Thursday, August 29

Tea Party Pleasantries:


When all the quilts came to completion, after being quilted by Penny, and the tops sewn by the girls, the only thing left to do was to go back into the Residential care homes and show the residents what all of their hard work had accumulated into. This came in the form of 3 marvelous tea parties- one held at each home. The girls, with Penny and/or Alice (the Arts and Older People Project coordinator at the Courtyard) went back into the homes to share and rejoice in everyone’s hard work.


Whitchurch's wonderful quilt

The tea parties were a great success! Everyone looks so pleased, their faces beaming, with the final outcomes- a range of beautiful quilts created in an amazing community arts project. Alice mentioned that the tea parties would be a really “special event at each residential home, where friends and family will be invited, to share and celebrate this inspiring project and view all the great quilts that have been created.” And she was certainly right!
Reflecting on her experience, Nicki (pictured) eloquently described her time working in the Red Suitcase Project:
Making friendships and working along side the residents was a precious experience; they had so much to teach and tell, I learnt so much!! Going in as neither a position of authority or an emotionally attached family member provided them with a new kind of relationship and I feel like this dynamic really boosted the ethos. It was great to be able to allow them the time to just talk and enjoy their company. I would like to think that the project added something to the quality of not only their day, but gave them something new to think and do the rest of the week. Now that the quilts have been made, they were thrilled to see how they turned out. It was special to see them reminiscing over the time they spent with us. 
They gave me so much- I've made memories I will definitely treasure and have learnt things to take onto new projects and in my personal life. I am very thankful for this opportunity and would love to do it again!’ Nicki Mead 1st Year Contemporary Applied Arts Student who visited West Eaton House

Nicki and a happy resident.


Nicki wasn’t the only one thankful for the experience given to her through the project, from the residents and staff at the residential homes. The ladies from Whitchurch house told me how they took a bunch of flowers to the home to thank everyone for their time within the project. I think it just goes to show how much the project enriched and rewarded everybody who was involved.

And to finish, I think a few words from Penny (innovator of the project) would be pretty apt to help us all remember how such a great thing came around:

The Red Suitcase Project was an idea which took hold last summer. Hereford is lucky to be home to both a great arts centre and one of the only independent art colleges in the country, I wanted to find a way for HCA to work with The Courtyard on a visual arts project. My own arts practice is quilting, a craft which I feel is all about creating a memory captured in cloth, a personal history that you can literally wrap yourself in. Quilting has a very strong community history where group of women would come together to work on a piece, while they worked they would share stories. The idea of working with a group of students and older people on a quilt brought these themes of memory and community together perfectly. The interest in the project was so great that we were able to set up not one but three residential homes to work with."




Penny and Kirsten show off the lovely quilt.

Saturday, August 17

Praise be to Penny!


When the work at the Residential care homes came to an end, a meeting occurred between Penny Allen and us girls to discuss all of the progress and how the project would be moving forward until the exhibition later this year.  There was lots of talk of experiences, the joy the project bought the girls and how much everyone found the project so rewarding.

Penny then surprised us all with a handmade gift: little red suitcase badges. I think each one of us was so happy with the crafty gifts! It felt a bit strange though to be on the receiving end of the present, when we felt like really the thanks should be going to Penny herself. She was the person who innovated the project, organised it with the Courtyard and Alice Saunders, The Arts and Older people Project coordinator , and arranged for the students at Hereford College of Arts to participate.


So this post is a massive THANKYOU(!!!) to Penny for providing this great experience, from all of us girls! 

Tuesday, August 6

Once the visits to the residential care homes came to a close, it fell upon the shoulders of all of the girls to stitch away all of the beautiful bits that had come out of the homes.







Each home created its own quilt, with the work of the residents being stitched together. Above, you can see Sanya and Clara working away on the quilt for Ross Court home, where Sanya visited. As you can see, the girls are quite clearly enjoying the experience. I think we’ve all become pretty keen Quilt fanatics now!

Monday, July 29

Wonderful Whitchurch:


As I mentioned in the previous post, Whitchurch Residential care home was such a brilliant home to visit, as were the other two. The atmosphere there was amazing, with residents cheerfully singing, and nattering away with us!
 
Whilst we were there working away with the residents, Alice (The Arts and Older people Project Co-ordinator at the Courtyard) was busy snapping away, capturing those lovely moments shared between students and residents. 





She also managed to get these statements from the residents reflecting on their experience of the Red Suitcase Project.

