2025 sees us celebrating our 40th Birthday. We had a sewing day in January with members asked to sew some 8 inch blocks. They could be any colours and any pattern and we were so pleased to receive so many. A group of about 10 of us got together a few weeks later to first of all try and colour coordinate the various blocks and then put them altogether. We worked well as a team and the job was soon done. Each quilt was quilted by one of our members and then a group of people attached the binding. These are the quilts which will be presented to St. Wilfrid’s hospice at our July 2025 meeting.

Presentations after our October 2024 Show

We are proud to support local charities through our biennial quilt show. At our AGM in December 2024, cheques for £1500 were presented to representatives of Snowdrop Trust & Cancerwise.

Cheque presentation to Snowdrop Trust and CancerWise in 2020

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In October 2020, The Snowdrop Trust launched the Snowdrop Quilt of Hope. They asked supporters to follow a pattern of a snowdrop, they would then be stitched together to be raffled in 2021. Some of our members took part and this one is by Jenny Durman.

Afghan Friendship Quilts

Update: We are delighted to say that with a little help from various quilting friends, we have made and passed on more than 500 quilts – what a fantastic achievement.

Our members are busy making friendship quilts to give to Afghan families who are settling in the UK. Most families left Afghanistan with few possessions and although the necessities are being provided by various agencies, a gift of a new quilt seems a friendly thing to do.

The husband of one of our members worked for a British Government Aid department for two years in Kabul so there are personal contacts who find themselves in this dreadful situation.

While our initial 100 quilts already sent out largely depended on links which matched a British person who used to work with the British Embassy in Afghanistan with a newly arrived family or individual in the UK, our quilts are now also distributed through other individuals or organisations working closely with recent Afghan refugees arriving in the UK.

If you would like further information, please get in touch with us using the contact page on this website.

Thanks to The Little House of Patchwork in North Mundham and also Falcon Fabrics Chichester and The Eternal Maker in Chichester for their very kind donations of fabric to help our members make the friendship quilts.

Not only do we have to thank our members for the quilts they have made but also, Ann Bartlett of Bourne Quilters and Socialable Stitchers, Littlehampton Quilters, Littlehampton U3A and Pam Peck. We are very grateful for your hard work and donations.

Also a huge thank you to Valerie Nesbitt of Justhands-on.tv for generously donating a large pile of quilts which was much appreciated and got us off to a great start. The photograph shows many of them.

Our members have also been busy sewing and more than 20 were brought to the October 2021 meeting though many more are wanted and there is still plenty of time to get sewing! Here are some of our members donated quilts.

Ann Bartlett has very generously donated 55, yes 55 quilts !

Ann is a member of Bourne Quilters and is also Chairman of a small group of quilters – Sociable Stitchers who meet in Bedhampton, Havant. All of these quilts were made during lockdown and we thank her for her kind generosity.

Hexagon Quilt

We were given a half finished quilt that had belonged to a friend of a friend of a friend of one of our members’ neighbours, unfortunately, the person had passed away and we were asked if we would like it. Sadly this happens quite often but something about this one grabbed our attention and we decided to finish it. The work that had already been completed was lovely, beautifully cut hexagons all ‘fussy cut’ to show the patterns in the fabric which would most be classed as vintage. Eventually as a joint effort it was completed and entered into The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham as a multi person quilt. After this it was given to one of our charities, to be raffled off to raise funds for them.