ID number: TQ.2016.041
Name of interviewee: Helen Baston
Name of interviewer: Victoria Martin
Name of transcriber: Take 1
Location: Helen’s home
Address: Chapeltown, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Date: 19 November 2016
Length of interview: 1:08:40
Summary
Helen celebrated her 50th birthday by asking friends and family to contribute to making a special quilt. She talks about how she organised the quiltmaking, the messages she got back on the paper templates and her husband, Simon’s, role in the project. Helen is a consultant midwife and works with the stop smoking midwifery team, where she has introduced a ‘Quilt to Quit’ project for pregnant women in Sheffield. She talks about how the project works, completing a feasibility study and her hopes for the project in the future. Other topics discussed in the interview include how she was taught hexagon patchwork as a child, getting family involved in quilting and how quilting has helped her husband overcome some of the symptoms of Huntingdon’s Disease.
Interview
Victoria Martin [VM]: Can we start off by talking about this quilt here a little bit please? Can you tell me about it?
Helen Baston [HB]: Okay well this idea, um, came about because it was… I was coming up to my 50th birthday and I wanted to celebrate it in a way that reminded me about my friends and family. Um, and I don’t know where the idea came from but I came up with the idea that if I was, um, sort of really organised and made sure that everybody had exactly what they needed that they might be able to, um, contribute to a quilt. So I had the idea of sending, uh, all my friends and family a package with everything they needed. So basically paper template, and it said Helen’s 50th birthday on …on them. Um, the fabric that I had chosen. My favourite colours which are blues. Um, blue thread, a needle. Even a self-addressed envelope so that they had no excuse, um, not to send it back to me. I gave the instructions on how to quilt so they didn’t need to be a quilter, um, or have any experience, um, and a welcoming letter, you know, what… what the project was about and why it was so important to me. Um, just to have a go. I also asked them to write messages on the back of the paper template, um, and they were special as well receiving those back and for anybody who…who has ever done any, um, quilting with paper templates you know that you re-use them over and over again and so they become part of …of your quilting life really. Um, Simon my amazing husband he did the centrepiece so that’s different to the rest of the quilt. Um, it’s in the same colours but its diamonds and he spent a long time working out um, how… how he would figure that out mathematically. Um, he’s done an amazing job. And he and my daughter r Hannah did more of the, um, sewing together and additional templates to make it into a square. So, uh, that’s my quilt.
VM: So, can you just describe what it looks like for me?
HB: Um, so the… it’s made up of hexagons so all my friends and family that took part in it sent back a hexagon so, um, I was specific about the centrepiece which Is a plainer piece of blue but it’s all different blues and greens. Some purples. Um, and the centrepiece had to be the plain blue so that when I received them back I’ve quilted the name of the, um, embroidered the name of the person who sent it back so I can look at it and see oh there’s… there’s Lesley or there’s Simon or there’s Adele. Um, my mu. My brother, my sister. Lots and lots of very special people that have come across in my life. My, um, relatives and friends and colleagues. Even people that I didn’t know very well have… have contributed to it so its, uh, it’s very special.
VM: And how many pieces did you have them each do? What was the little kind of blocks they put together?
HB: So to make, um, a hexagon or a rosette, um, includes seven pieces of fabric. Um, so each person yeah had a package with…with seven pieces of fabric. Seven templates and enough blue thread to sew it together. Um, I sent it out to about 80 people, um, and I got 75 back. So yeah I was really pleased and it was… it was great with, you know, waiting for the post. Um, and getting these… these packages back and wondering who it might be from, um, and what messages they might have written on the… on the templates. Um, so it was a… it was a really special time. A really good way to make your 50th birthday something that’s… something to celebrate instead of oh dear I’m getting on a bit now.
VM: So you sent these out to all different friends and family and people what sorta messages did you get back on the… on the pieces of card?
HB: Um, very, very touching, um, you know, what a great idea things like that and from a practical point of view, um, this is so special. Um, things like I’m only doing this because I really love you and, you know, people who… who might have found it quite challenging and, you know, lots of special messages about, you know, you’re amazing and yeah lots of adjectives to describe me which are… um, I wouldn’t particularly use myself. Um, in a nice way. So, you know, you don’t go through life often getting accolades or asking people what they think of you and I hadn’t done that but obviously people took the opportunity to say nice things about me and just very touching.
