Exhibition 2015

The exhibition at Blackpool Central Library was a great success.  The Mayor of Blackpool opened our event, and as she is a keen sewer and dressmaker, was very interested to see the work on display.

The team at the Library led by Clancy Mason were very helpful and kept the "workers" supplied with tea and coffee to keep everyone going!

Once everything was set up we were pleased to welcome lots of visitors, many of whom stayed to enjoy the stitching sessions or just to chat.  

Our speaker on Thursday evening was Kelly Chun, a degree student at Manchester Metropolitan University. She spoke to us about her embroidery and textile work and shared some sketchbook secrets. This event was a first for us at an exhibition and although only a small audience attended the talk was very well received and Kelly proved to be an enthusiastic and innovative speaker and inspired lots of new ideas.

The stitch kits proved popular particularly on Saturday with many visitors taking home small projects  either completed or to finish at home. Our youngest stitcher was just  5 years old and he produced a beautiful felt keyring and took home another kit to start.

The venue was very light and the displays of work looked really well in the space. 

The display of Travelling Books proved a hit with many people taking the opportunity to sit down and look through our books. It also gave us the chance to catch up with our own books to see what was inside!

The event gave us an ideal  chance to spread the word about our Tactile Textiles Project for Dementia patients. So many people are affected by dementia and it was great to be able to pass on information about the project. We distributed several patterns and kits over the three days so hopefully more and more patients will be able to benefit from this project.

The collages from the Treasure Trove Project also proved a talking point with many people sharing their memories of Blackpool's entertainment past and present.

Thanks to everyone's generosity in providing stock and prizes, the sales table and tombola kept up a brisk trade throughout the exhibition. 

Well done everyone in helping the organisers to make the event such a success. Time to sit back now and relax just for a little while, and then start stitching again for the next one?