Sewing as a Reflective Practice

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I used to have another blog, which I started when I was doing a Teaching Artist course.  I no longer do postings on it – I can only do justice to one decent blog at a time!

Nonetheless, the stitched lockdown journal was a project I was proud of, so I thought I’d share it again here, now.  As distinct from my dressmaking hobbies, collage is more of a reflective practice which helps me to stay grounded.  Sometimes, I sew about something research-related, but at other times, my collages and embroidery are just snapshots of daily life or things in the news!

For a whole year of the pandemic, I kept a journal – stitched in fabric, using collage and embroidery. You can view the videoclips here:- Lockdown Journal Downstairs Lockdown Journal Becomes a “Book” (no, not the published variety!) I missed doing it once it was finished, so I’ve started a new project. But more about […]

my stitched Lockdown journal

This was the Countdown to the New Me

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Okay, I promised I would be more forward-looking, now that I’m no longer a librarian. I’m not going back on my word, but I just wanted to share the stitched countdown project that I have completed over the past three years. My purpose was to count down the weeks until I would retire from librarianship. To that end, I sewed one square a week, and joined them up to make three panels for the folding screen that lives beside my desk. Sometimes they’re topical, sometimes reflective, and sometimes (when I got behind with myself), it’s just a number. (Those were at least good practice at sewing satin stitch. I only really took up embroidery during the pandemic lockdown – I’m not an expert.)

3-panel screen displaying the stitched countdown squares. Background: a garden hedge.
Stitched Countdown – a square a week over three years

I finished neatening off the panels today, and took the screen outside to take a photo.

Then I came back indoors and checked my emails. To my delight, I’ve been sent the copy-edited version of my book manuscript. So yes, looking forward, I foresee a busy week checking it all and making any corrections! Semi-retired? I think we’ll forget about that until the manuscript is returned to my editor!

Golden Triangles? In Legal Deposit Libraries? Well, after a fashion!

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Collage map golden triangles legal deposit

This isn’t about mathematical golden triangles!

The other day, I decided to make a map of the UK’s Georgian legal deposit library locations. Yes, I know – it’s a strange way to interpret a serious research project, but I wanted an illustration that would have impact for an audience,  not all of whom may know as much about legal deposit as I now do!  So, first I thought about making a patchwork map, but after experimenting with lines on a map, I concluded that it would be such a weird piece of patchwork that maybe I needed to come up with a Plan B.

A collage map seemed more feasible, and I thought I’d mark out where the legal deposit libraries were by linking them together and then appliqueing the shape that resulted. And there they were – a triangle in England (London-Oxford-Cambridge) and a triangle in Scotland (Glasgow-Aberdeen-Edinburgh, with St Andrews sitting on the line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh).  Finally, there were the new arrivals of two legal deposit libraries in Dublin from 1801 onwards (Trinity College and Kings’ Inns) – I couldn’t force them into a triangle, but I gave them one anyway.  So there it was – the three triangles formed another triangle, and I had my graphic illustration.

But why the big gap in the middle with no legal deposit libraries? Ah, that’s probably because there weren’t any university libraries old enough to be considered when legal deposit was established at the beginning of the 18th century!  As a graduate of Durham myself, I thought it was a shame that we missed out on this privilege, but the fact is that although Durham Hall became Durham College back in 1286, it was actually founded by the University of Oxford, eventually becoming Trinity College, Oxford in 1555.  The University of Durham and University College weren’t founded until 1832, and  the Royal Charter was granted to the University by King William IV in 1837. (All dates from the University website.)  By the time Durham had its university, widespread legal deposit was about to be curtailed, and the Library Deposit Act had already been enacted a year before its Royal Charter was granted.  “Too late”, as a Scottish friend put it succinctly!  (Similarly, the Victoria University of Manchester was formed as a medical school in 1824, but did not become a university until even later, in 1851.)

So, the harsh facts are that there weren’t any old-established universities between the southern golden triangle and the Scottish one, at the time the legislation was enacted! And that’s why the legal deposit libraries were scattered around the UK and Ireland as they were.