VM: Did you have any people who said there’s absolutely no way I am sewing this together you may have this back?
HB: No, um, the… the odd people… very few people that didn’t send back, um, can only remember a couple of people and they’re very special people who I know love me enormously, um, but it just wasn’t something that they could even begin to think of doing and… and it’s… that’s fine. It’s absolutely fine because people who had never sewn before did and people who really found it challenging, um, it took a long time for them to do but they knew how important it was so they… they did it anyway. Um, but nobody said, you know, in a negative way I’m not doing that. Even the people who… who didn’t send back I met a couple of times in the interim and they would oh I really will do but you know, I’m really, really busy or whatever it was and I totally understand that. That’s fine. I… I know they love me.
VM: So what was the standard like of some of these that you got back?
HB: Well it’s pretty much reflects, um, I was going to say it reflects them as individuals but sometimes it doesn’t because you … you have a vision of somebody who might be a real high flyer or, um, you know, really clever, um, who’s… who’s quilting, um, you can tell they struggled with it to an extent. Um, and other people who had never sewn before who done absolutely meticulous… meticulous, um, pieces of work. Um, and some people that you know who are colleagues perhaps who have real attention to detail. Who have been absolutely the tiniest stitches you could ever imagine. Um, and I mean really if you… if you’ve done any quilting the stitching doesn’t have to be perfect. It really doesn’t. Um, particularly if you’re going to back it and quilt it onto something else. Um, you know, it will be strong enough. Um, and it’s very forgiving particularly if you’re using the same colour thread but even when you, you know, you don’t it’s… you can get away with a lot. As far as I’m concerned the quality is amazing from everybody because, you know, it’s… it’s been a challenge for some. A joy for others. Um, and… and some in between really. Yeah.
VM: So what sort of… can you just describe for me what sort of stage it’s at now as a quilt?
HB: Yeah, um, well my husband sewed all the… all the pieces together and my daughter played a part as well. Um, it’s… it’s at a stage where it’s of an even, um, it’s… it’s a square. Um, I have chosen some fabric for the back, um, which basically is a lot of silk shirts that I came across, um, in a second-hand shop that… it was actually, um, an opportunity to buy fabric by weight and silk doesn’t weigh very much so I… I got lots and lots of, uh, silk shirts which were… are exactly the same colours. So I guess the delay is the fact that I need to piece those pieces together. I want to make them quite random. Um, to use as the backing, um, and then, um, put some, um, wadding in between. I have… I have never done the actual quilting, um, to make a hand quilt and that’s something I want to learn in terms of attaching it to the backing. And I s’pose one of the things that’s making me hesitate is I’m not sure quite what pattern I will use to attach the top to the bottom. Um, but that’s great because it’s… it’s a work in progress. But at this stage I can… I can really appreciate who’s contributed and how it will look as a finished piece.
VM: So what’s your end hope for this?
HB: Um…
VM: Will it be a wall hanging or bed quilt or just something to keep on the side and snuggle under occasionally?
HB: Yeah don’t… I don’t think I would hang it on the wall. Um, um we’ve just moved house and I have a… a vision for the attic bedrooms being really quite quirky and, um, sort of New Englandy so it… it would sort of perhaps drape over an old chair or the end of a… a child’s bed or, um, it’ll just be oh I know, you know, perhaps when somebody’s not feeling very well. It’s the sort of thing that you grab and comfort somebody with. Um, so yeah it’s… it’s not… I don’t see it as a piece of art. I mean, it depends how you describe art but it’s not something I would… I would use as a display piece. Um, no it’s more… it’s to be used yeah as a quilt should be used. As a comfort and, um, something to keep you warm.
VM: Where did you get the idea from for it?
HB: I’ve no idea. Um, I suppose…I suppose it evolved in the sense that, um, I have a quilting project at work which is to help pregnant women stop smoking and as part of that project women receive a bag with everything they need to start quilting. So in the sense of already having, um, formulated the idea of how the package would look, um, little CD covers with, um, templates and fabric and needle and thread, um, so I s’pose it must have evolved from that. Having the knowledge that, you know, if everybody has…if somebody has everything they need to get started then it’s much more likely to happen. Um, and when I first started with that project I … I did once instead of Christmas cards give colleagues at work a different Christmas fabric in an envelope. Um, just to sew together and… and that was fun. That was fun so I s’pose it’s just… it will evolve from that. Yeah.
