Left and Right panels
After many suggestions as to how to illustrate the two
side panels, the only way I thought would be fair is to
list everyone alphabetically, with all their pieces together.
However I do appreciate that if you have seen a particular
piece and are trying to track down the story, this may be
slightly frustrating. My apologies!
There are, however, two exceptions to this. These are
two ladies who sadly passed away during the course of
the project, but whose work remains as a memorial to
them. It is only fitting that these ladies should head our
list of contributors.
Fleur Packman
Fleur was a member of the Embroiderers’ Guild, an
avid stitcher and a one-woman production line for the
Tapestry project, producing a total of eight completed
pieces during the eighteen months she attended, plus
starting the ‘Sir Simon Rattle’ piece in the Central panel.
The pieces she produced represented not only her
interests but also her beliefs and the things she thought
best-represented Liverpool in 2008. She attended each
workshop, bringing newly completed pieces regularly –
barely a workshop went by without a new piece by Fleur
arriving – and she met the challenge of each new piece
with originality and beautiful stitching. The only time I
saw her hesita te was on the Simon Rattle piece, which
Elsie and I asked her to do as we felt she was one of
the few stitchers who would take on the challenge of a
portrait. She spent a good hour gazing at the photograph
and mulling over ideas before agreeing to “give it a go”.
Little did we realise at the time that she was gravely ill (in
fact Fleur herself did not know) and that it would be the
last piece she worked on.
Fleur passed away after a short illness, and it was a shock
to everyone at the tapestry when we were told of her
death. She was sadly missed at the workshops, where her
quiet presence and advice had been such a fixture. We are
thankful that so many pieces of her work are represented
in the Tapestry, and would like to thank her daughter who
returned her incomplete work for someone else to finish.
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The Liverpool Tapestry:
People, Places and Passions