Every quilter has a story to tell about the quilts they make. Quilts are made to celebrate, remember, for healing or therapy, as art or simply for pleasure. Inspired by Quilters’ Save Our Stories (QSOS) project in the USA, which has been running for 11 years, Talking Quilts aims to preserve the experiences of present-day quilters by building their narratives and practices into a national archive of quilters’ stories.

So far 120 quilters have been interviewed by a dedicated team of over 40 volunteers. Each interview is recorded and transcribed, as well as documentary photographs taken of the quilter with their quilt. It is an amazing achievement and, ultimately, the Collection will provide us with a fascinating snapshot of quilting in the UK today.