November 23, 2007

Fine Cell Work - a charity that teaches fine needlework to British prison inmates and sells their products. Quilting, too.
posted by DangerIsMyMiddleName 16 years ago
  • These are neat. A bit pricy, but very nice.
  • We had so many applications to come to the first meeting that there was standing-room only. One prisoner sat spellbound. He was someone who had terribly low concentration. I suspect he had paranoid schizophrenia. He was shown an Amesh quilt that evening. The next day he had copied the whole thing onto toilet paper, almost perfectly. He showed this to me in the exercise yard. We decided that it was unsafe for him to use needles (he was likely to swallow them) but Caroline, the Fine Cell Work volunteer, had him doing designs.
    There are some extraordinary stories here. Thanks, DangerIsMyMiddleName.
  • I'm seriously tempted to commission something - if I can afford it.
  • That's a fantastic idea. I think I need a quilt.
  • Looks like it;s a pretty successful program. Lots of people have amazing talents when they try.
  • I love those quilts. But a cushion for 150 pounds? Youch.
  • The 'kits' are a more modest cushion with the benefit of more craftmanship in the stitching. I've seen embroidery from old time inmates where they work with a single strand of thread. It's incredible.
  • "Here I sit in F-wing, waitin' for my trial to come..." Not quite related, but merely kinda, Billy Bragg's guitars-for-jailbirds thingy.