Lets look at the exhibition.

My apologies for the delay in blogging about the textiles at the exhibition in Chester Cathedral. I decided I would complete some pieces of work early so it would free up some time next month. Having spent a lot of time on a computer each day I really didn't want to use the computer in the evening. 

The exhibition has 44 large panels created by Jacqui Parkinson over a 10 year period. I've shown the Threads through Creation before so today I'll show the panels made for the Threads through the Cross. Unfortunately the very top of the panels may have some glare as there were lights immediately above the panels.

Panel 1. 

This panel shows two parts of the story seperated by 9 months. It shows the annunciation and Mary holding baby Jesus. At the bottom of the panel is a lamb. The same lamb appears on the last panel of Threads through Creation. 

Gabriel's wings are made of gilded silk, with real gold leaf laid onto the silk unevenly to give an interesting texture.

At the lower right corner there is a Goldfinch. These birds appear in many medieval and renaissance painting of Mary and baby Jesus. The reason for that may be because the bird has a line of gold across its wings, a symbol of kingship.

Panel 2.

This panel shows the shepherds being told about the baby and being told 'do not be afraid'. The angels are a little bit difficult to see due to the lights. Jacqui has a so made the shepherds hair stand on end to show their fear.

At the bottom of the panel there is a white goose. Geese make good guard dogs making a lot of noise if intruders appear. The goose represents light and vigilance. They would have made a great deal of noise in this situation.

I liked how the shepherds hair had been made. 

Panel 3.

Another night scene, this time with the three wise men or 'magi' Their studies had led them to believe a special king would be born and so set out on their journey. 

I loved all the colour in this panel and it has a dense design. The robes are very heavily textured. The stars are made of silk covered in aluminium leaf.

At the bottom of the panel is an owl. Owl's are a symbol of wisdom and intelligence, plus they see well in the dark.

Panel 4

For 30 years Jesus had an ordinary life but was then launched into the spotlight. Before he starts his public work he goes to John to be baptised. In this panel the Trinity is in action. Jesus is in the water, the Holy Spirit is in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father is declaring his love for his son.

Jacqui Parkinson has put a tree in this panel and panel 5  to reference panels in Thread through Creation as she views it as continuing the theme of choice.

The bird at the bottom of the panel is a Kingfisher. These tiny birds fly low over running water. Often all you see is the flash of colour as they fly on. It is a symbol of new beginnings.

Panel 5

Following his baptism Jesus enters the wilderness for fourty days and fourty nights. He is tested during this time by Satan. In this panel the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil is easily in reach but Jesus does not listen to the words of the snake.

The bird at the bottom of the panel is a Blackbird. The blackbird is associated with temptation, lust and desire.

Panel 6

In this panel Jesus, Peter, James and John have gone up a high mountain. The disciples see Jesus transformed, 'lit up' from inside. They observe the change in him.

The bird on this panel is a cygnet which may seem unattractive when young but transforms into a lovely pure white swan.

Panel 7

The time frame has moved forward to the start of the last week of Jesus' life. He enters Jerusalem like a king but riding on a donkey. The crowds have heard of his arrival and have come out to see him. He is dressed in a royal purple robe and has a gold halo.

The bird at the bottom of the panel is a woodpecker. The woodpeckers drumming against a tree can be heard over a good distance and it is possible that the crowd drummed out their praises.

I love seeing all the quilting and stitching that went into all these panels.

Panel 8

Jesus enters the Temple in Jerusalem and turns out the money lenders and merchants to restore the Temple to a house of God.

The bird at the bottom of the panel is a pigeon or dove. They are a symbol of new life and new hope to everyone. Doves are the traditional symbol of peace, love, innocence and hope.

Panel 9

This panel depicts the story of the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and then dried them with her hair.

The bird in this panel is a Macaw flying to freedom. These birds are bright and bold  just as the women who washed his feet is bright and bold.

Panel 10

Another panel of washing feet but this time it is Jesus who is washing the feet of the disciples. Jesus looks small but he has allowed himself to become small in the act of service.

The bird in this panel is the cockerell and a sign of what will come with the new day.

Panel 11

This panel represents the Passover meal which is often called the Last Supper. Jesus offers bread to all 12 disciples

The bird in this panel is the cuckoo which is seen as a traitor in the nest. The cuckoo lays her eggs in other birds nests and leaves her offspring to be reared by the owners of the nest. Judas is the cuckoo at the last supper.

Panel 12

In the Garden of Gethsemane. Here Jesus chooses Peter, James and John to be with him. jesus wants them to stay awake with him and pray but they fall asleep. Judas enters the Garden with the armed guards.

The bird in this panel is a North American red-winged blackbird in flight, with the flash of red suggesting danger

Panel 13

This panel is of the Crucifixion. This was a common Roman form of punishment. While Jesus hangs on the cross there is three hours of darkness in the afternoon and an earthquake opens up the tombs of the dead.

