Norwich Pride Patchwork Quilt

The Norwich Pride Patchwork Quilt has been inspired by a patchwork quilt made by Lillian Dring who, in 1951, created the patchwork of the century for the Festival of Britain by gathering together women with little or no sewing experience to produce a quilt documenting advances in women's rights over 100 years.

The philosophy of the Pride quilt is to bring together members of the LGBT community, including their supporters, friends and family members, to document and commemorate some of the key events of LGBT history in textile. The starting point is 1960, which gives 52 years to 2012 and the space to extend and add to the quilt each year. The aim is to have a good representation of local, national and international events.

The 'Sew Gay' group meet on the 'big table' from 12noon to 2pm on the last Saturday of each month in the Forum library, first floor, in the centre of Norwich to work on craft projects and enjoy some friendly chat. Everyone who supports the LGBT community is welcome.

Some people can't make it to the group sessions but work on their projects - in this case, patches for the quilt - at home.

Here is my offering. I was originally going to do something about Benjamin Britten but it really was a case of enthusiasm coming in the window and sense going out the door. No way did I have the skill. So, I had another look at which years were still available and on Saturday I agreed to take 1998 as that was the year that the Bisexual Pride flag was created. You really can't get anything simpler than a flag, can you?

In the craft shop looking for pieces of felt I bumped into an acquaintance and explained to her what I was doing. She looked rather concerned, laid a hand on my arm and said 'Is there anything you'd like to share with me?' to which I replied 'Yes. I really love doing patchwork'.

You can see some of the patches on this blip entry from my friend Shelly Telly.