No Borders: Seven Stories

Pom-Pom making

I am just finishing a block of sessions with the No Borders art group at Carleton Day Service in Carlisle. I love working with this group and this block I have been so impressed with how far they've come both in skill and confidence. I first worked with them back in 2012 and since then have run several projects with them, each time seeing them develop a bit further. This time we are contributing to Prism Arts and Cumbria Libraries 'Seven Stories' project.

Working on designs

Working on designs

Working on designs

It has been really exciting and rewarding working with this group during this set of sessions because they have really led the project and taken control. They are rapidly approaching a point where they don't need me much which is great, at the start they would ask me about every little detail whereas now I am more of a sounding board. To see a group of people take on a project, share ideas and confidently decide how to move forward is one of those things that gives me that 'that's why I do this' feeling. Knowing I've been a part of building their skills and confidence is a huge boost.

Keeping track of our designs

The group had thought about making a time capsule for this project but as we discussed their ideas and how they'd like to work the idea developed into creating a giant hanging book, with their work forming the pages of this book. Their starting point was things they liked about Carlisle. This idea really set them off creatively and each member of the group had lots of ideas and we were able to make some quite detailed plans of what we wanted to do and achieve. One of the things I was really pleased about was that when I asked what techniques people wanted to use they all had really clear ideas and were confident in voicing these.

Strips of fabric, ready for weaving

Warping the loom

Starting weaving

One of the group members wanted to do more weaving, she had experimented with using the peg looms and really liked this way of working so over the past few weeks she has been creating a beautiful woven page using strips of different coloured and textured fabric. This person's starting point had been the library and the rows of colours echo mixed bookshelves perfectly.

The weaving is growing...

...and growing...

...and growing!

Another member of the group wanted to develop her felt making skills. Over the time I've been with this group we have done quite a bit of felt making and I was pleased to see this person trying out new ideas and using the skills she'd already gained to create a beautiful and very well crafted piece of felt. Her piece was inspired by communication and being with friends and I think that joy really comes through in her work.

Laying out the felt

Laying out the felt

Adding ribbon, net and fabric pieces

Starting the felting

Rolling the felt

Fully felted

A third member of the group has not been part of the group as long but has still shown great progression and development both in terms of skill and confidence. Whilst she will still ask what colour to use when I respond 'what do you think?' she answers without hesitation. She just requires a little more reassurance that her ideas are good (which they are.) This person was particularly inspired by the work of Lorna Graves, on display in Tullie House and this led to her working on a theme of animals.

Translating drawings into fabric work

Building up the image

Adding stuffing

Starting with drawn designs this member of the group then developed her work through fabric collage to create a beautiful Rabbit portrait, complete with pom-pom ears and tail. Working on the sewing machine was a highlight for this person and is something she would like to try more of. This person really likes to work in a more 3D way so we added stuffing to raise the surface and give more form to her work.

Making pom-poms

The almost complete rabbit

Adding a ribbon border

For the last couple of weeks we also had another member, who I have worked with on Prism Arts Studio Theatre project. She has been working on a piece of fabric collage, using the skills she's learnt at Theatre Skills to great effect.

Fabric collage owl

I'm looking forward to going back in a few weeks to see how they take this work forward. I am confident that they have the skills and knowledge, and importantly the belief in their abilities, to produce more great work. I'm excited to see what they come up with and to start putting it together.

No Borders: Applied Textiles

Making thread wraps to explore colour combinations

I was very pleased and excited to be back with the No Borders art group again this morning. I have worked with them on a number of projects over the past couple of years and I always enjoy our sessions as the group is so positive and enthusiastic, it's really inspiring. I was also really touched as one of the participants said she was really excited I was working with them again as she loved textiles and the work we'd done before. The last project I worked on them with culminated in a hanging sculpture that was shown in Prism Arts Studio as part of C-Art 2014.

Hanging sculpture from last sessions

Detail

For this block of sessions we are looking at applied textiles, the title is deliberately a bit vague so that the group can pretty much do what they want! I took in lots of samples and we discussed our previous work together and what the group would like to do. They decided on individual projects and I was pleased that they all had ideas about what they wanted to do, I'm looking forward to seeing how these ideas develop as the project progresses. We also discussed colour and how it can represent different moods, feelings and ideas.

Looking at samples

Using pastels to explore colour

Pastel colour page

After our discussion (and a nice cup of tea) we started to look at the colours we would like to work with. I began by asking the participants to experiment with putting together colours that they liked in different proportions and to think about what mood this created. We used pastels so that the colours could be blended and different shades and tones created. As always everyone had a very different approach and it was interesting to see how people's personalities and preferences came out in this activity.

Thread wraps exploring colour combinations

Thread wraps exploring colour combinations

Thread wraps exploring colour combinations

We then moved on to making thread wraps using our pastel colour sheets as a starting point. I really like this activity as it is a different way of playing around with colour and it is a good way to explore how colours work together. It's also quite therapeutic and relaxing which allows us to have discussions about our ideas at the same time. Once again the individual characters shone through in the finished thread wraps, in not just the colour choices but the methods too. I'm really looking forward to next week and seeing how the work takes shape.

Pastel colour pages

Pastel colour pages

Pastel colour pages

Pastel colour pages

The Summer

The finished quilt

It is that crazy time of year again when I face the challenge of putting together The Heathlands Project Textile group quilt. Every year I say this is the last one but at the start of the week I found myself once again stitching like a crazy thing to get everything completed and sent off in time. It is, of course, all worth it in the end. The group puts so much time and effort into the project and they are so proud of the finished pieces and the fact that they are displayed down in Birmingham that soon the aching back and sore fingers don't seem to matter much!

Corner detail

Edge detail

However organised I am there is always a last minute rush as people want as much time as possible to get their contribution finished, which generally leaves me with minimal construction time and so sometimes the finish isn't quite what I would hope for. That said I'm always pleasantly surprised by how well the work of so many different people comes together to create a unique and beautiful piece of art. I always ask the guys to choose a theme and colour scheme at the start of the project so that there are common elements throughout everyone's work and the group are now quite used to working with each other.

Main panel (detail)

Character detail

For various reasons the group has been a bit disrupted this year but they have still managed to create a piece of work full of interest, skill and charm. I like all the little characters that have emerged in this piece; the group choose 'The Summer' as the title of the quilt and there are lots of beautiful flowers blooming across its surface and little animals hiding all around.

Border patch

Detail from main panel

The quilt consists of a main panel embellished with fabric pastels, appliqué and embroidery surrounded by batik and embroidered border patches. The quilting consists of cross stitches in the corners of the patches. All the fabrics were tie dyed by the group at the start of the project. I like running the quilt project with the group as it is a chance to try new techniques and for everyone to work together to create something special. The quilt will be on show at The Festival of Quilts down at the N.E.C in Birmingham in August after which we will find it a home at The Heathlands Project.

The Rag Rug Sea: James Rennie

Working on the green section

I was back at James Rennie School on Wednesday working on our rag-rug sea project again. The students have done really well and we had a lovely day working on the sea, finishing off pom-poms and making some lovely collaged fish to swim in the sea!

Working together

Beautiful work

Preparing strips

Helping each other

All working together

These pictures all show the back of the work, it can be difficult working from the back so I think the students did very well and it looks great from the front! It was great to see that some of the students had really got the hang of the techniques and they were very good at helping each other and working together. The piece is really starting to take shape and I think it will look fantastic when it is finished.

Finished pom-poms

Collaged fish, ready to be sewn together

Collaged fish, ready to be sewn together

My sample fish

Detail