“Being Together” the QA’s first ever entry into the Festival of Quilts

Many of the group visited the Festival of Quilts last year and returned determined that they would exhibit their work in Birmingham one day. This week they completed their entry for the 2022 exhibition in August. Title ‘Being Together’  It is a big piece, it was a huge undertaking. Marianne and Janis were particularly pleased that this project was lead by members of the group.

Their sights are now focused on the quilt exhibition hosted by Dulwich Quilters to be held at Bell House in September. The Quilt Academy will exhibit work, run the tombola and contribute pieces to the sales room (this year raising funds for the Mind charity).

Quilt Academy is an all female group, age range 55-80 with most of us being retired with ideas and energy in abundance. There are 24 active participants and an additional 12 on the WhatsApp group who dip in when they can. A swift calculation I would say 10 ethnic groups are represented within our cohort.

The well-being, mindfulness and camaraderie are key to all that we do. The new stitchers receive formal tuition in the basic skills, more experienced members of the group are encouraged to develop and aspire to yet higher standards of both design and execution. Participants may work as an individual on a personal project or more commonly we can be found working on collaborative projects.

Also benefiting from our endeavours are the range of other groups who receive stitched pieces. Eg. Project Linus, Quilts for Care Leavers, Neonatal baby unit at Kings, Brixton Food Bank

Plus we endeavour to respond to initiatives - earlier in year the Afghan refugees and more recently those coming to the UK from Ukraine.

“What got us through” the Quilt Academy’s lockdown quilt to become a part of the Southwark Museum of Heritage and Culture archives

The QA is feeling pretty chuffed this month as they have now met with the curator of the new Southwark Museum of Heritage and Culture and handed over their ‘What Got Us Through’ lockdown quilt. This new museum replaces the Cuming Museum which was destroyed by fire some years ago. The QA quilt, on permanent loan, will form part of the social history archives. The curator will return to record each stitcher speaking about their square made in response to the lockdowns. It will then be an interactive exhibit.

Creative Arts Club for Older Adults (60+): Printing with Light

On Friday 22nd July 11, a group attended this club launch workshop. Sarah Wetherall was our tutor - a local artist, who is going to run the Arts Club on a regular basis offering a variety of taster 2 hour workshops to introduce different creative processes.

This time it was - Cyanotype - a contact photographic print made with paper impregnated with a light sensitive chemical and using UV as the developing agent. Simply, you place an object - we used foliage picked from the Bell House garden - onto the light sensitive paper, expose it to UV light and this makes a beautiful white and blue print.

As it turned out, there was a group of 11 ladies - and as the class title stated - all over 60!. Although understanding why the limit had been made - the ladies did find the description difficult to accept. But this is not the place for that discussion!

Everyone was able to follow Sarah’s lead - there was only one moment of ‘stress’ during the whole workshop - the need to “QUICKLY place your design onto the impregnated paper and then cover with Perspex.” Once successfully completed - and everyone did - we all returned to a very zen state of creativity.

Look out for the next Creative Art Club workshop in September.

Sarah’s work can we seen at www.clockworkstudios.co.uk

Monthly Garden Round Up - June

Dear fellow gardeners

As we pass the summer solstice, we focus this month on the wildflowers of the Bell House garden and a summer bee experience with Beekeeper Annie.

First up, the wildflowers - over in the House garden, there have been numerous Ragged-robin found at the back of the Rose garden and close to the Bog garden and pond. This is a rare sight as wild wetland sites disappear across the UK. These moisture-loving perennials with pink, frayed flowers and star-shaped blooms attract bumblebees, dragonflies, butterflies and Honeybees. Thanks Sara for the Ragged-robin photo.

Over in the meadow in the Walled garden at the back of the vegetable beds you’ll see Crimson clover, an annual with a flower head that is a rich crimson to red colour and shaped like a cone. You’ll also spot the upright, blue flower spikes of Viper’s-bugloss that is often seen on chalk grasslands, sand dunes and cliffs. Its spotted stem is thought to resemble a viper. Another blue presence are the beautiful Cornflowers and the endangered Corncockle (now virtually extinct in the wild). Look out for its slender purple/pink flowers in our meadow. Other residents include Wild Pansy, Burdock and the Scarlet pimpernel. My favourite fact about the Scarlet pimpernel is that it is also known as “Old man’s weathervane” as the flowers close when atmospheric pressure falls and bad weather approaches.

All of these flowers are loved by our Honeybee colonies. Beekeeper Annie will be inspecting the bees and need help with honey extractions over the summer and has very kindly asked if the gardeners would be interested in these sessions. If you are, please read on!

• Sessions will mostly be on a Saturday morning at 11am and last for approximately one hour (if you cannot make a Saturday then Annie may be able to run a session on a Tuesday or Thursday).

• Sessions are open to all gardeners from the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday sessions.

• Two people (adults only) maximum per session (there will be one full bee suit available and one jacket/veil/gloves. Please wear boots or wellies and long trousers so all skin is covered).

• Annie is not allowed to carry or administer adrenaline for anaphylactic shock so if anyone knows they are allergic they should provide their own EpiPen or not sign up for a session.

• Planned summer sessions: Saturday 2 July, Saturday 9 July, Saturday 23 July, Saturday 30 July, Saturday 20 August, Saturday 10 September, Saturday 17 September and Saturday 24 September.

• Please email me Annie directly ([email protected])with your preferred session and include your phone number. This will be on a first come, first served basis and Annie will email you back to confirm your session.

• Please note that sessions are weather permitting. If it’s too hot then the wax is so soft that the nest may be damaged during an inspection. If it’s too cold or wet then it chills the brood and the bees need to use too much energy to get the internal temperature back up.

Big thank you to Annie for this opportunity. It feels like a real privilege and I am super excited.

Finally, the Bell House July Open Garden is on Saturday 2 July from 11.30am to 1pm. If you are free to help on the day then please email Ellie on [email protected]. It’s always a lovely day and great to see our visitors enjoying the fabulous garden, now in full bloom.

Thanks, as always, for your continued hard work in the Bell House garden.