VM: Have you had any feedback from anybody who took part? Who said kinda like, oh do you know what you’ve… I quite fancy doing a bit of sewing now or…
HB: Oh yes, um, through… through the smoking project as well I think, um, you know, people have been aware that I’ve been involved in… in… in quilting and certainly the, um, the amazing stop smoking midwives who contribute and who help women, um, to take part in the project, um, one of them was an experienced quilter. She sews anyway with her sister. Another one hadn’t, um, done so much sewing and has made an amazing quilt herself. Um, yeah I… I’ve introduced quite a few people to… to giving it a go and it’s one of those things that you can have a, you know, it’s so portable. You can have it by the side of your chair and do it while you’re watching tele or you can do it on the bus, on the train, anywhere. Um, that’s… I’ve just remembered when, um, I just given out the packs to my friends and colleagues to do this 50th birthday quilt I was going to a conference on the train and, um, one of my colleagues said oh I’ve got this with me I can do it now on the train, um, and I… I always take a little bag if I’m going on holiday ’cause I don’t get much time to do quilting. I have a busy job. Um, so I was quilting and she was quilting and then a woman that I’d never met on the train said ‘oh can I have a go’ and I had lots of templates and… and things to hand and… and she started quilting on the train and then somebody else and there were four women who I’d never met, ever, on this train quilting in the same carriage. It was just amazing. And really honestly never met them before. Um, who ended up quilting. And, you know, one of them said, you know, you can put that with whatever you want. She gave me it back when she got off and another person can I keep this and, you know, so it was great. Everybody did what they wanted to do with it on that train journey and that… that was amazing
VM: How lovely.
HB: Yeah I’d forgotten about that.
VM: So you… you embroidered people’s names on when they came back?
HB: Um hmm
VM: And how did you do that? Did you do that by hand or on a machine or…?
HB: I did it on the machine. Yeah. Um, again, it was one of those things I’ve never… I don’t, um, machine embroider. It’s not something I do. But I know I’ve got a foot on my lovely Bernina machine that I’ve had since I was… dunno 25. Um, so I thought oh I’ll give that a go. Yeah. So it’s fine. It’s not… It’s not perfect but it’s just a way of recording quickly who… whose done what. [Pause while HB looks at quilt] um, yeah. I know all of these people. It’s like people who… who do quilt will often go back to an old quilt and say ‘I know where that fabric came from, it was a dress that I had’ or ‘that was my daughter’s first birthday dress’ or whatever it was. It’s so evocative of time and place and people. Um, and I think, you know, when your memory’s failing a bit it’s… it’s really good to have visual things that remind you about things. I’m certainly that way inclined anyway.
VM: So how do you feel about this quilt?
HB: Gosh, um, to actually put that in words it… it… I can’t put it in words. It… it’s… it makes me very emotional as you can. I don’t want to cry but it’s, you know, how amazing that people would do that for you. And when you think…if you turn it over and you think about all of those stitches that people have done for you, um, I think particularly Simon ’cause he’s done lots of it. He’s done most of it in the sense of sewing it together. Um, and the special… there’s a centrepiece that Simon’s done which is unique to him. His design. He made it. He… he uses diamonds. I’ve never used diamond. He will try and use things so… but yes it’s… it’s very, very precious. Um, and that’s why I need to do justice to finishing it properly. Um, I’m not just going to machine it onto the back of something I had before or [coughs] I want it to be, um, I want the finished product to reflect what it means to me [clears throat] excuse me. And to perhaps put in as much work or try to reflect, you know, um, and learning as has gone into from people that have made this.
VM: I should just say that while we’re talking you’re stroking it a lot. You’re actually physically stroking the quilt a lot which kind of says a lot about how you feel about it.
HB: Yes. I love it.
VM: Its beautiful quilt. It’s lovely colours.
HB: I absolutely love it.
VM: Are these… ’cause I mean there’s some… well if you wouldn’t mind trying to describe the styles of the fabrics that are in there and why… are they typical the sorta things that you go for ’cause there’s some batiks in there isn’t there and things.
HB: Um, yes they are sort of…
VM: There’s no flowers.
