NBGW to host Tethered Fairy Ring Quilt-a-thon! 9th & 10th September 2013!

 

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Monday September 9th and

Tuesday September 10th

are the confirmed dates for

The Tethered Fairy Ring

Quilt-a-thon

with Shelbyart Community

 

Read on to find out how you can come to The Great Glasshouse at

 The National Botanic

Garden of Wales
 

and take part in making my beautiful quilted story telling circle, as well as earn time credits via Spice!

 

Mmmm ... I thought to myself, as I lay in bed wondering how on earth I would fund the making of my HUGE design for my Fairy Ring Story Telling Quilt ... think outside the box!

 

I can visualise the story quilt; patchwork, Indonesian and incorporated into it are the fairies of my logo with the ukulele ... there are red toadstools ... there are tassles and bells that the children can jingle jangle during the story, it is very tactile, they can't help touching it as they sit with their parents listening to the story of The Tethered Fairy Ring.

 

 

 

 

It took me a while to get to a Story Telling Quilt.

Initially, I had visualised an almost Stonehenge arrangement of fairies & toadstools ... but then I thought about transporting it on my own in my beetle, and even with all the magic fairy dust in the world, I needed to be conscious of how I would travel with my fairy ring.

 

I have a disability that means I shouldn't lift heavy things,  so when the Story Telling Quilt popped in my head ... all rolled up with a tie, fitting very neatly into the back of the car ... it made me smile.

 

But how on earth would I get it made?

 

I looked on line and it would cost an absolute fortune. Besides, I wanted to have something that was community focussed, had drawn people together, that was made with excitement and love, something recycled and up-cycled ... not a commercially made story quilt.

 

 

foto taken by Llanelli Star

 

 

 

When I'm not tethered to my fairy ring, I am the Creative Director of Celtic Womenfest: A 2 day Women's music and spoken word festival, and this year, we are having a Knitting Rhythms table.

 

Deputy Mayor, Ruth Price, who is opening the festival for us again this year, suggested that I get in touch with Michelle Williams, who had set up Shelbyart, for some festival knitting volunteers.

 

So, I added Michelle Williams to my facebook friends and she very kindly offered to find volunteers who would stay with the knitting table all weekend, helping others to get started.

 

I decided to watch Michelle's work and see what kind of other things they got up to at Shelyart, which then became Shelbyart Community ... Mmmm ... I thought, this looks interesting!

 

 

 

 

Then the clincher was a project that Shelbyart Community got involved with called 'Dress a Girl Around the World' where groups of people came together to make a dress for an African child out of a pillow case and up-cycled materials donated by the community. WOW! They were absolutely beautiful. How wonderful for people to volunteer to come together and get involved in this way.
 

 

 

First Dress made by Shelbyart Community

 

I rang Michelle and she told me about a huge quilt the volunteers had made to hang in Llanelli Library! Mmmmm, I thought ... starting to get very excited indeed.

 

And how did Shelbyart make it so? ...  through the vision of Michelle, working in partnership with an organisation called Spice. Spice have made an arrangement with the County Council in Carmarthenshire, called Time Credits whereby the volunteers are rewarded with tickets to venues and arts opportunities across the county, such as the theatre, cinema ... just about anything!

 

 

www.justaddspice.org

 

 

I love this idea! That people all come together to make something via the arts and then are rewarded by credits that enable them greater access to their community.

 

I told Michelle about The Tethered Fairy Ring and asked her if Shelbyart Community, via Spice, would be able to make my Story Telling Quilt.

Michelle got approval from Spice for the quilt to become part of time credtis! WOW!!!
 

 

Last week, I went to Michelle's house and talked through my design ideas. She had loads of solutions and suggestions. I really like her. It felt like I'd always known her.

We rummaged around her big box of recycled materials and she decided she would put a shout out for more things donated from the community for the quilt. I LOVE this! So many people's love will have gone into the quilt! Now that's magic!

 

 

Kindly taken by Darren Boxer

 in The Great Glasshouse at The National Botanic Garden of Wales

 for the launch of my Snow Tracks Album.

 

 

We are recruiting 30 volunteers and I have been in touch with Bruce Langridge, remember him? our Waxcap Wizard at The National Botanic GArden of Garden ... and he has agreed we can use The Great Glasshouse to run a 2 day Tethered Fairy Ring Quilt-a-thon.

That sits perfectly in my heart!

It is the heart-home of my story line, right in the hub of the garden, where resides a fairy ring thought to be over 150 years old! Thank you so much for your support & kindness NBGW!

And we'll spend the whole 2 days in the absolutely stunning Great Glasshouse. People can drop in and join us but  we need 30 core volunteers, all of whom will be part of time credits as long as they join the Shelbyart Community.

You can easily do this by leaving me a message here, or on facebook or email me at cherylbeermusic@gmail.com
 

... and then I will add you to the Shelbyart Community group page on facebook.

 

 

 

Michelle has already put the shout out for volunteers for The Tethered Fairy Ring Quilt-a-thon on the group page and there has been lots of interest .
 

 

The dates are  Monday September  9th & Tuesday September 10th.

 

 

Let us know if you're interested in coming to volunteer for all or part of the 2 days.

 

Volunteers taking part enter the Garden for free and as long as they are part of The Shelbyart Community Group, they will also receive time credits for taking part.

 

Couldn't be simpler!

 

And let's face it, who wouldn't want to spend 2 days at The National Botanic Garden of Wales with a bunch of creative people!

 

Great chance to make friends

and have a lovely time!

 

And if you've never sewn, well, what a great opportunity to learn!

 

So, come along and put your love into my Tethered Fairy Ring Story Blanket.

 

Following the launch of The Tehtered Fairy Ring at the launch on NAtional Fungi Day, the quilt will come on tour with me  in its own right, making the story even more exciting for all the people who sit and share the experience.

In phase 2 and 3, the quilt will become the centre piece of a much larger Fairy Ring installation ... and I'll tell you all about that in a later blog! Aside: I can hear my Nan in my mind's eye saying, 'One step at a time darling.'

 

 

Oh, & one final thought-share about 'funding' 

... as the artist making her visions become reality within the context of a tough economic climate, I may not be in receipt of arts 'funding' for this journey, but I will receive the most incredible Story Telling Blanket that will be with me for the rest of my life, making children and adults smile as they listen & experience my stories ...

... this type of reward may not please my bank manager, but it pleases me immensely.

Thank you so much to Ruth for linking me to Michelle, to everyone in Shelbyart Community, to Spice, to my friends and people I don't know yet, who will all come as a result of this post, to The National Botanic Garden of Wales on 9th & 10th of September, thanks to our Waxcap Wizard, Bruce Langridge, for making the Great Glasshouse the home of the Quilt-a-thon and to YOU, yes, YOU, for following my thread ... I simply can not wait to show you the story telling quilt!!!