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| Fresh Air & Poverty at the National Trust's Lyme Park |
In 2014 artist Lois Blackburn began working on two history quilts with older people in rural Derbyshire. Stitching the Wars is the story of a community that survived two world wars and harsh poverty. It is a kind of documentary, constructed with recollection, poetry, and the art of stitching.
Around the edge of the quilt 'Fresh Air & Poverty' is stitched an edit of the following poem.
JUMBLE SALE material
rag rug offcuts
for a few pence
Mother would knit, re-knit, unpick
O CRIKEY
aye
if you'd a Mother like ours
you'd be dressed coloured-ly
don't know how she COPED
6 children + COLD water in the taps
sat sewing squares
similar to these
leftovers from dresses
Mum in bed telling us her stories
no pillowcase
chicken feathers in a sack
crochet, embroidery, all the things
Grandma taught and a
heavy army coat on top
HORSEHAIR MATTRESS
shake it up, lay it on the
springs
In Springtime
TRAMPS walk to Bakewell
Coarse hands
Keep colds at bay
Queue, there's nothing left
But
Two little love birds
FRESH AIR & POVERTY
Margery Healy and Joan Dronfield
1 Feb 2016
Hope
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