HB: No it’s organic, yes, and, um, things that, you know, like you say are… there’s some… there’s some leaf shapes in one of the fabrics. Um, others are batik there’s probably three different kinds of… of batik like those oil… when you put oil on water and, um, oil paint on water and the colours swirl and are quite random. Um, but I… yeah I think colour is so, so important. I wouldn’t have orange in a quilt, um, you know, in a… something that I’d chosen specifically. Um, and it’s yeah it’s not, um, I don’t… I don’t s’pose you could really attribute any of the… the fabric designs to a particular, um, designer. They’re… they’re very random and organic. Um, very deep tones. Um, and I think they… they work well together although, you know, some of them are just different blues. Some of them have greens and purples, um, and they do work really well together. I… I love blue and there’s so many different blues, um, I don’t think there’s a shade or tone of blue that I don’t like. And this has quite a few of them in.
VM: Do you know what the overall look reminds me of? Kind of Mediterranean seas. Those sorts of shades of blue ’cause it’s quite a vibrant… vibrant without being bright. Like a rich.
HB: Yes, it’s jewely…jewel colours I guess.
VM: So can you tell me a bit about your sewing, your sewing background? Did you sew as a child? Did you get into it when you were a bit older? As a teenager or is it quite recent?
HB: No I’ve always made things as a child. Um, I love tools. Um, so I would follow my dad round with his toolbox and I once unscrewed the oven door when I was about two. Um, yeah I love making things. I love making things… making the best of things so I used to like cleaning and, you know, weird things like that but I s’pose it’s about trying to make the best of… of what you’ve got um, so I’d make dolls clothes things like that when I was growing up. Um, and my uncle, uh, he used to bring me samples of fabric from his business and I… there’s more exciting than getting a random bag of fabric and seeing, you know, is there any blue in there, um, although I probably didn’t have that propensity then but, um, yeah seeing what was in it. What would it be big enough to make? What could I… what could I make from that? Um, so I did sew at school. We had, um, middle school, um, I can remember particularly when I went to middle school there was an inspirational teacher there who used to let, um, people come in and use the machines at lunchtime so I did that. Um, my mum used to have an old Singer and she was amazing in terms of, um, she’d… it was the days when we wore quite short dresses, mini dresses and I was born in the 60s and she was very stylish. She is very stylish. Um, and she would make us; my sister herself and me, dresses, uh, out of a very small amount of fabric. All matching dresses. I can remember when we went to Spain and I was only four but we all had matching dresses. Um, but her Singer machine [clears throat] fitted into the light bulb, uh, the light socket in the middle of the room to make the electricity work. Um, so I used to play on that. And then I had my own, um, my parents bought me a sewing machine.
Um, and yeah I sort of made clothes. I wasn’t obsessive. I didn’t, you know, everything I wore wasn’t what I’d made but I could… I could make… follow a pattern and make my own pattern. And one time I made, um, a jacket with a mandarin collar out of a dressing gown, an old dressing gown, and it was all… it was blues. Different coloured satins. And I can remember I wore that when I was in the sixth form. It was quite striking. Um, so yeah I make random things and, yeah, I made my own wedding dressing and bridesmaid’s dresses and, um, and that was good fun as well. Really special time. Um, yeah. Sewing covered buttons together with my friend. Um, and again it’s… it’s great when somebody contributes to something that’s so special like your wedding dress, you know. That was good fun. Um, and then life gets busy and you don’t have so much time. Um, but then you make the most of times when you have got a bit more space so, um, I used to pack the quilt… I got a more random quilt over there… used to take that on holiday with us and if it rained… I can remember we used to go to this amazing place in France which was in the middle of nowhere and if it rained, you know, you could get a bit stuck. So, um, we’d get the quilt out… quilting out and so it didn’t have to be that people were always sewing. With… with this kinda quilting there’s a job for everybody. Either cutting out templates, um, sewing the fabric to the templates or sewing the templates together. Um, so people… I’ve still got the templates of the cows in the field or whatever it was. Um, and everybody would have a go. But it didn’t have to be raining. We did it sometimes when it was, you know, when it was sunny sitting out in the garden.
VM: So who was this you’re talking about now would be sitting there doing these?
HB: Um, so my children. Um, Hannah and Joe… Joseph. Um, and also we’d go to this place in France with, um, uh, my colleague from work and my brother and sister-in-law. I remember my sister-in-law’s picture of the cow, one of the templates, so yeah it could be anybody who… who… who was there. Yeah, it was an amazing place to go but, um, you know, it was in the middle of nowhere.
