Exhibition has you in stitches

Big Community Weave at National Centre for Craft and Design. Gabriel Sinnott 13 of Billinghay, weaving. EMN-190402-143403001

Last weekend saw the launch of an exciting series of exhibitions and displays on the theme of textiles at Sleaford’s National Centre for Craft and Design.

The NCCD’s main new exhibition is Ctrl / Shift: New Directions in Textile Art.

From now until April 22, Ctrl/Shift takes shifts and changes as its theme with artists exploring this concept in a variety of ways.

Pushing the boundaries of scale at both ends of the spectrum, works range from metres long to a few centimetres high.

Big Community Weave at National Centre for Craft and Design. Yvonne Bridgewater with her grand daughter Lilly Childs 5, tying rags on a Rag Rug. EMN-190402-143602001

Traditional textile and fibre techniques of hand and machine embroidery, felting, printing, collage and basketry are seen alongside the latest technology.

To complement this show, an exhibition by Jilly Edwards: Glimpses and Memories can be seen in the Roof Gallery until March 17.

There will also be another opportunity to see Woolly Spires from February 2 until April 22 - a project representing the county’s major churches in 3D knitting.

There were over 2,000 visitors during the weekend when there were artist and curator ‘walk and talk’ events. The Big Community Weave saw visitors join in making a woven artwork, or have a go at Tension Weaving on a grand scale using the whole body.

Fine art embroidery was demonstrated by Nigel Cheney and you could try techniques with Sleaford Embroiderers.