star award – Textile Study Group blog

The Star Project Award 2024

Star Project Award text, brightly coloured embroidery and thread — Star Project Award

“Patchworking Motherhood”

We’re thrilled to announce that the project was launched on Monday 14 October.

I met Fiona Wilkinson, lead occupational therapist for the Dorset perinatal community health team, at a wild swimming group in Studland, Dorset. Our shared interests in early motherhood, mental health, and my desire to bring textiles practice into this space, sparked the idea to apply for the STAR project award together.

Planning the project, from a simple idea to a proposal for an 8 week course, was incredibly rewarding. By working through the numbers on a spreadsheet, considering amount of participants, number of sessions, cost of materials, room hire, staffing and other costs, we were able to calculate and adjust the plan until we reached a viable project within the funding available. This led us to make decisions on where to focus the funds, and where we might save money, for example borrowing instead of buying.

Since this project is aimed at Dorset Perinatal Mental Health clients, offering the course free of charge was a priority. We also recognised the challenge of balancing caring for young children with engaging in textile craft. So, we budgeted for additional staff to help with children during sessions.

In planning the project, we reflected on whether an outcome was necessary. Creating a finished item is often the assumed goal of a textiles course, however, in my experience, a focus on end result can sometimes interfere with in-the-moment making. I want participants to engage intuitively with the process whilst letting go of expectation. However, we also recognised the value of completing a personal patchwork to keep as a memento of this time.

Our aim is to create a non-judgemental, safe and welcoming space where participants will be invited to focus on themselves for the time that they are with us. This will include plenty of tea, coffee, and maybe even cake! We will encourage a light-hearted and instinctive no rules approach to piecing and stitching, whilst supporting participants to work to their own interest and pace to complete a textiles piece that will feel meaningful to them within the timeframe.

Participants are very welcome to bring any fabrics they would like to use for their patchwork, although this isn’t necessary as we have gathered together a large supply of materials and plenty of embroidery threads for them to rummage through and select from.

I look forward to reporting back once the project is well underway, and would like thank the Textile Study Group for their generous award and for selecting our project, Patchworking Motherhood.

Emma McGinn

This warm and welcoming room as it was set up ready and waiting for the mothers with their children to arrive.

Return to Star Project Award on the TSG website for more information about the award and an application form.

The Star Project selected for the 2024 Award

“Patchworking Motherhood“ proposed by Emma McGinn

In collaboration with Fiona Wilkinson, lead occupational therapist for the Dorset perinatal community health team, Emma McGinn will be sharing her own experience of the transition to motherhood as being transformative with up to ten mothers approaching discharge at the perinatal unit in Dorset.

The project will run over eight weeks in two-hour sessions. Through craft-based textiles the idea that Matrescence “like a patchwork creates lots of disparate pieces that need rearranging and stitching back together one seam at a time” will be explored while each mother will be making a small blanket of her own.

Indicating four phases, Emma carefully set out how the award will be used. This includes costings for materials, refreshments, the fee for hiring the space, the purchase of a second-hand sewing machine, and paying for child care so that the mothers will be able bring their babies/young children along with them. The award will also be used to pay a stated amount per hour to cover Emma’s work as the project’s lead artist.

Emma is a well-qualified and experienced graduate. Whilst living in London she delivered talks and led modules for degree students. She also facilitated creative, textile-based workshops for mothers, parents, carers and refugee women mainly at the Woodfield Pavilion, a beautiful community space on Tooting Common.

In 2023 Emma relocated to Dorset where she is now undertaking Doctoral Research to explore materializing early motherhood experience through her own craft-based textiles, and beginning to facilitate creative textile-based workshops from Studio 28.

It will be interesting to follow how Emma, given the award, will develop her practice as a textile artist and the collaboration with Fiona Wilkinson to set up and deliver this interesting, inclusive and heartwarming STAR PROJECT.

Selecting the Star Project has been a rewarding and challenging task. Over a dozen applications were received, some for existing groups whilst others aimed to set up a new group. No group is too well established or too small or unusual to be considered. The venues varied from community centers or schools, to arts centers or museums. A wide range of creative textile artists and teachers applied, each proposing a project which would both benefit individual participants and reach out to new audiences.

The selectors appreciated the time and thought everyone gave to preparing and presenting their text and images. Without exception all the projects proposed are potentially viable, and merit being set up and we wish these projects every success.

The Star Project Award is biannual and will be offered again in 2026.