A Stay Home Quilt - A look back.

A Stay Home Quilt - A look back.

With the prospect of lockdown looming, my husband and I, were discussing what we were going to do during this time, or should I say what ‘I’ was going to do, as he was about to deploy to Kuwait for 6 months. ( He always seems to go away during major life events!) He suggested making a Quarantine Quilt. I think he meant one for the family, but I suddenly had the desire to do something that involved my local community. Thus the S17 Stay Home Quilt was born.

As hundreds of people in my community and (millions across the globe!) where spending a lot of time at home, many in complete isolation, I wanted to reach out and encourage people to sew. To help combat feelings of isolation and anxiety and bring people together by way of a quilt, to show how we were spending our time during lockdown. I hoped this quilt would one day become a little piece of history.

I posted on FB and Instagram and asking people to make a patchwork square. Using whatever materials available; old bed linen, children clothes, old shirts etc, and decorate the square with thread, felt, wool or ink showing what they were doing during this long period of time at home.

During the first few days and weeks, I received a steady stream of patchwork squares through my letterbox. It was an absolute delight to see such creativity and find out a little bit about people in my community, many I have never met! Such wonderful sewing skills from people young an old. Our eldest contributor was 87 and our youngest 7. It was fantastic to have so many people joining in, demonstrating how community comes together in times of hardship.

It is hard to believe that it's 5 years since the Covid Pandemic. Many things have changed since then, some for the better and some.. not so much. The one thing I'm glad to say has returned to normal is sewing in person.  I love being able to teach in my studio, and I also love being part of sewing groups.

Once people were happy to meet in person again, I set up the Sheffield Modern Quilt Guild, which I now chair. We meet once a month on a Saturday and enjoy spending the day sewing together. We also invite outside teachers to run workshops.


 I also run a small hand sewing group in a local cafe. Whilst sewing alone is probably the majority of the time spent enjoying our hobby, nothing beats getting together for a natter and enjoying a slice of cake and a cup of tea while we share our latest projects.

If you would like to join one of our Sewcials, we meet once a month in my studio on the 3rd Friday of each month. If you are a quilter and  interested in joining the Sheffield MQG why not come along to one of our meetings. For more information on either of these group you can get in touch here

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