 “The company of the students is very pleasant and it should be a very useful project at the end of the day” Phil (pictured below)
“I’ve really enjoyed the sessions and seeing new people, everybody is very happy taking part’ Audrey 


It’s fantastic to hear such a positive response from the residents, and to know that the girls really made a positive difference on the people they worked with. The project co-ordinator at Whitchurch shared her experience with Alice too, and I think sums up the sessions perfectly.

 “The interaction between the residents and the students has been brilliant. Although some of the residents haven’t been able to take part physically, they have still been involved in the process – choosing colours, fabrics and sharing their stories.” Shirley Activities Coordinator at Whitchurch House

Thursday, July 25

Whitchurch Walls:


When I popped along with the regular girls to Whitchurch House, I had a great experience. There was such a lovely environment within the residential home, and you could tell just how much the staff, and residents, loved the girls coming to visit! 







So much so, that upon leaving the activites co-ordinator at the residential home, showed us how they’d displayed pictures of one of the earlier sessions in their hall way on a photo wall. It’s lovely to see that the people within the residential home want to be reminded of the experience, and want to share what’s been occurring with other visitors who may be entering the building. We were then shown other photos they had waiting to be displayed!


Hopefully, they shall prove of lovely reminders to the residents of the Red Suitcase Project and the girls!

Wednesday, July 3

Updates...


With the project drawn to a close until the exhibition later this year, and with the end of university, it means I have been rather busy and have not given enough time to telling you guys all about the beautiful work that has been occurring throughout the Red Suitcase Project!

While I have shown a little behind the scenes planning, I think it is high time to show you guys some of the work through its making process. 


Ross Courts Grandma flowers
Beautiful embroidery!

The residents at Ross Court, and all Whitchurch, decided to utilise the Grandma Flower design (above), which is a method of English paper piecing quilting. The flowers are sewn up separately, with the residents choosing whatever fabrics they like and sewing away! When all of the pieces are sewn, then they all get collated and sewn into a beautiful quilt. They’ve all also worked really hard with their name badges- with each having a piece of embroidery on reflecting their personality and really speaking about them as individuals.

West Eaton's log cabin work



West Eaton took on a different approach by making the name tags the central focus of their quilt- building up around these using a log cabin technique. It’s got a lovely bold graphic effect!
All of the houses look like they have promising work that will form amazing quilts! It’s amazing how much can be achieved when you’re having fun.
In the next coming weeks I hope to show the progress of these pieces into the final quilts, show the happy girls working with the cheerful residents and tell you more about the brilliant experiences everyone has been having.

Monday, May 13

Smiles all round!


In this up-coming week the girls will be having their last sessions at the Residential care homes, which I’m sure they’ll all be disappointed about because they have been loving the experience and they’ve been telling us so!
Firstly,  the girls have been telling me how rewarding they find the experience. Each week they come back with so many stories, little anecdotes and beautiful work.
All the girls have commented about how lovely the activities co-ordinators are within the homes they’ve been visiting. Each one is really excited about the project and so pleased that the girls are there giving their time to interact with the residents. But they love doing it! One of the girls even comments about how they ran over their allotted time within the Residential care home because they were enjoying themselves so much chatting away and working with the residents!
There are such positive comments regarding the residents responses too. Each of the girls in the care homes have noted a particular few who really engage in the making of the work, whilst others are far more open to talking about their life experiences. But it is noted by the girls that when they’re visiting smiles are seen on the faces of the residents, and even the staff!
One of the great things about the project is that not only does it affect the residents within the Residential care homes, but the staff who work there and even people who are visiting. I’ve been told that at Whitchurch Residential care home, when one of the residents had their daughter visit she also began to help stitch away!
As I mentioned in this previous post  Quilting is very much a community craft- it draws people together. This is becoming more appropriate and evident with each visit the girls have. Each visit builds up the bond between the girls, the residents, the staff and everyone else who is touched by this experience. 

Thursday, May 2


Whilst flicking through her photo album Penny also found these snaps of the exciting goodies that can be found in the suitcases.
Now, I briefly mentioned before that each group of girls would take in a Red Suitcase full of crafty things to help them, and now you can see exactly what treats are inside. The suitcases are full of all things a craft lover dreams of: metres of beautiful fabric; embroidery skeins in every colour you’d ever want; enough thread to last a project; pins galore and needles too!; fabrics pens and pencils in a variety of shades; inspirational magazines and books; and enough pairs of scissors for the job!
Another exciting textile treat located inside the suitcases are the hand printed logos by Maisie!  These have nearly all been embroided into, and I cannot wait to show you how creatively the residents have been working to get their names down on to them. Keep your eyes peeled to see how these lovely resources are being used, and to hear about the girls experiences!





