their work, please look out for the panel at an exhibition near you soon. To find out more, follow Inverness Castle Experience on Facebook for all the latest updates on the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands and the new visitor experience in Inverness, open 2025.