Travelling Books

It has been our custom for some years now to offer our members the opportunity to join in with a voluntary activity which we call Travelling Books.  This Shrewsbury Textiles and Creative Stitch activity usually kicks off at the start of our new year in September and we look forward to sharing our own work as well as the anticipation and excitement of seeing what everyone else has created as the months go by. The members who have signed up are divided into groups of six or seven and their names are shared within each group. During September each member creates a piece of work and mounts it into their A5 sketchbook with a small narrative about the piece such as what inspired it, the fabrics/mixed media used including the threads, stitches, beads etc.  Some members enjoy setting a theme for their book which they include in their narrative, for instance this might be ‘nature’. It doesn’t have to be a literal translation but could be interpreted in many different ways by each member and even though there may be a theme it’s amazing how each person interprets which adds to the anticipation of everyone for when they get their book back. Others on the other hand prefer not to have a theme but leave the choice of work to each individual adding a piece to their book which provides many varieties of subject and style and is a great surprise when the book lands back with the owner.  Whether there’s a theme or not, every piece and the story/narrative behind it is always inspiring. The first swap takes place at the October meeting and the process repeats with books being swapped at each meeting until they arrive back with their owners and everyone ends up with a book filled with lovely pieces of work.