The bird in this panel is a robin. One legend says that the robin's breast is red because when Jesus was on the road to crucifixion, a robin plucked a thorn from his head and a drop of his blood fell onto the bird's chest turning it red.

Panel 14.

In this panel Mary is cradling the dead body of Jesus affter he has been taken down from the cross.

The bird in the panel is a magpie. In many cultures black and white are the traditional colours of death. The magpie seems to be in mourning in its black and white attire.

Panel 15

Two women go to the tomb of Jesus early on Sunday morning to anoint the dead body but the garden is empty, no guards in sight. An angel appears and rolls the stone away and tells them the tomb is empty. The angel sends the women away to tell people that Jesus has risen from the dead.

The bird on the panel is a peacock. Early Christains adopted the peacock as a symbol of immortality.

Panel 16.

Peter had disowned Jesus and was feeling guilty. He had gone back to fishing but had caught nothing until a stranger on the beach tells him to cast his net on the other side of the boat. His net filled with fish and he realises the stranger is Jesus.  Jesus gives him the task of 'fishing for men and women'

The bird on the panel is a Heron. Heron's are excellent fishers of fish, being focused, attentive and quick moving.

So many fish to stitch!

Panel 17.

A mountain top experience where the 11 disciples see Jesus in a different light. Jesus gave them a job to make disciples of all nations. After, the disciples watch as Jesus ascends into heaven.

The bird on the panel is a lark. Larks fly very high and continue singing as if ascending to heaven.

Panel 18.

This panel depicts 120 of his followers waiting for him to receive his promise to them. Here they receive the Holy Spirit.

The bird in this panel is the mythical phonenix, a symbol of fire and divinity. It dies and is born again, rising from the ashes.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these panels. I still have the third part of the exhibition to show you but that will probably be early next week as I need to sort the photos first. I really enjoyed seeing the panels in Chester Cathedral. There was room to stand back from them to enjoy the overall effect and also room to look at them up close to see the small details. 

Today has been very hot here in London. I had planned to do some gardening earlier but it was too hot for me. So now it's cooler and I'm going to  do some dead heading and tidying whilst I've got the chance.

Take care

Lyndsey.

A weekend in Chester.

Last week was chaos! Our office move took place on the 8 May. Not a problem for me as I don't usually work on a Friday. At the start of last week I was not in the office as I was working on another site for two days. On Wednesday I entered our new office and looked at the crates that needed unpacking. It took quite a time to get everything unpacked and put back neatly in the cupboards and book cases. I like the new office better than our old one, it's smaller and feels more cosy and organised. Due to working elsewhere for two days and then completing the unpacking, I found I was a little (a lot) behind with everything. As a result I spent the evenings catching up on essential tasks for work and so very little sewing or embroidery got done over the week. It's amazing how a change from your normal routine can throw all plans out of the window. John and I had a trip planned for the weekend but by Thursday evening I really didn't feel like going. We had both been looking forward to our weekend away and so I didn't say anything to John, instead I packed for the weekend and added my embroidery to the case. Fortunately as we travelled along in the car I started to feel calmer and soon started to enjoy myself. 

I took a small piece of cross stitch with me. I had forgotten all about this book mark but came across it when tidying my sewing cupboard recently. This is what it looked like when I found it 

and this is what I achieved onSaturday evening. I know, it hasn't grown very much but the important thing that I have added more stiches. When the cross stitching is done there is a lot of back stitching to do!

Last week was a very slow week on the Chookshed challenge but I did manage some time.

So back to our weekend away. We were visiting Chester and very specifically we wanted to visit Chester Cathedral because there is a big exhibition on at the moment. The exhibition is  called Threads through the Bible. Within in it there are 3 seperate groups of quilts or art works, Threads through Creation, Threads through the Cross and Threads through Revelation. In total there are 44 huge panels that have been created over a 10 year period by Jacqui Parkinson.  Threads through Revelation was completed in 2016 and first toured cathedrals 2016 - 2018. Threads through Creation came next and was completed in 2021 and this series toured cathedrals from 2021 - 2025. The last series, Thread through the cross was finished late in 2024 and toured from 2025. I have posted all the panels from Threads through Creation, so I'm not adding them here but you can find them HERE Part 1  and HERE Part 2 I'm not going to post all the pictures at once as there are alot and I also want to show you some photos from Chester and the cathedral itself. Today is a photo heavy post so make a drink and settle comfortably. The photos are all from the cathedral but no quilts until tomorrow.

Starting with the visit to the cathedral itself. We decided to travel into Chester on the bus, leaving the car in the hotel car park. The plus of being old is the free bus pass that operates anywhere in the country after a certain time in the morning. From the bus stop we easily found our way to the cathedral. It was difficult to get a good photo of the cathedral as it was often covered by trees and did not sit on a large area of land away from other buildings.

Chester Cathedral is constructed primarily of new red sandstone (specifically Keuper Sandstone from the Cheshire Basin.The cathedral is celebrated for its warm, reddish hue, however the local sandstone is soft, friable and therefore crumbles easily. Unfortunately it weathers quickly and the building has required extensive 19th-century restoration and refacing. The stone is also badly affected by pollution.

Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral located in Chester, Cheshire. It was originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh and is now dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral's construction dates from the 10th century and the early 16th century. The building has been modified several times through it's history and all the major styles of English medieval architecture from Norman to Perpendicular can be seen in the building.

When we arrived at the cathedral we both needed a cup of cofee so we headed first to the cafe. This is found in the refectory or the monk's dining hall, which is a beautiful space and still has the pulpit where one of the monks would have read from the bible during the meals. High on the one wall there is a beautiful stained glass window of the creation commissioned from Rosalind Grimshaw. It shows Gods hands working across six days to create the world. Unfortunately it was raining outside so some of the beauty of the window was lost due to the lack of sunshine.

Lower down the wall was a seventeenth century tapestry from the Mortlake Tapestry Works. It was previously hung behind the High Altar as a reredos and was later moved to the refectory.I'm always interested in Mortlake tapestries as they were made fairly local to us.

The Chapter House  was built in 1225 - 1250 and this is where the monks would have met each day for business and heard a chapter of the Rule of St Benedict.

Under the window there was an Armoire. This is a piece of 13th century furniture with the scroll ironwork said to have been crafted by Thomas de Leighton. It did look rather magnificent.

Next we walked all round the cloisters, a four sided covered walkway surrounding a small garden or garth. Up to 40 monks lived at the monastry and all the domestic building opened off the cloisters. We walked slowly as the rain was starting to subside and we wanted to go into the garden to see a sculpture called Water of Life. The sculpture was created by Stephen Broadbent and was commissioned for the 900th anniversary celebrations of the Cathedral. According to the artist, 'the water feature depicts the encounter between Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, showing their shared bowl overflowing with water. 

It is one of those sculptures that people either like or hate. I like it but some people feel it is inappropriate. I leave you free to make up your own mind.

There weren't many flowers blooming in the garden but these two trees were ensuring there was colour to enjoy.

There was a great model of the cathedral crafted using Lego. Everyone took time to look at the model and several young children were asking their parents if they thought they had enough Lego bricks to make it when they got home. I loved that the children weren't worried it would be too difficult for them, but were worried about the quantity of bricks needed. One child wanted to know how the stained glass windows were made.

When visiting old buildings I always find it useful to look up. Often the ceilings are beautiful and the cathedral was no exception. I certainly wouldn't have liked to be painting the ceiling, it was far too high.

This nice quiet area was the Chapel of St Erasmus. The mosaics depict women's role in ministry and were made by the Salviati mosaic company in 1879

As well as looking up it's also interesting to look down and see the surface you're walking on. I really liked the pattern on the tiles.

The Reredos behind the High Altar, near the Quire, depicts a traditional Last Supper. I would have liked a better photo of the altar front but I couldn't get any closer .

When I visit places I always like to find textiles so the altar fronts are important.  This next one was in an area set out with activities for children.

There are also banners. This one is for the cathedral itself and looked rather old.

The second one I saw is for the Mothers' Union.

I also found three kneelers in one of the small chapels. I like all three

Below is the fourteenth century shrine that once contained the relics of St Werburgh. It was disassembeld during the reformation and reused as a bishop's throne. It was 'rediscovered' and reassembled in the Lady Chapel during the 19th century restorations. Very few shrine bases remain in the UK so this is a rarity. 

The plaque below tells you a little about St Werburgh.

Within the same area as the shrine I found this sculpture. This Russian icon depicts the Mother of God. It was commissioned and paid for by the friends of Chester Cathedral to celebrate the link between the cathedral and the church in Kongopoda, North Russia.

Looking up again I found another beautiful decorated ceiling.

I found this gentleman at the end of a choir pew. He seemed very happy where he was perched.

The font had some nice carving on it but to date my favourite font is at Salisbury Cathedral. In defence of Chester's font it is much older.

We also visited the Consistory Court. The information board below tells you what it is.

The court room.

A little bit more information about the court and the punishment.

Before we left I wanted to look for the roman mosaics. These were mainly covered as the textile exhibits were in front of them but you were able to see them high up on the walls. We plan to go back after the exhibition has finished so we can see them properly.

I went looking for the cobweb picture and discovered this ceiling in the vicinity.

The cobweb picture is explained below.

The picture itself is small but very beautiful. It is back lit.

As I turned around to head out of the cathedral I spotted this area where different ages of stone work meet. Wandering around these old buildings is interesting especially when there has also been a lot of restoration work through the ages.

Before we left we returned to the cafe to enjoy a tasty lunch and to decide what we would do next. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the exhibition. I think it will take two days to show you all the textiles but there will be less photos than today (maybe).

Now I need to get on with some sewing. Today is a day owing for covering an open day in April. I have several projects I want to try and finish over the summer so I need to make use of all available time.

Take care

Lyndsey