Make memories at the table with Bealtaine At Home

Share family memories and learn new craft skills guided by artist Ciara Harrison.

Helium Arts in partnership with Age & Opportunity, Bealtaine At Home 2020, invite families to take part in a public exchange as part of our creative exchange project, At the Table No One Grows Old. 

So many memories are made at the table, as we share food and stories together. Inspired by heirloom tablecloths that artist Ciara Harrison inherited from her great aunt, Ciara brought together children from our Dublin Open Studio programme and their family members via postal and internet exchanges to share textile skills, memories and stories.

Each family decorated pieces from one of Ciara’s tablecloths with their own memories and marks and Ciara then created a virtual patchwork tablecloth, stitching together all of the memories. This patchwork tablecloth is included in the video below.

Join in!

We invite families to join us in creating their own memories at the table. You can choose any fabric that you might decorate a table with: a tablecloth, table-runner, place mat or napkin.

In this video presentation, Ciara shows you different techniques that you can use to decorate table fabrics. There is something for every age group from stitch work to fabric crayon technique.

Why not create a patchwork of memories? You might like to post the fabric to an older family relative so that they can decorate it with their own marks and memories.

Share your Creation

If you would like to share your final creation with us, take a photograph and send it to emma@helium.ie. If you like, you can add a few words about the memories you chose. Include the first names of everyone who helped to decorate the fabric.

We will share all your creations in our Learning Bank.

If you have any queries or would like to learn more about the project email emma@helium.ie