Blackpool's Treasure Trove

Following our AGM this year our speaker was Laura Brennan from the Volunteer centre
 who came along to give us an overview of the Treasure Trove Project and highlight opportunities for us to get involved.

The project is focussed on the entertainment heritage in Blackpool and is leading up to the bid to open a permanent museum within the Winter Gardens.

In the build up to this, the group are facilitating in setting up a series of "pop up" museums using material from Blackpool's extensive archives.  If any of our members would like to be involved in the set up it would open up possibilities for us to work with a professional artist and the archives to produce works to go on display.

Ranging from the Illuminations archive, which includes some 20,000 pieces, including some long forgotten original drawings of Disney characters., to the collection of Cheeky postcards and tourism posters and memorabilia from the past it would seem there is something for everyone.

The project is set up to get the displays out to public  with the initial aim of 4 "pop up museums". The picture below shows how one group have already displayed their work.

If any of our members are interested, the group are looking for adult volunteers and we will be able to sign up at our next meeting.  This will give us the opportunity to work with heritage tour guides and a regional artist, and it is thought that the commitment would be to meet around twice a month.

Further information can be obtained from Laura on:
01253301004

Facebook:BPLtreasuretrove

Twitter:  BPL_treasures 

Or just come along to our next Branch Meeting on 13th October 

Progress Report

On Saturday we had the first "brainstorming" session and started work on the "Twiddle Pockets" for
dementia sufferers.  Apparently the name is copyright so we have to chose a new name - for now I will refer to them as "Sensory Pockets".

We set to work sorting out the rather large pile of donated stash into some kind of order, and then decided to work on a few different design ideas to see which worked out best.

It was quite surprising how the project gained momentum as we all got going designing, sewing and coming up with ideas.

During the course of the day we managed to produce several completed samples and many more "works in progress" to be continued at home.

The pockets will be on display at the AGM on the 29th September and following this Ellen is going to take them along to the Support Group and to the hospital so we can get feedback.  The intention is then that we incorporate the best ideas into a simple design and hopefully produce some kits to make many more.

The whole day was very enjoyable and productive.  If  you are interested in getting involved with the project please let us know.  We have lots of supplies and welcome any new ideas.


Please come along to the AGM on the 29th September as following the business part of the meeting we have a speaker coming along to give us an overview of the Treasure Trove Project about the history of entertainment in Blackpool and the proposed bid for funding to open a museum.

September meeting

On Monday we enjoyed our first meeting following the Summer break. Our speaker was Melanie Kay who In a very interesting presentation took us through her creative process and how she related this to an interest in gender and the differences/similarities.

Constructing a tool belt (fully functioning complete with wired pockets) entirely from discarded men's shirts dyed with pink tones and embroidered with a variety of headlines and gender related wording, the picture was completed with an array of  papier mache and embroidered tools.

Melanie then went on to explain the background to her degree work.  Choosing the subject of alcohol abuse and depression may not seem to be perhaps not the most promising topics - or so one would think.

Using discarded beer cans as a base produced some rather surprising results! From killing the slugs attached to the insides of litter picked  cans was not the most appealing job, and she was grateful for the help of her (now) husband in this aspect of her work! 

Thought provoking  and by using imagery including flowers and butterflies to represent new beginnings the pieces certainly had us all enthralled throughout her talk.

Melanie works into the metal with a sander to create a base, which is then drawn onto and machine stitched before being further embellished with hand stitching if required.

Reflecting on the cost to the NHS and other services:

Using single cans for individual pieces - these are first of all flattened and then stitched together again using fishing wire. A time consuming but effective use of an unusual material.

 A piece in the early stages of construction :

 A sample of hexagon patchwork using various different coloured cans:

Sketchbook page

The "crowning glory" for her degree show was a pair of lampshades which have now been sold but the photographs were stunning.

Melanie has recently been working with secondary school students addressing issues around body image and confidence and using found objects related to fashion in general:

Our next meeting is the AGM on the 29th September, which will be followed by a brief talk about the

Treasure Trove Project - the history of entertainment in Blackpool

Travelling Books

Over the past few months our members have been busy with Travelling Books.
No we haven't been sending books to far flung places for a bit of a holiday! 
The books have been travelling around the group and filled with lots of glorious and inspiring work before coming home to their owners!

The owner of the book decided on a theme and off went the books around a group 

We had a great time with a "show and tell" when the books completed their round and lots of  enthusiasm for this to be continued.  

So it is intended that we swap groups and the books go around again to different members to complete the cycle again.

It was generally agreed that these little works of art had been a pleasure to do and certainly had lots of us thinking outside of our usual comfort zones!

National Stitch Day 2nd August 2014

National Stitch Day this year was celebrated by hosting an event at the Central Library in Blackpool.

Not sure how many visitors to expect we had prepared lots of mini kits. We were very pleased when people started to arrive, and soon the tables were full and we had to bring in extra seating!

Around 15 visitors enjoyed an afternoon of stitching and many of our members dropped in to help out, have a chat and brought along samples of work to be displayed.

The librarians kindly loaned us lots of lovely books to look at and to give us even more ideas and inspiration!

The event was a great success and it was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm. Many people asked if we could do it again soon - I am sure we can sort out something.......