During 2021 some of the Weavers’ Workshop, a group who meet regularly at The Weaver’s House and who participate in the Open Days, were involved in the Welcome to Coventry sign, a collaborative piece of textile art.
The community artwork, developed by artists Luisa Freitas and Charis Esther on behalf of Coventry City Council and in partnership with Avanti West Coast, is one of the new pieces of art at the railway station. It is located in the recently opened building on the first floor near the access from Warwick Road.
Welcome to Coventry artwork at Coventry Station
The individual embroidered pieces were made during the Covid-19 lockdown, via online sessions. Weavers’ Workshop member Margaret embroidered an image of her weaving loom which actually includes a small piece of weaving made from woad dyed yarn.
Margaret’s embroidered loomBicycle by Ingrid
The collected work was then sealed in a clear resin in which it is now displayed. You can view some of the detailed images on Instagram @welcometocoventrysign or visit it next time you are at the station.
Perhaps you can spot the two images in the main picture? Scroll down for a clue!
Welcome to Coventry textile artwork
Clue – you can find the loom and the bike if you ‘try’.
In June this year we paid a visit to East Chase Farm as part of Warwickshire Open Studios.
The stunning work of textile artists Emma Price (In the Wool Shed) and Michala Gyetvai was on display. We were also intrigued to see wool being dyed harnessing the power of sunlight (as shown in the pictures of the jars). Solar dyeing takes a while – the textile and the dyestuff are placed into the jar and then left in the sun; the UV light is the fixative which binds the dye to the textile. The filled jars can be beautiful objects in their own right.
A celebration of local visual art, Warwickshire Open Studios runs each summer. Although the event is over for 2022, there is lots to delve into on the website, including virtual tours and info on the artists plus other events.
The garden at The Weaver’s House had certainly burst into life and was looking stunning. What a difference a few weeks made, with the early May Open Day showing patches of green and tentative buds, fully blossoming into life for June. Visitors joined us from Coventry, Sheffield, Taunton, Rugby, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Northampton, Warwick, Kenilworth and Birmingham.
Moving further into the month, The Weavers’ Workshop took part in Warwickshire Open Studios – Coventry Arts Trail across two weeks in June with open sessions from 10am – 12pm on the Mondays and Thursdays. Visitors were able to take part in make and take activities and weaving and admire a display of projects.
This year’s public weave is underway with a warp which has been woad-dyed in the Japanese Ikat style. This means there will be variations in colour along the warp using resist dyeing methods, which should give some kind of geometric pattern in the weave. It’s all very experimental so it’s been a steep learning curve and the result is likely to be random variations in colour akin, perhaps, to a river flowing. It will be a piece very different to our public weaving last year. The weaving has been part of theCoventry Arts Trail offer, giving visitors the chance to have a go at loom weaving and as last year, is proving very popular.
Also part of Warwickshire Open Studios, was Jane Cobbett’s special patchwork exhibition War & Pieced. An array of beautiful and intriguing pieces was on display throughout the house and garden. There was also a display of projects inspired by the theme, with the opportunity for visitors to vote for their favourite. Lots and lots of visitors stopped by despite (or because?) of clashing with the World Cup including an England game!
There will be another chance to see some of the quilts at The Textile History Group’s Celebration of Crafts on Saturday 10 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm. Taking place at St Barbara’s Church in Earlsdon, there will be crafts for sale and a pop-up tea shop – sounds perfect! More details are here.
Out next Open Day is on Sunday 22 July and sees the return of the very popular Tudor Games Day.
Our third Heritage Crafts Day was the warmest and sunniest yet, with visitors taking particular time to enjoy the garden. The tours in the house offered a welcome coolness, and of course our tearoom volunteers were on hand to offer refreshments! This time we were joined by The Heritage Bakehouse in the tearoom providing an array of tasty cakes including this lovely chocolate and banana loaf and of course, their famous Coventry Godcake. The Heritage Bakehouse have made over 25k Godcakes… not all for our Open Day, but in the last five or so years!
Coventry Woodcarvers Association joined us once again to showcase some of their amazing creations including an on site demonstration of carving. Spot the Coventry connection!
We were also delighted that Coventry brewers Byatt’s returned to talk about brewing methods and invite visitors to sample this year’s special Motofest Multigrade. Just released, and only available until Motofest, we were among the very first to sample it (and it was delicious). As one of the cottages in the terrace was once used as a workshop to make cars, it also seemed very fitting to have it on site!
Jane Cobbett brought beautiful textiles including quilting to display, and we are excited that we will be hosting a special exhibition of work by Jane’s textile group in June. The War & Pieced Patchwork Exhibition takes place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June 2018 from 11am until 4pm at The Weaver’s House. It’s part of Warwickshire Open Studios and is free to visit… and there will be cake! Find out more here.
So that was May then, a very busy day, for volunteers, guests and visitors, who made full use of one of the first hot days of the year! Roll on June, when our next Open Day is on Saturday 16, for tours and talks, tea and cake, heritage and history!
A fantastic turnout for our ‘Old May Day and Crafts’ Open Day, with a steady stream of visitors – from even before the doors officially opened until they finally closed at 4pm.
We squeezed as many guest stalls as possible in throughout the house and garden, welcoming return craftspeople from Warwickshire Craft Circle alongside new guests from Quite Contrary Baskets and Byatt’s Brewery.
Shelley from Byatt’s
The cask of Urban Red
Hops, malt and other ingredients
Visitors were invited to enjoy a free sample of Byatt’s Urban Red, the patterns on the label of which pays tribute to Coventry’s textile heritage. A taste of the city’s culinary past was also on offer in the triangular form of Coventry Godcakes. Of course, the usual delicious array of homemade cakes supplied by our volunteers was also available and completely demolished by the end of the day!
Cake
Cake
Caaaaaaaake!
Younger visitors enjoyed the challenge of a trail all about growth in springtime, and making flowers to decorate the cabbage tree ‘maypole’. All ages enjoyed playing the Tudor games introduced on our previous Open Day, skittles and Nine Men’s Morris.
A fine day meant that the garden was used to full advantage. Mary from Quite Contrary Baskets demonstrated the art of willow weaving, with beautiful and complex structures made from this simple material.
Guest woodcarver Peterson arrived with a large chunk of timber which visitors who lingered at the house were able to see carefully being transformed into a carved owl during the day.
Woodcarving
Meanwhile inside The Weaver’s House itself, textiles expert Jane was on hand to discuss the art of patchworking, alongside the Weavers’ Workshop who made progress on the tenth anniversary weaving project.
Jane with textiles
The weaving on the loom
A tour in the Weaver’s House
The next Open Day is on Saturday 10 June, which will see full steam ahead on the anniversary weaving project with a piece of cloth being created by weavers and visitors throughout the year. Pop along and have a go and weave yourself into the history of The Weaver’s House!
