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! 

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!

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

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!

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!