VM: So I mean you’re obviously doing a bit of patchwork by then. When did you start getting a bit interested in patchwork?
HB: Um, I… I remember who I… who I started the quilt with. My best friend Lois, um, and her mother introduced us to it. And I was asking her how old we were and we think probably around ten. And we were doing that. Um, we’d probably be doing it watching Starsky and Hutch or something like that. Um, but yeah it was her mother and, um, her mother’s recently died and Lois has… has given me her mum’s sewing machine which is amazing, which I will treasure, um, but what I also asked Lois for was some of the original templates because they’re slightly smaller than this one. Um, so that we can keep that… it’s amazing isn’t it, you know, that is a template for life that will be replicated over and over again. Um, so that’s great. And it’s also, um, reminded Lois of how much we enjoyed sewing together and she is finishing a quilt that her mother had started now and she’s also designing one of her own and it’s amazing. It’s just amazing. But it’s… it’s just a brilliant thing to do because you… you can forget it for years and pick it up again and then have a real burst where it’s absolutely obsessive and you’ve got to do it and other times when, um, it’s like a good friend that you can see lots of or not lots of and, you know, just pick up where you were.
VM: When you and Lois were making that first …doing that first bitta patchwork what were you making? Were you trying to make a quilt or was it a cushion or…
HB: Um, I… I don’t think we ever made anything other than quilts. Just got bigger and bigger and bigger. Um, no it was a process really rather than making end products. Um, but I think everybody’s different when they’re…they’re quilting. Some people like to think it’s going to have an actual end product and… and it’s amazing when it does. There’s some cushions over there that Simon’s made, um, and he’s made them for the children and, um, their cousin Mia. Everybody has got one in colours that they like. Um, recently we’ve got into… well Simon has got into making pin cushions which are really good to show people how you can make something really simple really quickly and it has a function as well so there’s a purpose in it which is particularly useful for the quilt to quit project really. I mean, some pincushions over there. And its… it’s good because although a lot of them are blue I have to say, um, I did say to Simon which… which fabrics I wanted him to put together but there are different ones to reflect different people. What different people like. Pinks or black or white or… yeah…
VM: So what sort of things do you tend to make? Do you… do you get to the finished product often or is it just the process that you enjoy sitting and doing?
HB: Um, it’s the process really. I think… I like seeing people enjoy learning a new skill. Um, and I think it… it boosts your self-esteem if you… if you make something. Oh gosh, you know, I can do something. I didn’t know I had this skill or I can develop new skills. Um, I like… I like colour. I like choosing colour and putting colours together. I like collecting fabric. So it’s more about it’s more about the process with me really I have to say. Um, having ideas. Um, my daughter’s amazing. She’s amazing anyway but she’s made, um, a fantastic quilt that’s squares and it’s the length of a door so its… it… she made a wardrobe an used that as the door and that’s all hand sewn squares so, you know, everybody else makes… finishes things. I am a completer finisher at work but I don’t… I s’pose I don’t feel the need to with quilting. It’s not why I quilt. Um, I just quilt. And I don’t need to finish something. Um, and I… I try and take something with me or, um, be working on something when I go on holiday and be able to pick that up. Um, I… I guess because of the smoking project, an end product has been different hexagons ’cause we got loads of different just random hexagons that the team can use to show women how you can put different things together, different colours, you know, baby fabrics or, you know, sort of more bright and children focused ones. Um, so just doing hexagons had… has had a purpose. Has been an end product as a… as a sampler if you like of what… what people can do Um, and as part of that project I have run workshops with, um, different age group people who have helped put the packages together because it… it’s actually quite a process to put the gift bags together. You know, either to fold the instructions, fold the consent form, put fabric templates in envelopes, cut out fabric, cut out templates. Make little sewing cases, um, for needles. Um, so I’ve had production line workshops where I needed to show people why they’re doing it so again having different samples of hexagons put together has been really valuable in that… that process.
VM: So would you just talk me through what Quilt to Quit is and how it came about?
