craftivism

On Sunday I was a volunteer at the Victoria and Albert craftivism event. 

It was a fabulous day... a chance to sit with people and chat in a non pressured environment and to stitch meaningful text.  The stitching provides a focus so that talking is never intense but most people had personal or family experiences relevant to the topic of 'belonging' and spoke about them.  The volunteers also had a talk from a woman who works with asylum seekers and refugees.   The Craftivist Collective was set up by Sarah Corbett - she sets up craftivist events which facilitate the discussion of serious topics but in a palatable way.  We all (volunteers included) had to embroider a label with our name and some thoughts.

Yesterday I spent the day in the print room painting and printing from an open screen.  My aim was to produce some prints that I could stitch or print over and I was pleased with the results.  I've also been researching men's neck ties - Paul Smith's neck tie blades (the widest part) are between 6 and 8 cm.