COVID 19 quilt project

While many of us are continuing to stitch, quilt, knit, embroider, crochet and work on other crafts during quarantine for the COVID19 pandemic, the Covid 19 Global Quilt project is an Instagram initiative focussing on crafters activities especially during and in response to the pandemic. If you are an Instagrammer you might be interested in either seeing what others have posted, or in contributing to it yourself.

The project was launched by Kate Just @katejustknits and Tal Fitzpatrick @talfitzpatrick - artists and craftivists living and working in Melbourne, Australia, when they posted on 4 April:

'We are excited to launch our Covid 19 Global Quilt project @covid19quiltWe invite textile contributions from people all around the world that reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it is having on the world, your lives, families, work, jobs, relationships, health and more. At a time when most of us are advised not to touch anyone or anything, and gathering in groups is no longer possible, we wanted to create a project that allows people to experience the sense of a joining a quilting bee or knitting circle. Working with our hands makes us feel calm, focussed and gives us a sense of purpose. We all need that right now. 

You don’t need to be an artist or experienced crafter to participate and we welcome submissions from people of all ages. In keeping with the times, you can make your square from whatever textile materials you have around the house already that are suited to the task! 

If you have already made a textile work about Covid-19 or would like to make a new textile square for this project, we would welcome these at @covid19quilt! Please check out project info in Story Highlights (on the @cid19quilt homepage - the purple icon in the screenshot below) and start sending us your responses via direct message!

And please let us know if you are willing to share and help us translate the project instructions in languages other than English! 

We can’t wait to see what this will bring! '

#covid19quilt #covid19crafts #isolationcreation #covid19 #knitting #sewing #pandemic #quiltingbee

Quarantine quilting (4)

We held our second large group Zoom meeting this week, and it went well. We have learned where our microphones and video icons are, and we could see and hear everyone! It's not the same as meeting face-to-face, but better than not meeting at all. We're getting better at holding our work up high enough for others to see!

There continues to be quite a bit of sewing going on - here are some recent finishes and works in progress ...

Jo has finished machine and hand quilting her beautiful
blue quilt (design and fabric by Brigitte Heitland @zenchicmoda).

Jo acquired a very cute little kitten not so long ago
... guess who uses the quilt?

Marilyn made the perfect quilt for her little great
granddaughter, who lives on an emu farm!

Daphne continues to work her way through her
substantial collection of scraps!

And Daphne is still adding to her red and
white 6" blocks - almost there!

Julie does a lot of machine applique and has great skills
- she describes her 'Contantinople' quilt as the most difficult
she has ever done. But the top is finished, beauitfully.

Once Constantinople was conquered, Julie
finished off her dragon flies quilt ...

... and fussy cut leftover crane fabric from an earlier quilt for this one.

Reading and viewing

After such a long and very hot summer, the cooler weather is welcome. If you are looking for some quilt-related reading and viewing, here are a few links ...


The Legacy of Di Ford Hall
14 May 2020, Quilt andTextile Collections 

Description. We wanted to find a way to continue Di Ford Hall’s legacy for years to come and decided on a video record. She impacted many parts of the quilting industry depending on how you knew her, whether as teacher, fabric designer, mentor, friend and/or colleague. We really appreciate every artist that contributed a photo of their quilt to honor Di Ford Hall. May Di’s legend live on..

100 days
Terry Grant, And Sew It Goes, 13 May 2020

I just finished an online project called “100 Days of Creativity”. It’s a program of the Studio Art Quilts Associate’s (SAQA) that I am a member of. Members who want to participate simply upload a photo of something creative they have done that day to an online album. It is a great source of inspiration to look at daily and a little incentive to share our work in an informal way. I first participated last year and shared random images of what I was working on. For this round I decided to use the opportunity to explore decorative hand stitching/embroidery and created an irregular grid of 100 rectangles to fill a day at a time ...

The Bayeux Tapestry to Quilt
Renowned Australian textile artist, quilter and teacher Pam Holland has been on a 15 year quest to recreate the Bayeux Tapestry as a quilt. Pam has started a new series of blog posts, The Bayeux Tapestry to Quilt, richly illustrated with her own excellent photographs.

This enormous work is nearing completion - to read Pam's plans for the quilt and how quarantine in the current pandemic has influenced her decision to publish about it now on her Facebook page, starting with her post from 24 April 2020. 

If you have any interest in medieval history and in textile arts (including quilting, you will enjoy this blog.


International crafters link together to create beautiful quilts for bushfire-affected families
Justin Huntsdale,  ABC Illawarra, 29 April 2020

As bushfire victims work to rebuild their lives after the devastating Australian summer, a group of quilters is stitching together beautiful handmade squares from around the world to offer a gift that is like a "nice warm hug".

