The Jessie Chorley Friendship Quilt Project Ver-One
My original Friendship Quilt Project, I launched in 2017.
(Please note this project is now sold out as a full kit, but Version Two of this kit was launched in 2022 and is available today via my online shop via the link below)
My Friendship Quilt projects are a key part of the work that I do as a social embroidery artist. They are designed from the heart to celebrate the lasting friendships that can be created from a mutual love of embroidery and crafting things with others, taking inspiration from traditional sewing bees and crafting circles that have always thrived within communities worldwide. You may enjoy working solo on this project, or you could work with a beloved family member or friend, or perhaps form your own small group of like-minded stitchers.
My goal with my friendship quilt projects is to encourage the freestyle approach to embroidery and simple patchwork techniques that I employ in creating my own work.
Living at a great distance may make it difficult for you to attend a masterclass with me in person, but with my ongoing friendship quilt projects I hope you will feel a part of my life as a maker and that you will also become part of the growing stitching and patching circle that this project continues to push forward.
If you are still working on Version-One of this project (as seen here) There will still be opportunities to exhibit your version of this project with me, during bespoke events and competitions. Therefore please keep in touch with me via my Instagram
(@jessiechorley); you can keep me updated on your progress by tagging me in your posts. You can also email me images and technical questions via my website.
The Design
My overall design and inspiration for this slow-stitch project is based on a traditional coverlet. A coverlet is a thin quilt or a two-layered covering without a thick middle layer. Many different techniques are used when constructing coverlets, quilts and patchwork panels, all of them deeply embedded in history. Please note, however, that although this project celebrates and takes inspiration from traditional quilting and patchwork techniques, it is very much based around my unique and very freestyle approach to patching, celebrating the joy of piecing fabrics together by hand to create a one-off decorative panel. Note also that my version of this project measures approximately 35 cm x 60 cm. But feel free to let your story and your imagination wander and make something much larger – or maybe something much smaller.
This project as a full kit is now sold out.
I do still print and offer the six printed patches/templates as seen above here.
Thees original six patch/template designs are available via the link below:
