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.