Category: History
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Criminal Quilts: Cataloguing the photo albums
During November I went through all eight photograph albums from Stafford Prison to record all the women featured in the photographs. The photographs begin in 1877 and continue until early 1916. The style of photography changes dramatically during this period as does the clothing worn by the women. The first set of images 1877-81 are…
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Criminal Quilts research blog : photo albums.
The photographs which have formed the source material for Criminal Quilts are held in bound albums in Staffordshire Record Office. The albums are part of a large collection of archives from Stafford Prison and I’ve been working my way through each one in the last couple of weeks. The images I am working with date…
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Criminal Quilts project launch
You are invited to join me at Staffordshire Record Office for the launch of a new phase of my project Criminal Quilts on Friday 8th September. Find out more, see artwork from 2012-2015 and explore the original archive photos. SaveSave
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Antique textile repair
Alongside my own original creative work I occasionally get the pleasure of a repair job on an antique textile. I love being able to explore the insides, the seams, the reverse and the construction of the stitches. This is an ecclesiastical stole, still in active church use despite being about 100 years old. The silk…
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Smocking
Smocking Past & Present One-day workshop with Selvedge. Saturday 24th June, 2017. Selvedge Shop, London. £120. Book here SOLD OUT Traditional English smocking has a very fine history from farming smocks of the mid-19th century to to Aesthetic Liberty gowns of the late 19th century as well as a revival in the 1970s. In this workshop we…
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Harefield Centenary Quilt
The centenary quilt I made for Harefield Hospital last year is now on permanent display in the hospital’s main reception area. The quilt was created during a number of workshops for staff, patients and local community to celebrate 1o0 years of care on the Harefield Hospital site and uses archive and donated photographs, nurses…
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Criminal Quilts at Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford
My first series of Criminal Quilts is now on display at Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford. These pieces were inspired by photographs from the Staffordshire Archives of women criminals (below), commissioned by Shire Hall Gallery and later purchased for the museum collection and display outside the historic courtroom. The six Criminal Quilts in Stafford are shown…
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Harefield Hospital centenary quilt commission
I’ve recently been commissioned to make a centenary quilt for Harefield Hospital. The NHS hospital began its medical life as an ANZAC hospital, during the First World War. The then owner of the 18th century house and estate was an Australian and gave over his house and grounds to create a facility for his countrymen.…
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Interlace on show in Craft and Conflict at Bilston Craft Gallery
Work by Interlace is on show in Craft and Conflict at Bilston Craft Gallery until 22nd November 2014. We created work specifically for this show, using white petals instead of our usual colours. By creating fragile textile forms fixed into concrete, we explore making the ephemeral permanent and preserving memories set in stone. The…
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Old Textiles at October’s Sew Sociable
This month’s Sew Sociable will be all about old textiles. I’ll be giving a talk about my love of antique textiles, about museum collections, about my own collection of textiles and how I take inspiration from them to create my own textile art. Anyone coming to the event is enthusiastically encouraged to bring along their own…
Ruth Singer 