Age UK (again!):


After seeing the post on our Age UK training, Penny informed me that she had some photos of the day. As I mentioned in the previous post on it, we all had a great experience learning all about how to work in the Residential care home and the smiles on our faces just exemplify that!






Last week, we received out certificates from the training event too, which was a lovely reminder of the day.

Sunday, April 28

Quilting: a very brief history.


Quilting: what’s it all about?
When beginning this project not many of us girls really knew a great deal about quilting, after a few wise words from Penny our knowledge deepened, but I have found myself wanting to learn more. So I decided to pop into Hereford College of Arts Library and get some books out!


These are the two I selected and have been flicking through this evening: one with a more comprehensive history of quilting, and another with culturally diverse quilts.
The first thing that astounded me was the length of time quilting has been in existence- records indicate the foundations of the technique started in the Orient over 1000 years ago. The skills then travelled Westwards and was utilised in European lands and then into colonial America. It was in North America that social significance became entwined with the quilting.
English, Irish and Scottish immigrants who settled in the new lands in the beginning of the 19th century began to form parties, and as part of these women would gather to quilt until the dark came and stopped their efforts. Quilts were made for communally for special occasions to show their significance in the society.
It draws a nice parallel to the Red Suitcase Project how the act of quilting builds a community. The project is seeing the breaching of two parts of society who often do not cross paths. It is a way of communication between generations and a way to build a sense of community within Herefordshire. Because at the end of the day that is one of the most brilliant aspects of this project- not the finished quilts, not the exhibition at the Courtyard, but the building of a community and the impact it will have on both generations. 

Sunday, April 7

Project Preparations:

Before entering the residential homes, it was vital for us all to be well equipped for our roles as voluntary art practitioners.  One of our first challenges was to get us all up to a level of competence in our Quilting abilities.

To turn us into Quilting Queens, Penny organised a workshop at Hereford College of Arts to teach us the basics of quilting. She explained how we would be working on patchwork quilts, as these are quilts composed of component shapes that tessellate together. This patchwork method allows each person to have their own personal segment that then gets stitched alongside the numerous other shapes to form one united piece.

Penny showed us a few quilting methods, such as Log Cabin quilting, but we mainly spent the morning learning about English paper piecing. This addictive quilting method involves you tacking fabric around hexagon blocks, and then sewing the hexagons together. Once a hexagon has all of its sides sewn onto another, the tacking stitches are cut and the paper removed.

Quickly, we all became entranced (I myself have become highly involved and have started my own quilt now!) and soon had some lovely samples to show!
English paper piecing sample
The results are fantastic, and I can't wait to see how they look with the names all sewn in! Keep tuned in to the blog to see for yourself, and hear some of the amazing experiences the girls are having with the residents.


Along with this, Penny showed us how to appliqué and embroider. These techniques are visual ways of translating imagery onto the fabric to speak of the stories that will be accumulated throughout the project. So while some of the girls carried on quilting, others explored these new techniques. Sanya stitched a little red post box as the red suitcase reminded her of the iconic British mailbox!

Sanya's applique sample.

Learning these skills was vital to our progression, and along with this helpful workshop we had an important training session at the Courtyard on “The Essential Skills for Project Workers in a Care Setting. Colin, an Age UK trainer, came in to deliver the information about how to maximise our involvement.

One of the key focuses of the training day was the importance of involvement. The residents will all have varying degrees of dexterity- from competent sewers to those who may not be able to manage something so fiddly! Colin got us to contemplate different ways of involving people: asking for their creative opinion, helping sew their ideas, allowing them material choices. The imperative thing is allowing people the choice of how involved they want to be, and us working to their wishes.

As a starter project, Penny proposed we take in little Red Suitcase logos for the residents and students to embroider their names on to. This would be a great way of creating conversation and connections between the Students involved and the residents.

So in preparation, Maisie got down into the textiles workshop and screen printed multitudes of the project logo ready to be embellished. Here she is busy working away! 


Maisie Printing.


The finished results!



Keep tracks of the blog to see how the induction session went, hear student stories and learn more about the exciting Red Suitcase project!