Sunday 5 June 2016, 2-5pm
Textile artist Katherine May has been leading Hackney residents in ‘Quilt Garden’ – a community ‘patchwork’ project, transforming their old clothes and fabrics into a communal piece to hang in the Garden. In a special event for Chelsea Fringe, we’re celebrating the completion of the work, with a display of the finished piece, in among the trees and flowers of the Garden. Visitors will also be able to read the stories of the fabrics which were shared along the way, hear Katherine talk about the process and what inspires her and make a miniature ‘patchwork’ lavender pillow, using simple stitches and fabric scraps left over from ‘Quilt Garden’.
Here’s how Katherine describes her inspiration and work;
“This project is an ode to the women’s of ‘Gee’s Bend’, a community of quilt makers residing at the bend of the Alabama River. Their practice of quilt making for their families by using up all available fabric scraps and old clothing, has guided my own practice in contemplating the life of materials through collecting, unpicking, growing and sharing. Their quilts were used within the home to keep warm – hanging over windows or spread on their beds. When they were not in use, the quilts were hung outside to refresh in the air.”
Quilt Garden
garden;
verb. to lay out, to cultivate, to tend a garden.
To garden, to quilt;
to lay out, to arrange a variety of pieces of parts.
To prepare, to devote oneself to sew up between pieces of cloth
to the growth of the pieces,
to the cultivation of a group of stitchers.
To tend, to care for
broken or unused pieces of clothing or cloth.
To attend to our work composed of patches,
attentive to working together
Katherine May
This event is free, but we ask you to support our community events and workshops programme with a donation to help cover our costs.
