Eid party in Tooting

Restart 50+ invites me to their Eid party at the Furzedown Centre.

Later that same day

Embroidery spotted later in the evening in a bar in central Manchester... I don't have the nerve to ask for a photo but my friend does. Too good to miss.

And no one minded being photographed ....

A research visit to Manchester

The final touch to the show - the background on embroidery. And again, we are lucky. Through contacts at the V&A we have been put in touch with Anne Morrell, an expert on embroidery on the Asian subcontinent. At home in Manchester, she very kindly shows me her fabulous collection and talks through the background to the traditional embroidery, loaned by the women, that we are going to display. Indispensable background that really strengthens the project.

Design concept meeting in Shepherds Bush

The Opportunities Centre, Shepherds Bush. The first meeting on the design for the exhibition. All the embroidery will be displayed at the Knitting and Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London in early October, a fantastic opportunity to take the project to a very wide, key, audience. A huge gesture of support from organiser Andrew Salmon of Twisted Thread, who has offered us space.
The challenge is how best to display very small, intricate pieces of embroidery in this arena.
David Cross, who works on lots of Bridging Arts projects, thinks of printing images on canvas banners. We decide to ask the University of East London, which printed the British Saris, to do this. Rabina Stratton, another Bridging Arts designer, thinks of mounting the swatches on foamboard, rather than framing, a brilliant idea - keeping them more immediate and accessible.
As always, a lot to do in a very tight time frame.

New motifs by Hannah Walker

Bridging Arts' Hannah Walker, a fine art graduate, studies the new panels created by the groups of women in Wandsworth and designs four brilliant motifs for new embroidery packs, which will give background to the cultural traditions that inspire them. Classes planned for York Gardens Library, Battersea, again to be taught by the Royal School of Needlework.

Writing up the stories about the exhibition pieces. Chhaya Biswas embroidered an intricate design of daffodils (that she drew on the fabric with pencil.) She had not embroidered for years but was determined to finish a design that would have daunted far more experienced embroiderers. The daffodil, she said, was her favourite flower. She had studied Wordsworth's famous poem as a girl in Bangladesh but had never seen a daffodil. "They told us that they were yellow and swayed in the wind, but I had never seen one." As a young bride in Wandsworth, at the age of 18, she saw her first daffodils on Wandsworth Common and was enchanted.

Graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Needlework

Graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court Palace. Fabulous work on display.

Visit to the Quilting Show, Birmingham

Visit to the Quilting Show, Birmingham, run by exhibition organisers Twisted Thread, who have very kindly offered us space at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Alexandra Palace, a landmark event in the sewing and needlework calendar. Take photos of the space and the displays. A niche, very keen, audience.

Picking up the exhibition pieces

Picking up the exhibition pieces from Restart 50+. Ferdous Rahman with her piece inspired by a tile she saw on holiday in Istanbul. Amina aziz with her fabulous free-style flowers racing over the pencil border that she originally drew for herself, ignoring a second, embroidered, border and looping right to the edge of the fabric.

Plunging into the unknown in Tooting

Plunging into the unknown. Six weeks into the classes, we introduce 'exhibition packs' - square pieces of calico and a variety of silks, threads and fabrics chosen by Jessica of the Royal School of Needlework. She also photocopies pages of books from the RSN's library that might inspire and encourage.... People start to create their own designs. Ferdous Rahman is inspired by a photograph that she took on a recent holiday to Istanbul. Others draw their houses.
Several different tutors from the RSN worked on the project. Pictured is Sophie Long.