HB: Um yeah when… when I started in… in the role I’m in currently which is helping to support part of the role is helping to do, um, support the stop smoking midwifery team. Um, we were exploring… always exploring different ways of helping women engage with the service, um, and I can remember… I can remember vividly where I was. I was at my computer in my office on my own thinking about patches, nicotine replacement patches, and somehow in my mind I thought of patchwork. It just sort of translated and I suppose at the time my daughter was, um, had started quilting again and her… her boyfriend at the time was also quilting and so I was thinking, you know, sometimes people think about quilting as a very middle class activity that, you know, only elderly white women do but I know that that’s not the case, you know. I… I’ve… from my own experience I’ve, you know, seen other people do it from a range of backgrounds and thinking actually this is something that might actually work with the… with the people that we are caring for. Um, so I thought well It’s… it’s could be an option. It’s… it’s obviously not going to be something that everybody would want to do but I think when you’re trying to support somebody to… to stop smoking you want to have as many tools up your sleeve as you can and in pregnancy not everybody wants to take nicotine replacement, um, you know, we’re forever telling people they shouldn’t be taking this drug or that drug in pregnancy, um, and you know, people want to do things naturally. And I think also it came at a time when with the recession more and more people were turning to arts and crafts and wanting to do things naturally. To make things. To make use of things that might otherwise have been thrown away. And I think quilting… I… I don’t know much about who’s famous for whatever in quilting or the history of it so much but I do know that in America for example there’s… there’s a real tradition of… of making quilts around certain times, particularly around birth, um, and it is a time when you can almost collect a history of the child’s clothes as its grown up or whatever and make use of… of things that might otherwise have been thrown away or passed on, um, to use fabric from children’s clothes or to… to make bright things for children, you know, to show your love for them. ‘Cause, you know, it is…it’s one of those things that when you’re making a quilt for somebody it’s time and there’s… there’s no greater gift than you can give to somebody than giving them time. Your time. So I think that’s one thing thing that a quilt demonstrates if you make… if you make anything for somebody that you’ve spent time for them doing that activity.
So, um, so, um, in terms of Quilt to Quit we came up with the idea. I was really excited and, um, I shared it with colleagues who listened to me and yeah okay that’s, you know, that sounds like a good idea and, um, various people were able to support me with small pots of money, um, to buy fabric and to get started. Um, the stop smoking midwives were amazing and, um, in… in their own unique way, um, supported the project brilliantly and women loved it. Um, but it’s not something I can say if women quilt they’re more likely to stop smoking. I can’t say that. Um, but having a research background and a research remit in my current role I wanted to… to be able to, in a way, quantify what was happening. So it has been run as a… a pilot project. A sort of feasibility study basically to… not to see if it works because I haven’t got the numbers in that initial project but to see whether women will do it so that I can document yes, this is a feasible project that midwives can show women how to do it, that women will take it on and, um, and then evaluating whether they found it useful. So that analyses is ongoing at the moment. But we didn’t haven’t any trouble getting 50 women to take part in the research study as well. Um…
VM: So is that how many women have been involved in Quilt to Quit so far or was that just in that initial…
HB: Um, we introduced it as just something, as an option for a while, we called it, um, more a service evaluation. It wasn’t research. But then, um, I had, uh, applied for some small pots of research money and was able to run it as a research project and that’s when the 50 women were recruited to that particular part of the study through a very sort of formal consent process and, um, questionnaires and diaries and the… the midwives having to follow a particular… you give them this pack this week. You do this the next week. So that it had rigour in the way that it was, uh, presented. Um, so a lot more women than 50 have taken… have quilted as part of Quilt to Quit but as part of the research project just, yeah, I only wanted to get 50 women in the feasibility study. Yeah.
VM: So how… what happens? I mean, I don’t… I don’t understand what the process would be. If somebody’s pregnant and they’re a smoker are they referred automatically or do they have to choose to be referred to… to somebody about stopping smoking or how does it work?
