The following article was published in Contemporary Quilt quarterly magazine, in it one of our members discusses the preparation the group have followed.

Images of work produced by members can be found on the Exhibitions page.

Journey From Inspiration to Exhibition
Art2Stitch is a group of independent minded textile makers who enjoy the challenges of working with a broad range of media, styles and techniques and, from time to time, exhibiting. Our last major exhibition was in 2019/2020 so after a couple of years ‘sabbatical’, by late 2022 we were ready to take on another challenge.
At the start, we had no specific exhibitions or venues lined up, and our thoughts were simply to challenge ourselves and in so doing create an interesting body of work. For inspiration we decided we would each use the same image to inspire a piece. Everyone had free choice over medium, size or style (although the matter of   size was later revisited).
We elected to work from a photograph but what image? We decided it would make sense to avoid any questions of permissions and copyright and use a photo taken by a group member. Each person was asked to bring to our November 2022 meeting a maximum of five photos of absolutely any subject they found inspiring - landscapes, still life, buildings, nature. The first slightly daunting task was to choose an image we were all happy to work with. On the selection day we were spoiled for choice! At that time, Art2Stitch had around 10 members (we have since happily welcomed a couple more makers to the fold) so we were faced with the prospect of
maybe having to choose from up to 50 images which seemed a tall order! As it turned out, we ended up with in the region of 30-35 fascinating images and spent an enjoyable couple of hours mulling over the vast potential spread before us. In fact, it proved remarkably painless to whittle the numbers down and we landed on a single picture. The image we chose depicts an agricultural or horticultural junk yard full of colour and texture so I think even at that early stage we were all reasonably confident there were a myriad of opportunities to find something in the picture to inspire at least one piece of work and probably more.
As part of the creative process, we opted to each work into a sketchbook, exploring ideas and recording our progress. To help kick start the creative juices, over the next couple of meetings, one of our members, Sally Hutson, facilitated two thoroughly enjoyable design workshops. The first was focused on mark making in our sketchbooks to create some interesting pages that might inspire pieces of work. The second session centred on photographing our sketchbook pages, then editing and manipulating the images with a view to potentially creating digitally printed cloth.
In the spring of 2023, we approached Grosvenor Shows to see if they might be interested in exhibiting our finished work at one of their shows. To our delight, they not only said they would but that the work would travel to several of their shows on their 2024 event circuit. We now had a deadline, always useful to focus the attention! Having more of an idea as to the type of venues in which the work would be shown prompted us to revisit our decision to work to a free size and we concluded the majority of pieces should measure at least one metre on any one side. Now we needed a title for our body of work. Our favourite suggestion, and the one we unanimously liked, was ‘scrapYARD’ as it not only reflects the image in a literal way, but is a play on words traditionally associated with quilting and sewing.
Not content with producing the main pieces, we liked the idea of also producing a set of work members all had the same materials and worked within a set rule structure to individually conceive and create a piece of work inspired by our chosen photograph? The same, but different, with rules! So, each maker was given the same pack of fabrics and trims and asked to produce a 7” square piece of work. The results will be hung together as a single unit and demonstrate the range and diversity that can be achieved even when both the inspiration source and materials provided are exactly the same.
As I write this in January 2024, everyone is beavering away on their pieces with our deadline to complete the work and hand it over to Grosvenor just a couple of months away. As you would expect, everyone’s work is very different but already there is a cohesive quality to the whole which we believe will result in an interesting display. The pieces are being worked in a wide range of techniques and materials which certainly reflects the breadth of interests and inspiration of the
individual makers that go to make up Art2Stitch.
We hope if you are attending any of the Grosvenor Shows where ’scrapYARD’ is being displayed, you will take time to stop by and enjoy our work. Tickets for the events are available through their website, www.grosvenorshows.co.uk. Our work will be at Spalding 31/5-1/6; Kempton Racecourse 14-16/6; Newcastle Racecourse 11-13/10; Malvern 18-20/10; Duxford 1-3/11.
If you would like to know more about us or are interesting in joining us, contact Sarah
( [email protected]), Chris ([email protected]) or Carol ([email protected]).