Tina Francis shares her passion and excitement for stitching

Yesterday we had the lovely Tina Francis talking to us about her stitching project. She was full of passion and excitement for her stitching and sharing it with care and love in the community.
She calls herself a stitch innovator and is working on creating connections in community through stitching.

She says it started when she bid on ebay for a box of patterns. When she received it she saw that it was the life of one person shown through her collection of patterns from childhood to old age.

She is working on a Masters Degree and has developed this project as part of it. She has written a book, likes tapestry and tiny stitches.

She also likes....
noticing small things
needles
working with her hands
people in art (especially on the ground!)
Showing love through making things for people
Listening to people's stories
Stitching together
.....

She is a community artist and has commissioned the Connect More screen - see picture above. She explained to some university students what she wanted it to do and they produced the Connect More and she loved it! It had to be easily transportable, familiar not scary and facilitate listening and talking and sharing. She showed us how it works with 2 people sitting opposite each other and stitching together, passing the needle through the net and touching fingers as they pass the needle. They can talk and tell stories, keeping their hand busy without necessarily needing to make eye contact.

The finished art work is displayed in community areas.

Any mistakes are mine!

https://tina-francis-tapestry.co.uk/

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