Marvellous work by Katarina Thorsen, an art therapist who worked with rival gangs in Vancouver. They created this quilt together using painting, sketching and hand sewing, and the one rule is that nothing was censored.
She’s selling it to raise funds for Operation Sock Monkey.
Oh how I’d love to buy it.
Supermarket Sarah, the WONDERFUL lady whose “walls” of stuff pop up all over London and beyond has just collaborated with charity Traid (textile recycling for aid and international development) to put together their Dalston shop window. Doesn’t it look ace?
Traid is a cracking charity that sell really good quality second hand clothes, and make the non-decent ones into new clothes – they’re the ultimate upcyclers.
Thanks to Sarah for these pics. I interviewed her in her Hackney home for Psychologies once. What a lovely day that was.
Alas, one of the very few downsides of having a lovely full time job is that you don’t always get to stuff in the day. And this smashing event, which celebrates the awesome people who pass on craft skills, would have been a cracker. Ol’ Prince Charles is there, Allsopp’s hosting, and a smogasbord of lovely craft people and hanging out for the day.
Next year, I hope.
See all the winners at ccskills.org.uk/craftskillsawards
She’s just knitted her 1000th hat for soldiers in Afghanistan. (via the BBC)
Please watch this. It was previewed at the London Design Festival this week at the Fine Cell Work pop-up shop in London. (I chaired the panel debate after – it was a LOT of fun.)
Stitched Stories, by Rachel Tavenor, features the following: Neil, a former prisoner whose life was changed by FCW, Sarah Corbett, the founder of the Craftivist Collective, and Jessica Aldred, a FCW embroidery tutor who is also the c0-author of Adventures in Needlework.
(And if you want to read more about Fine Cell Work, read this lovely piece by Huma Qureshi on guardian.co.uk)
The most excellent Craft Guerrilla have been asked to curate the William Morris Gallery gift shop by selecting 20 London based designer makers. Products must be of high quality, hand made and be available to sell for a selected period and at a commission tbc by the gallery.
You fancy it? Read more here http://eastlondoncraftguerrilla.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/do-you-have-craft-factor.html
‘They came bearing knitting needles – and left the bull and bear statues outside the Frankfurt stock exchange with a bright and woolie new look.’ More at Metro.co.uk
Read more about Louise Gardiner at the Manchester Evening News website.
Cross stitched spam. Go see some more here.
If you go down to the woods Atelier Contemporary Craft Gallery in Barnstaple, North Devon today before the end of July, you’ll see this brilliant exhibition, Craftidemy. It is, of course, a craft take on taxidermy. But you guessed that, didn’t you?
Make and do with Perri 