Threads and Chatter - Squares With Flair Part 2 and 3

Artist Phiona Richards is a firm believer in taking time to pass on skills and cleverly broke down making our Squares With Flair into three compact sessions.

We had drawn our designs and they 

had been ironed onto the calico.

Our next task was to design and 

cut out hands and feet from felt.

Our characters would also need 

eyes, nose and mouths

Choices, choices - so many decisions, 

many threads and much chatter!

In week three Phiona brought her beloved

hand-crank sewing machine Jones

and we had great fun learning how to sew 

our seams together before adding the filling.

As you can see our Squares With Flair

have bundles of personality, just like our group!

 See all of the images from this project here

If you live in the Avondale / Grange ward do join us again

for our next Threads and Chatter session 

1st of March 3.30 - 5.15

The Resource Centre, 

9 Grange Place, Kettering. 

NN16 0NT

The sessions are free.

Heart Felt

Carole worked with people at 

Grange Place and The Green Patch

where pairs of felt hearts were chosen

and a design applied by needle felting.

 Lots of care was taken not to stab fingers in the process!

The pairs of hearts were then sewn together, a small

gap was left open to add stuffing then sewn up.

 If you would like to show someone a little love

Grow Wild have a downloadable card to colour here

Hearts and wild flowers, what could be nicer!

If you live in the Avondale / Grange ward do join us again

for our next Threads and Chatter session 

Tuesday 23rd of February

The Resource Centre, 

9 Grange Place, Kettering. 

NN16 0NT

Phiona Richards will be running her inventive, creative 

session between 3.30 and 5.00pm

Sessions and refreshments are family friendly, fun and free!

Making Connections

Carole was contacted by by a member of Kettering Civic Society for some mosaic advice which resulted in a long and lively meeting at Kettering Station and the Green Patch. The Civic Society now have a project room on Platform 1 at the station, they are also trying to raise funds to reinstate a 1960s mosaic panel by artist Kenneth Budd.

Some history

Proposed location

Events and ways you can help

Fund raising dinner menu

Ways to donate

Key to the mosaic

During her conversation with Monica, it transpired 

that Monica's father, Allan Page, had had a wool shop 

in the Grange Place shopping precinct in the 1956's. 

Allan was also concerned that there was nowhere for the young people to hang out so he also opened a tea room with a milk machine, the height of 50's chic! The Wool Shop was directly opposite what is now the Grange Place Resource Centre. 

The pink swing dress in the 

window could almost 

be part of the Fashion exhibition currently 

on at Kettering Museum!

The log tables are really inventive and 

could almost be from The Green Patch of today.

Seeing these photographs seems almost like time travelling 

- the brick planters looks very smart and is no longer there today. 

Threads and Chatter - Squares with Flair

Here are our designs on calico!

Phiona showed us how to create templates

to make hands and feet for our characters

then it was pinning, sewing and stamping time!

We think Michelle's Square Bod deserves a big hearts up! Next time we will be sewing our Square Bods together, Phiona says we might even be able to use Jonesy the Singer, exciting times! You can see more photos here

Here he is in action during The Eloquent Fold's Transported adventures!

Jonsey is a vintage hand crank sewing machine.

If you live in the Avondale / Grange ward do join us again 

Tuesday 23rd of February

The Resource Centre, 

9 Grange Place, Kettering. 

NN16 0NT

Phiona will be running her inventive, creative 

session between 3.30 and 5.00pm

Sessions and refreshments are family friendly, fun and free!

A Fox at The Green Patch

We have been really upset by the loss of the lovely ducks at our project home, The Green Patch, the remaining ducks, although in shock, are recovering in a shared pen with the chickens.

The Groundworks team will be building a new more secure safe Duckingham Palace to help protect the remaining ducks. If you are able and would like to help they have set up a crowdfunding page. Please share! localgiving.com/Greenpatchducks

We found where Mr Fox made his entrance

and had dug underneath the wire fence.

We saw nature "red in tooth and claw"

when we found a severed duck head

which we gave a a burial with 

floral tributes. Let's try and make something good happen

 here is their Just Giving page again - every little helps