We settled down to stitching on the sewing plates we made last week. We achieved that lovely state where we were stitching together in companionable silence.
We also made some new plates for future weeks which we left to dry on the shelf.
We used the prints and rubbings we made last time and other fabrics to create ‘plates’ for sewing onto in future sessions. We ripped the fabrics and arranged them how we liked them and stuck them down.
While they were drying we had a go at Free Stitching, Free Stitching means you can put your stitches anywhere you like, so you can make patterns if you want to, but you can also do something less fixed, even chaotic.
Katie stitching. She decided afterwards that these shapes looked like fish.
Lucy stitching.
Jackie stitched a picture of her house.
Keara stitched some stars.
Emily and her cross stitch.
Richard attempted chaos.
Suzanne stitched over and through her stitches.
Inspired by our visit to West Runton last week we made prints using elements from nature.
Katie inks up the plate.
Emily smooths the fabric over the plate to take a print.
Detail from the prints.
This method makes lots of prints so there will be plenty of choice when it comes to selecting which prints to add stitches to.
We also did rubbings of leaves and other textures.
Keara with her rubbings.
Lucy took a rubbing from the chair seat, which produced a really strong effect.
We are working with a group from About With Friends, based in Cromer, continuing the Stitch in Time project whose starting point is the coast.
Our first session was a visit to West Runton to collect ideas and images to inspire us for our print making and stitching in weeks to come.
Sara took photos for reference and we spent time looking at coastal features…
…plants and sea creatures…
The public involvement day was a roaring success. The weather was good so there were lots of people in the park enjoying the sunshine. Many people came to see the demonstrations and find out more about what the volunteers have been up to and learn about willow.
Several of our younger visitors helped with the scribble weave sculptures.
or made willow stars
The toilet block hurdle and the garden enclosure were both finished.
The new hurdle for the bin enclosure was started and volunteers demonstrated willow fish making and how to make the covers
We even had a canine visitor who was more interested in the water in the bucket than the willow itself to be honest.
Proud volunteers and Withy Arts workers at the end of a delightful project.
We spent yesterday evening preparing for Saturday’s public involvement day. The volunteers will be demonstrating their skills, talking to people about the project and the new woven things at the park and giving people the opportunity to do some weaving themselves.
We spent some time looking at what we like and dislike personally when we are being engaged as participants at events.
This was the last of our practical sessions weaving together. All the skills have been passed on and the volunteers are ready to weave without us.
Everyone made willow fish at home and a beautiful shoal came back as diverse as their creators.
Stuart and Eunice installed their covers…
Those who hadn’t had the chance to learn the flower and the tension plate did some catching up…
and preparations continued for the Public Involvement Day; all spare hands made progress with the spheres so that they are ready for people to add their scribble weave to…
Pete put a window in his sphere.
And Graeme tried it on for size!
