A TEXTILE art exhibition, which grew out of a church-run community project during the lockdown, has been displayed at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

St John’s, Waterbeach, ran community textile projects through the lockdown to encourage people to be creative and develop new talents.

Artists joined in, developing new skills, including David Smith, who picked up a needle after years in furniture design to make needlepoint tapestries, and Claire, his wife, who began 3D needle-felting.

Some of the villagers’ work was displayed by the Museum as part of the project Fitz-Stitch Quilt, in which a large collaborative artwork was made from individually stitched squares.

Last month, the textile artworks were also displayed in St John’s, when ironing boards were inserted into pew ends to create display space. The event, “Re-thread”, raised more than £600 for the British Red Cross Crisis Appeal. It was organised by Angela Brown, who was thrilled, she said, that what had begun as outreach during Covid had attracted not only artists trying out new creative paths, but the Fitzwilliam Museum.