Quilt pockets, sandy toes and soothing bunion chat

Story Street #23

Welcome to Story Street – a monthly newsletter from children’s author and illustrator Jane Porter. Read on for ramblings about my life as a picture book maker, community artist, comic diarist, under-confident fiddle player and very, very amateur luthier.

I’ve had sand between my toes pretty much every day this last month – and even ON my toes the time I thought it would be a good idea to put nail varnish on while sitting on the beach (turns out it wasn’t a good idea unless you like a highly textured finish). I’ve also been doing lots of sewing while watching the Olympics, and have finally finished my quilt. It’s inspired by a special place where I spent most of August – and am planning to spend a lot more time in the future…

Yes – it’s Berwick upon Tweed, the northernmost town in England! I love everything about it, from the sound of curlews to the sandy beaches, the ancient walls and wonky houses, the tidal river Tweed and the hope of spotting an otter, seal or dolphin – and most of all, the very friendly, welcoming and creative inhabitants.

Here’s the quilt, shown hanging over the Elizabethan walls that circle the town.

The top half features the three iconic bridges crossing the river Tweed – the photo below shows the Royal Border Bridge, completed in 1850, which carries the main railway line to Scotland. The oldest of the three bridges has just celebrated its 400^th birthday, which makes it 340 years older than me (yes, I also had a Big Birthday last month).

The pink and white edging round the bridges on the quilt represents Berwick Cockles, a local stripy crumbly mint best eaten in very tiny quantities…

At the bottom is the lighthouse, where in winter sanderlings huddle just above the lashing waves…

And the yellow and red panel at the base of the quilt is a slightly wobbly version of the Northumberland flag.

It’s the first proper big quilt I’ve ever made, so I was feeling my way with how to do it and made many mistakes along the way.

The worst mishap was tacking the sandwiched layers together too loosely, with the result that when I did the top-stitching, lots of areas went bunchy.

The only solution was a lot of slashing to ease the tightness, which then had to be disguised with multiple patches – here’s the back to show you what I mean!

The biggest patch is made from my old pyjama bottoms, which had perished elastic so could no longer stay up unassisted. I decided to keep the two pockets in place, so now this quilt has two secret pockets underneath – what should I keep in them? Let me know your suggestions!

We even took our cat to Berwick - it was a bit of a gamble taking him on a 7 hour car journey, but I found the perfect way to soothe his travels: bunion chat.

Many, many years ago, long before I was an illustrator, I studied Geography - and there were two things I particularly liked about it: maps, and field trips. So I was very happy to volunteer through Greener Berwick for a bit of quadrat sampling for a Natural England project that’s monitoring changes in macro-algae on the Tweed Estuary. Here’s me working out the percentages of different species in the grid - I enjoyed it so much!

I’ve also found a pub with a weekly traditional music session and have been joining in with my fiddle. The first week I was so nervous I could barely play a note, but the regular musicians are not only very talented but also very kind, and have been helping me build my confidence. I’ve even started learning some Northumberland tunes - I’m almost there with the Morpeth Rants set.

A lovely review for Mabel

I was pleased to see this review on the School Reading List website, together with suggestions for classroom activities inspired by my latest picture book with author Paul Stewart (published in June by Otter Barry Books).

“Mabel and the Big Wide World is a heart-warming picture book aimed at younger children who are feeling anxious and scared. This book shows them that things are not always as scary as they seem; they just need to have a bit of courage and channel their inner Mabel! The images in this book are stunning, with detailed collages of landscapes, flowers, and life in and out of the barn.”

Last call for comics!

Now that September’s here, it’s only a couple of weeks before my online comics class starts up again. I’ve got lots of great new prompts planned. Here’s some lovely feedback from a student who joined last term:

I went along to a zine fair and they had a table where zine-makers could leave a few copies, so I contributed the zine I made on your course (my first time ever doing this), and it actually sold 2 copies! I'm really pleased that I not only had the confidence to put my zine out there, but also that 2 other people liked it enough to actually buy it. So thank you so much for the role your wonderful course played in giving me this lovely experience, I'm very grateful to you and the creative, playful space you have built!

Phoebe, London

There are very, very limited spaces left in the evening group (the morning one is full), so contact me asap if you are interested in joining. If there’s enough demand I might add an afternoon session (2.30-4.30 UK time) - let me know if this appeals and I can add you to a waiting list.

The course costs just £175 for a ten-week term – all the details are here:

And you can find out more in this video:

Paper travellers

Thankyou to everyone who bought my Mum’s papier maché animals featured in the last episode of Story Street – she is delighted with how much she has raised for Alzheimer’s Research. Here are some of the creatures travelling to their new homes…

…where I am sure they will be very happy!

Thankyou for reading Story Street – if you enjoyed it, do please share!