Formed as a result of the first quilt exhibition in 1995, Welsh Heritage Quilters is our local quilting group. We have over 40 members and the experience within the group varies from beginners to City and Guilds students.
Members of Welsh Heritage Quilters prepare their exhibit for the Quilt Association's 'Spring Quilting Celebration' March 2007
By meeting and working as a group we can spark ideas off each other, draw on the skill and expertise of other members and be encouraged to get on and finish projects we have started. But most of all we enjoy stitching, chatting and having a cup of tea.
Some weeks there are organised workshops or perhaps members take informal teaching sessions, on others we get on with our own stitching.
From time to time we get together to produce quilts for charity. We have an continuing arrangement to make "comfort quilts" for the police, and have made cot quilts to be given to babies born in prison. We have made lap quilts for the local hospital and home for the elderly, as well as sending quilts and wall hangings to a hospital in Chernobyl.
We meet at the Minerva Centre during the summer show and act as living exhibits as we sit and stitch. Visitors like to stop and chat and see what we are working on.
Many of our members support the exhibition by acting as voluntary stewards and help with setting up the exhibition. We also produce work for display and for sale during the exhibition and have used the centre for independent exhibitions.
The group has a quilting frame and several other pieces of equipment which we share. When a member completes a quilt top we get together to stretch and sandwich the layers together. Then in the course of an afternoon with a joint effort of threading needles and tacking we can get the job done in time to remove the tacked quilt from the frame ready to take home and quilt "in the hand" at leisure.