Many of the group visited the Festival of Quilts last year and returned determined that they would exhibit their work in Birmingham one day. This week they completed their entry for the 2022 exhibition in August. Title ‘Being Together’ It is a big piece, it was a huge undertaking. Marianne and Janis were particularly pleased that this project was lead by members of the group.
Their sights are now focused on the quilt exhibition hosted by Dulwich Quilters to be held at Bell House in September. The Quilt Academy will exhibit work, run the tombola and contribute pieces to the sales room (this year raising funds for the Mind charity).
Quilt Academy is an all female group, age range 55-80 with most of us being retired with ideas and energy in abundance. There are 24 active participants and an additional 12 on the WhatsApp group who dip in when they can. A swift calculation I would say 10 ethnic groups are represented within our cohort.
The well-being, mindfulness and camaraderie are key to all that we do. The new stitchers receive formal tuition in the basic skills, more experienced members of the group are encouraged to develop and aspire to yet higher standards of both design and execution. Participants may work as an individual on a personal project or more commonly we can be found working on collaborative projects.
Also benefiting from our endeavours are the range of other groups who receive stitched pieces. Eg. Project Linus, Quilts for Care Leavers, Neonatal baby unit at Kings, Brixton Food Bank
Plus we endeavour to respond to initiatives - earlier in year the Afghan refugees and more recently those coming to the UK from Ukraine.