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Stunning Middleton Cheney display a focal point for the village’s Jubilee
23/05/2022
Around 50 people have been working on the artwork since last summer
A stunning craft project in Middleton Cheney has become a talking point in the local area. The cascading display of over 4,300 hand knitted and crocheted flowers was installed at the tower of All Saints Church last Thursday.
Villager Joanne Watts initiated the project after being inspired by pictures of similar work elsewhere. Having received plenty of local support for the idea, planning began in July last year, with All Saints Church agreeing to the installation in September.
Whilst the project now forms part of Middleton Cheney’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, initially it had been considered as a way of marking the second anniversary of COVID lockdowns. A number of flowers in the work are in memory of people who were lost due to COVID, or in memory of those who passed away during the periods of lockdown when groups were not allowed to gather and mourn together.
Around 50 people were involved in the artwork, including members of the Women’s Institute, the Church and a number of individuals.
For those who didn’t know how to knit or crochet, classes were set up in Henry’s café. Around a dozen people attended and learned new skills which have now enabled them to undertake their own projects.
From the first flowers created by Joanne in July, momentum built. Joanne said: “People would just knock on the door and give me a bag of flowers. It was wonderful.
“We always wanted around 4,000 flowers, but we never put any restrictions on anybody. It was literally ‘you can do whatever you want’. As long as it looks like a flower – I don’t mind what colour it is or what pattern it is. So there’s all sorts – some that are only an inch wide and some that are seven or eight inches across.
“There’s a real mix and everybody had free reign as to what they did and in what colours.”
With the flowers created, Middleton Cheney Memorial Hall was used to assemble the artwork with each flower carefully attached to netting which had been donated by a villager.
The flowers were laid out one metre at a time and then sewn into place – a process that took 13 days to complete.
The display was put into place at the church last Thursday.
Joanne said: “It was really emotional. Although we’d been working on it for quite a long time it was always something that was going to happen – then all of a sudden it had.
“I’ve seen the pictures online of people enjoying it as they walk past and those that are making special trips to come and see it. Its really quite humbling.”
The artwork will now form an integral part of Middleton Cheney’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and is included on the route of their scarecrow trail.
Its anticipated it will be in place for 2-3 months.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam