Catalogue Number
NMLH.2015.14
Object Name
Quilt
Place
Manchester
Gorton
Events
International Women's Day
Date
2010
Creator(s) Description
The Manchester International Women's Day quilt was made in March 2010 when over 300 people came together at The Monastery in Gorton to celebrate International Womenâs Day. The key themes of that day were that small actions can make bigger things happen, and that everyone has their own story.
These ideas were brought together in the form of this quilt which was stitched with the assistance of students from Manchester Metropolitan University BA (Honours) Embroidery textile design course and the contributions from the 300+ delegates. Throughout the day all the delegates contributed snippets of fabric to the quilt which were then stitched onto the front panel by the students.Textile maker Lisa Watson co-ordinated the whole event.
Lisa Watson explains how the day proceeded:
"Photographs were taken of everyone with their fabric and we also recorded their thoughts on why their scrap of fabric was special to them. You can see and hear these alongside the display of the MIWD10 quilt. Hearing everyoneâs stories about their snippet of fabric, everything from a childâs swimming costume (my daughter brings colour to my life) through to a vintage silk scarf (style is really important to me, I always wore vintage) really fulfilled the original impetus to make a quilt to celebrate MIWD10 and bring all these amazing stories together stitching them into one artwork.The fabric all the snippets were stitched onto as well as the backing cloth of the quilt appropriately also has a rich Manchester heritage. We used ABC Wax fabrics which are designed in Hyde for the Guyanese market. ABC Wax fabric incorporate the most fabulous colourful combinations of African prints, so our MIWD10 quilt is truly eye catching, as well as evocative."
The Manchester International Women's Day quilt was on display at the People's History Museum as part of International Women's Day 2011 and at the Quilt Museum and Gallery in York as part of IWD 2012 before being donated to the People's History Museum in 2015.
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