2006 ~ THE GRAND PIANO COVER
"This is not just a piano cover.
This is an extraordinary feat.
This is not just an extraordinary feat.
This is 108 hand-embroidered squares.
This is not just 108 hand-embroidered squares.
This is an amazing work of art."
(Thank you, M&S)
In the summer of 2005, I was asked to organise a community project to make a cover for the grand piano in Abbotsbury's church. Almost immediately the technique of crazy patchwork came into my head ~ thinking reflections, because of the light from the stained glass windows and the colours in the stained glass: red, blue, green, purple and gold. The background would have to be black to represent the leads, and it would also make the gem-like colours stand out, a striking contrast.
We leaflet-dropped the village later that summer and at the same time I started to look round for samples of suitable fabrics ~ satins, taffetas, silks and sheers ~ which would allow us to layer and maybe cut away. For the background we needed something which wouldn't crease easily and would be quite substantial to work with. But we also needed money, and we raised that through car boot sales, coffee mornings and generous donations.
In November, armed with 3 storyboards, masses of black paper squares, lots of red, blue, green and purple paper with lots of different textures, and Pritt sticks, we had a wonderful first workshop at Strangways Hall. We had three paper-and-glue workshops. By now we knew that we needed 108 squares. We also knew that we had about 48 people. We were on a roll !
Now this was really exciting, the moment everyone was waiting for .... the fabric. I bought a baby gaberdine for the black background in Dorchester, and cut it into 108 12" by 12" squares. We went further afield for the colours ~ to Fabricland in Poole, Hansons in Sturminster Newton, and Rainbow Fabrics in Southall for the sheers. Beads, sequins and ribbons were bought wherever we saw little gems. We went on the internet for the bells, and eventually found what we wanted ... in America.
The enthusiasm was incredible when I took in these fabrics on the first evening. One basket with the glorious array of coloured fabrics spilling out all over the place. Another basket with sequins, beads and ribbons. We were in heaven !
To give continuity to the cover we also needed to use the same thread throughout. For this I chose a gold stranded rayon thread which was quite reflective, and also gave everyone a choice of how many strands to use on their particular square. We had a few hiccups, one of them being when I couldn't get a repeat order for our stranded thread, but I eventually found a suitable replacement, and we were up and running again.
It was amazing how quickly everyone was finishing their squares, but it wasn't until we started stitching beads and sequins on to the designs that everyone realised the way they enriched and added another dimension to the work. They started to turn the squares into individual works of art.
At the end of January 2006, with most of the squares completed, we started on the edges. These were a joy to do, as most people were quite relaxed about the work and were enjoying these small pieces of art.
We made tassels and strung them on to ribbon with beads and bells. We assmbled the whole of the cover on Saturday 11th March: we booked the Strangways Hall for the whole day, and started at 9.00am. It was a wonderful, very special day, with a few ups and downs, but mostly filled with laughter. After assembling the squares and matching the edges, the backing (with four sleeves big enough for the poles for lifting the cover) was hand-stitched on to the top. We were all very tired, but so delighted with our efforts. We finished at 6.10pm.
A week later we had a private view in the church, with the cover on the piano for the first time. With families and friends we all enjoyed an evening of looking at the finished work of art ~ it was delightful.
Back to our home page
Check out our tearooms
And our embroiderers' shop
Go back to the Millennium banners ~
to the kneelers ~
or the Strangways Hall quilt
Read about Abbotsbury's colourful past ~ and how to get in to crafts
For more information on Wheelwrights, e-mail us ! Click on the wheel
More information on Abbotsbury and what happens here 
This is an extraordinary feat.
This is not just an extraordinary feat.
This is 108 hand-embroidered squares.
This is not just 108 hand-embroidered squares.
This is an amazing work of art."
(Thank you, M&S)
In the summer of 2005, I was asked to organise a community project to make a cover for the grand piano in Abbotsbury's church. Almost immediately the technique of crazy patchwork came into my head ~ thinking reflections, because of the light from the stained glass windows and the colours in the stained glass: red, blue, green, purple and gold. The background would have to be black to represent the leads, and it would also make the gem-like colours stand out, a striking contrast.
To give continuity to the cover we also needed to use the same thread throughout. For this I chose a gold stranded rayon thread which was quite reflective, and also gave everyone a choice of how many strands to use on their particular square. We had a few hiccups, one of them being when I couldn't get a repeat order for our stranded thread, but I eventually found a suitable replacement, and we were up and running again.
It was amazing how quickly everyone was finishing their squares, but it wasn't until we started stitching beads and sequins on to the designs that everyone realised the way they enriched and added another dimension to the work. They started to turn the squares into individual works of art.
We made tassels and strung them on to ribbon with beads and bells. We assmbled the whole of the cover on Saturday 11th March: we booked the Strangways Hall for the whole day, and started at 9.00am. It was a wonderful, very special day, with a few ups and downs, but mostly filled with laughter. After assembling the squares and matching the edges, the backing (with four sleeves big enough for the poles for lifting the cover) was hand-stitched on to the top. We were all very tired, but so delighted with our efforts. We finished at 6.10pm.
A week later we had a private view in the church, with the cover on the piano for the first time. With families and friends we all enjoyed an evening of looking at the finished work of art ~ it was delightful.
We leaflet-dropped the village later that summer and at the same time I started to look round for samples of suitable fabrics ~ satins, taffetas, silks and sheers ~ which would allow us to layer and maybe cut away. For the background we needed something which wouldn't crease easily and would be quite substantial to work with. But we also needed money, and we raised that through car boot sales, coffee mornings and generous donations.
In November, armed with 3 storyboards, masses of black paper squares, lots of red, blue, green and purple paper with lots of different textures, and Pritt sticks, we had a wonderful first workshop at Strangways Hall. We had three paper-and-glue workshops. By now we knew that we needed 108 squares. We also knew that we had about 48 people. We were on a roll !
Now this was really exciting, the moment everyone was waiting for .... the fabric. I bought a baby gaberdine for the black background in Dorchester, and cut it into 108 12" by 12" squares. We went further afield for the colours ~ to Fabricland in Poole, Hansons in Sturminster Newton, and Rainbow Fabrics in Southall for the sheers. Beads, sequins and ribbons were bought wherever we saw little gems. We went on the internet for the bells, and eventually found what we wanted ... in America.
The enthusiasm was incredible when I took in these fabrics on the first evening. One basket with the glorious array of coloured fabrics spilling out all over the place. Another basket with sequins, beads and ribbons. We were in heaven !
At the end of January 2006, with most of the squares completed, we started on the edges. These were a joy to do, as most people were quite relaxed about the work and were enjoying these small pieces of art.
Back to our home pageCheck out our tearoomsAnd our embroiderers' shopGo back to the Millennium banners ~to the kneelers ~or the Strangways Hall quiltRead about Abbotsbury's colourful past ~ and how to get in to crafts
For more information on Wheelwrights, e-mail us ! Click on the wheel
More information on Abbotsbury and what happens here