Bridging Arts

Saturday 26 December 2009

The order of the fish

Just to recap what fired the discussion about cooking in our embroidery classes....
Our own fish embroidery, a kantha (quilt) from Bangladesh has been loaned by Ferdous Rahman, of Restart 50+. These quilts are traditionally made by stitching layers of fabric together, sometimes old saris.













The fish motifs on the quilt inspired many of the embroiderers - At other classes, we also asked participants to bring in embroidery from home that they cherished.
It also inspired Hannah Walker who designed a fish motif for our sewing pack. At the classes, she pointed out that the fish is a Christian symbol, but is also widely used in the Islamic world... Pictured - a fish banner of the Mughal emperors. Each of the sewing packs has a theme for discussion. Naturally the fish motif prompted talk about cooking and recipes. To follow: more recipes contributed by participants.