Our Quilt is a community textiles project created with residents of Meltham, Meltham Mills, Helme and Wilshaw to represent and celebrate what people love about where they live.
Throughout March, April and May 2024, 100 handmade fabric squares representing and celebrating features of the four villages have been made by the community and stitched together into a colourful quilt that will go on display at the Carlile Institute in Meltham on Saturday July 6.
The project was initiated by Meltham town councillor Ann Jurczyszyn who was inspired by the ‘Speak Their Name’ memorial quilt that had been exhibited at the Carlile Institute last year.
The project delivery team also includes local residents from Meltham Quilters, Upcycle Fashion, The Crossroads Shop and the Community Haberdashery.
The completed quilt, which measures 80 inches square, brings together many textile techniques including knitting, crochet, patchwork, embroidery, applique, felting and more.
“The variety, the imagination and the quality of the work is overwhelming,” said Clr Jurczyszyn.
Many local businesses are represented and 22 scenes from local landscapes have been interpreted in textiles.
Animals also feature throughout the quilt in addition to local churches, sports societies, schools and community organisations.
Two scarecrow squares have been submitted, representing the popular Meltham Scarecrow Festival that takes place each spring, and three David Brown tractor squares reflect the importance of that legacy to this day.
Liz Simmonds, a trustee of The Crossroads Project and a contributor to the quilt, said: “It is a tribute to the strength of the community that all project packs, made available for collection from the central pick up location at the Crossroads Shop, were collected.
“Although we stipulated that the subject matter should celebrate a local feature of village life, we have had submissions from residents past and present, including one from a previous resident now living in Australia!”
The quilt will be on display in the Jubilee Room of the Carlile Institute, Huddersfield Road, Meltham, HD9 4AG on Saturday July 6 between 12.30pm and 4pm for Meltham Memories Retro Weekend.
The quilt will also be on display alongside the Holmfirth Artweek Fringe as follows: July 9-11 (12noon-7pm); July 12 (12noon-8pm); and July 13 (12noon-2pm).
Following this the quilt will go on tour and be displayed in various venues in the villages including Greenacres Care Home, Morrisons and Meltham Methodist Church.
To host Our Quilt on tour, or for more information about the project, please email julia@upcycle-fashion.co.uk
