Feeling like we wanted to document the pandemic, all that we had been through, the good, the bad and the ugly, we were fortunate to receive funding from The National Lottery to run a project that would do just that.
The idea for the Covid community quilt came as we were discussing how obsessed we were with loo roll, Joe Wicks and Banana Bread and what else would we always remember the pandemic by in years to come.
We wanted to know different people’s perspectives and how many of those things we could mentally tick off as being able to relate to… family gamesnight? Yes.
Walks with the dog? Definitely.
Cycling, Gardening, Home Schooling… always watching Boris on the TV for a glimmer of good news.
Our Covid Community Quilt has brought together the perspectives of 64 members of the local community, from our youngest sewer Lizzy who is 14 to many who are old enough to be her grandmothers, we have all been on a journey and learned more about ourselves in the last year.
The brief we gave people was simple, tell us about the silver linings, your experience, how will you remember 2020 in 10 years time?
Our sewing abilities varied, but one of our Founders, Charlotte is a Textile Designer & Sewing teacher so we were able to jump on a weekly Zoom call and learn some new stitches.
On the call we chatted, we laughed and we bonded. We were inspired by ideas from each other, we encouraged and supported each other not only with the sewing but with staying positive and the thought of brighter days to come.
To say we were delighted when The Bowes Museum agreed to exhibit the quilt as part of their Quilt exhibition that runs through the summer is an understatement, we can’t wait to see it there, and stand and watch the people looking at it, who will point and laugh and say, “Ooh remember when we drew rainbows and made all of that Banana Bread!!”
You can read more about the project and see a video about our journey and inspiration on our Community Projects page.