#63: Introducing Material Histories with Deb McGuire

Making Histories is a new mini-series of Making Meaning Podcast with special guest co-host Deb McGuire. Deb is a brilliant historian, specialising in emotional histories of quilting, but she's incredibly knowledgable about all kinds of things. We have so many overlapping interests and things we really want to talk about in the world of textile making, textile histories and human stories. I've been thinking about a podcast co-host for a while, and when I talked to Deb for episodes 48 and 49, I just wanted to carry on talking! So we've made that a formal arrangement now and I am delighted to share the first episode of our conversations. I absolutely love talking to Deb and I am sure you will enjoy it too. In this episode we talk about the things we are both working on at the moment, the narratives and research we are each exploring and where they cross over in a project about hands and making. Find out more about my Maker Membership Join my email list Visit my website Find out more about Deb's work:  www.plainstitch.co.uk www.withintheframe.co.uk Instagram.com/plainstitchdeb

A few weeks ago someone told me that she didn't know I had written several books, so I realised I don't talk enough about my writing! The podcast is about the writing of those books; three with traditional publishers and three self-published books about my work. The third self-published book is coming very soon, it is with the designer now and I hope to have it in my hands before the end of the summer. I've also written other exhibition catalogues and project publications and all kinds of things. Find out more about my Textile Book Group and more: https://ruthsinger.podia.com/ Buy publications: https://ruthsingerstudio.bigcartel.com Find out more about my Maker Membership Buy an exhibition catalogue, Lost Threads, Mary Linwood's Legacy  Join my email list Visit my website

This week's episode is about the new body of work I made for Mary Linwood; Art, Stitch & Lift exhibition. Alongside researching, curating and writing the first exhibition of Mary Linwood's work in 75 year, I also created seven new artworks reflecting elements of Mary Linwood's life and legacy. These pieces fill in gaps in Mary Linwood's story, explore themes I find fascinating and allow me to express my own thoughts and feelings about Linwood's work and life. Sign up for my course Embroidered Herstories: Rediscovering Mary Linwood Buy the exhibition catalogue, Lost Threads, Mary Linwood's Legacy  Find out more about my Maker Membership Join Ruth's email list Visit Ruth's website

Making Meaning is back with a new series. It's almost five years since I started making this podcast and this is series 6. In this episode I'm solo, talking about what I've learned from the Mary Linwood Rediscovered project, from studying Mary Linwood and from sharing her story with the world. Sign up for my course Embroidered Herstories: Rediscovering Mary Linwood Buy the exhibition catalogue, Lost Threads, Mary Linwood's Legacy  Find out more about my Maker Membership Join Ruth's email list Visit Ruth's website

In this episode I'm talking to Rachel Whitworth, the curator of Fashion and Textiles at The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle.  Find out about the Mary Linwood project and events programme Find out more about the Stitch Weekend, 22nd - 23rd Nov, Leicester Guildhall Find out more about my Maker Membership Join Ruth's email list Visit Ruth's website

I'm so pleased to share this conversation with Emily Jo Gibbs, a fantastic textile maker who I have admired for many years. It won't surprise you that I love Emily's work and we had a really interesting, broad-ranging conversation about the why behind the work. Emily's website and online course Find out about the Mary Linwood project and events programme Find out more about the Stitch Weekend, 22nd - 23rd Nov, Leicester Guildhall Find out more about my Maker Membership Join Ruth's email list Visit Ruth's website  

In this episode I'm talking to the brilliant creative textile designer Jayne Emerson, known to many of you as the creator of the No Rules Textile Society - a membership group full of inspiration and creative play. Jayne is also a textile designer for fashion and interiors, she's written six craft books and creates courses and workshop both online and in person. We have a lot in common and had a great time exploring our shared and differing approaches and projects. I hope you enjoy this conversation much as we did.  Jayne's website and membership Find out about the Mary Linwood project and events programme Join Ruth's email list Visit Ruth's website

Dr Heidi Strobel is my guest in episode 56 about Mary Linwood. Heidi joined me from The University of North Texas, USA where she is is Professor of Art History. She is also the author of Mary Linwood: Embroidery, Installation, and Entrepreneurship in Britain 1787-1845 which has been invaluable for my exhibition research. Heidi and I have been in touch throughout this project and she's been an amazing support in the development of the exhibition and in the general excitement I feel about being able to share Linwood's work. This is a fantastic conversation in lots of depth about Mary Linwood's life and work. If you need to start with an introduction to Mary Linwood, there are several previous episodes including a short intro in episode 45, as well as conversations with historians in episodes 49 and 55.  Heidi's website Find out more about Ruth's Mary Linwood project Full details of the episode, including a transcript

This episode is more of the summer of stitch series, this time with the brilliant Dr Isabella Rosner, Royal School of Needlework curator, podcaster and all round historic embroidery enthusiast. She has been part of the Mary Linwood fan club for years and we had a wonderful time talking about all the complexities of Linwood's career and making practice, and reflecting on her legacy and why she's been so ignored in the last hundred and fifty years.  Dr Isabella Rosner is the curator of textiles and contextual studies lecturer at the Royal School of Needlework. She is a 2023 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker and author of Stitching Freedom: Embroidery and Incarceration (Common Threads Press). Isabella also hosts the Sew What? podcast about historical needlework and those who stitched it. Website Instagram Sew What? podcast Ruth on Sew What? Podcast from 2021 Find out more about Ruth's Mary Linwood project Full details of the episode, including a transcript

Today's episode is more in the summer of stitch series, this time with a very different kind of maker. Claire-Louise Hardie is a costumier and sewing teacher, expert in making clothes and understanding how clothes work and how they make us feel. This is a really fun conversation exploring very different things than this podcast usually covers and it was great to talk to Claire-Louise and share this with you. It's a great excuse for me to think about clothing construction, the importance of fabric in telling stories and all the nerdy details of working with museum objects, which I have really loved. I also love the way she ended this conversation by celebrating how sewing is such a varied activity and there are so many branches of it, united by this wonderful experience of making stuff.  The Thrifty Stitcher Thrifty Stitcher Instagram Buy Claire-Louise's book Clone Your Clothes Join Ruth's email list Find out more about Maker Membership ruthsinger.com/membership Full details of the episode, including a transcript