Current Exhibitions:
The Resilience Quilt
The Framework Knitters Museum
The Resilience Quilt was created by 50 women aged from 15 to late 80s, who stitched their responses to the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. The project was a partnership between the Framework Knitters Museum and Common Threads, funded by BUPA Foundation.
The Quilt links closely to the Framework Knitters Museum, referencing the history of the textile industry and the hardships faced by its workers including the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The quilt is assembled into a diamond pattern which has a strong significance for the museum: Ruddington was at the centre of the 19th C UK knitting industry and was known as 'the diamond village' because the knitters finished their work with a diamond signature.
The Quilt is displayed in the museum on one of the beds in its recreated 19th C textile workers cottage where it will remain for several years. The quilt and related information will be archived into the museum’s collection, documenting people’s experience of the 2020 pandemic and leaving a legacy for future generations.
Please see the museum website for opening times https://frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk
Family Tree Samplers
The Framework Knitters Museum
A collection of samplers displayed in the workers cottage kitchen and first floor bedroom representing the Parker and and Waldrum families who were resident in the Framework Knitters Museum workers cottages in 1890. Forming part of the interpretation for the redeveloped museum, the samplers were created in partnership with the FKM during the pandemic of 2021.
The names and dates are taken from the Parker family bible, part of the museum collection. Each sampler was sewn in counted cross stitch by individual participants working at home. A selection of stranded threads was posted out to participants, along with a pattern chart for each name based on a traditional cross stitch alphabet. The motif designs were charted by Common Threads, taking inspiration from the historical stockings in the museum’s collection. Each cross stitcher selected from these motifs to create their own decorative patterns.
Please see the museum website for opening times https://frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk
Garden Works 2022
The Framework Knitters Museum
Since 2019 we have worked closely with the Framework Knitters Museum, taking inspiration from its collections. In summer 2022 summer we focussed on the beautiful gardens at the museum, inviting participants to create embroideries inspired by gardens or plants special to them. Using traditional sewing techniques, some of the embroideries are stitched on to paper, some on to recycled fabric.
Recent research has proved that connecting to nature can impact positively on health. Garden Works celebrates the wellbeing this connection can evoke.
The Recovery Quilt 2019 -20
The Soldiers Story Gallery, Derby Museum and Art Gallery
The Recovery Quilt has been created by more than 50 participants who stitched their own personal response to ‘recovery’. The Recovery Quilt began as a response to official war photographer Mark Neville’s Battle Against Stigma project to raise awareness about Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD.
Taking inspiration from the ‘Crimea Quilts’ made by 19th C convalescent soldiers, the quilt is made up of hand-stitched, dyed and printed textile piece using vintage linens and threads. The 'Recovery Quilt' references a history of conflict and recovery, illustrating the personal journeys and stories of the many participants. Each piece is a testament to individual's own perspective on recovery. As a whole, the quilt reflects our extraordinary capacity for recovery, and the contribution creative practice can make.
Created in Partnership with QUAD, Derby
2019 Wellbeing in the Workplace, Derby Community Hospital, London Road
We were invited to re-exhibit our stitched responses to 19th C Derby Porcelain pattern books as part of this exhibition by Air Arts http://www.airarts.uk/ You can take a virtual tour of the show at https://v21artspace.com/wellbeing-in-the-workplace
Thanks once again to Royal Crown Derby for their kind permission to use their images.
2019 Pamoja Women Together: Common Threads
Chapel Gallery, Framework Knitters Museum, Ruddington
Textile pieces created by the Pamoja women’s group, from Nottingham Refugee Centre. Pamoja means ‘inclusive’ in Swahili.
Working with COMMON THREADS, the group took inspiration from the collections and garden at the FWK museum. Some participants are practised embroiderers, for some it was a new experience! Each piece is an individual response, and together they reflect the energy and enthusiasm of the group who loved exploring the museum and creating this work together.
2019 INNOVATE
Derby Royal Hospital, March to October 2019
Individual responses to the 19th C Derby Porcelain pattern books. Part of the Air Arts INNOVATE exhibition Inspired the industries of Derby, http://www.airarts.uk/ The exhibition is located on Gynaecology Outpatients Reception.
Thank you to Royal Crown Derby for their kind permission to use their images.
2017 - 18 Derby Museum and Art Gallery Common Threads Jelly Roll Quilt
The quilt is made in a traditional American style known as a ‘Jelly Roll Quilt’. It is made from a collection of strips of fabric that are 2 1/2 inches cut across the width of the fabric, then rolled into a fat roll that looks like a slice of ‘jelly roll’ - or Swiss roll as we call it in Britain!
The quilt was inspired by the textile history of Derbyshire and the diversity of the group. The embroidery is executed in a traditional ‘Colonial Knot’ stitch and reads ‘Common Threads’ in Braille.
2017 Alfreton Library, Derbyshire
Showcasing work created with Fleet Arts through the Derwentwise ‘Anatomy of a Landscape’ project. The Common Threads: Make & Mend group worked with artist Anne Alldread to create hand felted and embellished pieces inspired by the Derbyshire landscape, geological maps and the river Derwent.
2017 Anatomy of a Landscape
Fleet Arts, Belper 2017
Showcasing work created with Fleet Arts through the Derwentwise ‘Anatomy of a Landscape’ project. The Common Threads: Make & Mend group worked with artist Anne Alldread to create hand felted and embellished pieces inspired by the Derbyshire landscape, geological maps and the river Derwent.
2016 Common Threads
Number 28, Belper, part of the Belper Arts Trail 2016
Common Threads Showcase taking inspiration from the Textile heritage of the Derwent Valley. Examples of ‘slow stitching’, an exploration of the history of textiles in Belper and creative workshops which give visitors an opportunity to learn and share traditional textile skills.
2016 Thread of Life
Cromford Mill, Derbyshire and
Made in Sheffield, Sheffield
In 2015, participants from the Common Threads: Make & Mend group took part in a national textile project, the Thread of Life, a contemporary art project led by Sharon Mossbeck. Using the traditional medium of cross-stitch, each participant created their own interpretation of a DNA strand. The final installation was made up of work from makers all over the world. http://sharonmossbeck.com/the-thread-of-life/
2015 Common Threads
Banks Mill Open Studios 2015
An installation exploring a personal history of the textile history in the Amber Valley.
2015 Make and Mend: Under the Sea
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
In an installation showcasing the work of the Common Threads: Make & Mend 2015, a variety of textiles inspired by aquatic plants and creatures, both real and imaginary were displayed in a playful ‘aquarium’. Participants learned new skills to create vibrant individual pieces through knitting, sewing and crochet.
2015 Thread of Life
Banks Street Art Gallery, Sheffield
In 2015, participants from the Common Threads: Make & Mend group took part in a national textile project, the Thread of Life, a contemporary art project led by Sharon Mossbeck. Using the traditional medium of cross-stitch, each participant created their own interpretation of a DNA strand. An interim exhibition took place at Banks Street Arts in Sheffield in November 2015. http://sharonmossbeck.com/the-thread-of-life/
2015 Make and Mend: Under the Sea
Wheeldon Avenue Yard Bombing
Six Streets Arts Trail 2015
Responding to the Six Streets Arts Trail 2015 Yarn Bomb brief, the group took inspiration from aquatic plants and creatures, both real and imaginary. Participants learned new skills to create vibrant individual pieces through knitting, sewing and crochet which can be assembled in a variety of installations.
2014 Object in Focus: Pickford’s House Museum
Common Threads: Make & Mend: Cathedral Window Patchwork
Inspired by an exquisite 18th century silk apron at Pickford’s House Museum, the group worked their beautiful the design on calico using a combination of stranded cottons and cotton perlé. The small shells panels are mounted into a Cathedral Window Patchwork panel made in traditional calico.
2014 Common Threads: A Showcase
Derby Museum and Art Gallery 2014
Work created through the NIACE - funded project and inspired by traditional textile techniques
2013 Common Threads Showcase
Six Streets Arts Trail 2013
Work created through the NIACE - funded project and inspired by traditional textile techniques.
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