Modular Beauty

Calling all stitchers, lovers of quilts, the curiously crafty, and sewing enthusiasts! We bees need your help...


Remember this photo of Jenna? Back in February we hinted that we were working on our Supercrawl proposal. Well, the time has come to share our plan with y'all! But first, let's take a brief trip down memory lane.

As you may remember, last year we participated in Supercrawl by creating a large, knitted installation entitled 'Knit Night on the Brain.' With your help, we knit 80 brick scarves and stitched them together to make up the facade of one of our favourite haunts, the Brain. Lion Brand Yarn generously donated the materials, and YOU, the amazingly crafty folk of Hamilton, generously donated your time and talent to help us create this gigantic knitted piece. The end result was quite impressive! Once all was said and done, we disassembled the scarves and donated every single one of them to Mission Services, just in time for the cool weather.




This year for Supercrawl, we're planning yet another large scale textile installation: Modular Beauty.


Modular Beauty will be made up from hand sewn, english paper pieced hexagons (hexagons = honeycombs = beehives) that will creep and grow out of unexpected places along James Street, mimicking hives in the wild.



Beehives are incredibly symbolic of our fair city - just look up at our original coat of arms the next time you're passing by the armouries on James Street. Hamilton has always been an ambitious and industrious city, with residents are who are familiar with working with their hands. We feel a connection to this aspect in particular of its manufacturing past, and wish to pay reverence by draping the street in our softer, but just as driven, methods. We're so proud of this city we call home, and Modular Beauty will resonate a sense of our past, workers heritage, industry and community. We're determined to revitalize in the best way we know how - a fibre intervention.



So, we're asking for your support once again. Many hands make light work, right? Just like Knit Night on the Brain, involving Hamilton's craft community is a very important aspect of Modular Beauty.

On Wednesday May 30th, the Beehive will be hosting an informal English Paper Piecing workshop at Needlework from 6-9pm, during their monthly craft night. No prior sewing experience is necessary and it's very simple - all we ask is for is your willingness to learn, share, and maybe sew up a hexagon or two! Donations to Modular Beauty in the form of scrap cotton fabric is greatly appreciated, however we do have scraps fabrics between us Bees that we're more than willing to share if needed. We'll also provide the templates, so all you have to bring is a needle and thread!

If you can't make next Wednesday but you're still interested in contributing, never fear! We plan on hosting a monthly quilting bee/hive-drive (har har, bee puns) to teach the necessary skills, collect hexagons, and to simply enjoy each others company. Stay tuned for more dates!

So, there it is! Hope you're as excited as we are about Supercrawl. It's gonna be a good one.