When quiltmaker Sally Tuner put the call out for people to sew beautiful squares to help make quilts for bushfire victims, she had no idea how the idea would take off.

The message spread internationally, and soon she was not only receiving donations in the mail but accompanying letters that would bring her to tears ...

Community Quilts

Just before our last meeting, we learned that we could no longer donate our community quilts to aged care facilities because of the Corona virus risk.

Then at our very last meeting before the restrictions on gatherings were implemented we were asked if we could donate fifteen quilts to a non-profit community organisation that supports women with family members in NSW prisons. We were able to organise a non-contact delivery at short notice. The quilts won't be distributed for some time, because the support group's operations have been severely curtailed for now, but we were very happy to pass on some of our collection for when they are needed.

As our members are continuing to sew as much as ever during our stay at home, and there is a flurry of 'finishing off' projects, we know the collection will be back to our storage capacity in no time.

Quarantine quilting (3)

 This is the perfect time for hand work ... cooler weather, more time, a need for relaxation - we've got this!

Robyn's hand quilting is spectacular, and her felt
embroidery is great fun!

With the missing block found and the quilt top made by her
daughter assembled, Louise is enjoying hand quilting
with  a variegated thread.

Denise has made a sweet bunny rug for her expected
grandchild -  she says the eight little legs were a bit
of a challenge!

Just one of Nerida's hand stitching projects.

Jill is half-way to 32 Steam Punk blocks
(pattern by Jen Kingwell).

Jenn is hand quilting her beautifully soft quilt made
with Heather Ross's 'Sleeping Porch' fabric range.

And having finished off two other English paper pieced
quilt tops, Jen has gone back to her Passaacaglia blocks
(designed by Willyne Hammersteein)

Miriam was invited to design a block for Quiltmania's
Solidarity initiative. She was pleased to able to  include a
piece of Di Ford fabric in the central flower for remembrance,

Zoomers ...

When we suspended our meetings on 16 March, most of us didn't know anything about Zoom, or that it was about to become a part of our lives. We've had a few practices with small groups but today was a first. Twenty six of us have just successfully held our first large group Zoom meeting, with judicious use of the ‘mute’ button to give every one a turn to say hello, tell us what they have been up to, and to sing happy 85th birthday to one of us.  

It was lovely to check in with so many of our friends.

Our show and tell included revealing our new group
banner, designed and made by members of the evening
group and beautifully quilted by Yvette.

Quarantine quilting (2)

Most of us have a stash of fabric, thread, many have yarn stashes ... so we are well placed to occupy ourselves during time in quarantine, and we find ways to make quilts and other things. We're keeping in touch in new ways -  we've practised Zoom chats in small groups and are planning to trial a larger online meeting next week. Whats App is proving useful, emails and phone calls are more regular than ever. Lots of sewing rooms and cupboards are being explored, cleaned out and older buried, sometimes forgotten unfinished projects resurrected and sometimes finished off. One of our members has finished off 10 community quilts! And of course, new things have been started. Instagram has become our regular 'show and tell'. Here are some of our recent quarantine efforts ...

Helen found this knitting bag for beanies being
made for her grandchildren a quick and fun make

Robin has been busy making three quilt quilt
tops from her vibrant stash fabric

Robin's second finish

... and her third.

Janet has made a scrap quilt from start to finish
-  but she still has blue scraps!

Nerida's Modern Half Square Triangle 2020 block of the month is a
showcase of her beautifully curated stash

Another beauty Nerida has been working on.

Daphne's first quarantine quilt top finish is a beauty!

Jenn's circle time floor quilt for her son's classroom
- wedges for the win. She used a 10 degree wedge ruler,
and Dylan Mierzwinski's 'Playground' fabric range.
For details of Jenn's process, visit @pennypoppleton
on Instagram.

Reading, viewing

While you wait for your regular quilt group meetings to reconvene ...

You might like to participate in research about sewing (including quilting) and well being by completing this online survey from the University of Wollongong: https://uow.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hzwnSnpInnfNeB

Terry Grant is an art quilter who lives in Portland, Oregon, who is generously sharing some of her quilts as online jigsaws: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/TerryGrant. There are a number available, and it can become a little addictive. She blogs at And Sew It Goes

Vision 2020 is an art quilt exhibition curated by Brenda Gael Smith. Its planned launch at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne last month was halted by the pandemic, but you can see it online now: https://vision2020textiles.com/gallery/

Chicago based Modern Quilt Studio has released a YouTube video entitled 20 Years, 200 Quilts featuring 200 of the quilts they have designed and made in the past 20 years - that's a body of work (but it's only part of what they do):