HB: Um, we have a… a referral process which involves the midwife who meets them at the first visit, the booking visit, um, talking to them about, um, their smoking so the way that we do it in Sheffield is we very carefully follow the NICE guidelines which is… which are about offering carbon monoxide screening at every antenatal contact. So when the woman, um, comes for their first visit with a midwife as part of the whole raft of… of questions and… and various tests that… that happen at that visit part of it is that the midwife, um, asks them what they understand about carbon monoxide. Uh, would they be happy to have, uh, carbon monoxide monitoring. And then following on from that depending on what the result is the midwife would then explore if they had a high result how that might have come about. So it’s definitely not a smoking test. Um, but if the women blows high then the midwife would say well, um, the biggest reason why, um, women have a high carbon monoxide level is if they’re exposed to tobacco smoke. It’s that sort of thing. And then that sort of, um, informs the conversation. If the woman is a smoker er about the service that we have and we have, um, a dedicated midwifery service. We’re very lucky in Sheffield that we have that. And the woman has the option of, um, engaging with that service. So we refer all women who smoke but we try and assess how ready they are to stop smoking. So if somebody says ‘I am absolutely no way am I going to stop smoking at this point in the pregnancy’ then we respect that. Um, if somebody is oh gosh I didn’t realise what an impact that was having. I want to stop today then that… that has a particular number. Um, and if somebody’s well yes I’d be quite interested then you know we… all of those women would be followed up by the team. And the midwives regularly assess throughout the pregnancy a woman’s readiness to quit if she hadn’t engaged with the service initially. The services that one of the midwives in the team will contact the woman, make arrangements that suit her, um, do an initial visit and then see her every week until she stops smoking if she sets a quit date and a quit is four weeks without smoking. Um, and then we… we follow women up throughout pregnancy at a regular basis when they have quit. Um, and we now have a follow up service as well where the health visitor continues to care for those women who’ve quite. Um, we’re just trialling that at the moment. So it… it’s a fantastic service. Um, it’s very individually, um, based. the… the midwife will see them in their own home, in their lunch hour, in the evening. Whatever. Um, to suit them really.
VM: How… how do you choose which people to tell the quilting project about?
HB: Um, the midwife, um, will use her own discretion to a certain extent. Um, depending on…on the woman in front of her really. Um, its an offer than anyone can…can take up. It’s…we’re not restricting it to anybody. Um, but it’s part of an individual, um, assessment of…of where that woman’s at and what might be appropriate because it is really quite a delicate relationship um, it’s an incredibly difficult thing for women to do to… to stop smoking if they’re, you know, it’s an addiction. Nicotine is addictive. And some women can stop straightaway and other women can’t and… and for other reasons, you know, it’s part of their life. It’s part of what their peer group do. Um, you know, even being part of what you do at break time where you work or what or whatever. So it’s not about presenting it as… and we have this, you know, um, its… it’s just about seeing how that fits into the conversation and depending on… on the smoking habit that that woman has. If well I don’t, you know, I don’t know what to do with my hands if that comes up into the conversation then this is an ideal thing, um, ’cause it would be very difficult to smoke and quilt at the same time. Um, so that’s part of… obviously part of the reason that we’re suggesting it as an option. Um, but also its… it’s like losing weight. It’s, um, you know, it’s an incredible achievement when somebody actually changes a behaviour that they’ve had for a long time um, but it… I, you know, I’m sure it works for lots of reasons and I think one of the reasons is as well that the midwife… the stop smoking midwife engages with the woman. She… it doesn’t take long at all to show her how to sew fabric onto a template. But again its that gift of time. It’s I care enough about you to sit down with you and show you how to do something and that engagement, um, is something that’s very valuable in that relationship because, um, it… it would be quite easy for a woman to… to sort of lose contact with the midwife and say actually, you know, I… I don’t want to do this anymore but if there’s more to their relationship that’s engaging them then it gives that added strength.
VM: So have you had to train midwives on how to quilt?
HB: Um, showed the team. There are… there are four midwives currently, um, we’re luckily having another midwife joining us very soon. Um, yes. I’ve shown them how to… like I said one of them was already experienced. Another has… has had some experience and taken it further and made an amazing quilt herself. Um, they’ve all engaged with it. Um, and particularly from the research point of view we had to as sure as we could that people were doing it in the same way. Um, that they were all being shown and given the… the… the same, um, information and had the… the tuition if you like in order to be able to do it in the same way. So I’ve shown them how I envisaged it working, um, I’m sure there have been individual tweaks to how the… each midwife, um, shows the woman. Um but they all have their own little bag with templates and different fabrics and packs… Quilt to Quit packs. Um, so that they can show women different colours ’cause obviously not everybody likes blue like me, you know, there’s a whole range of different fabrics that they… they have access to.
VM: So is that one of the little bags there?
HB: Yeah, so it’s just a little canvas drawstring bag, um, with Quilt to Quit on it and, um, little packs of fabric and templates and, um, thread. And needles and scissors and consent form and things like that. They have to take responsibility not to, uh, let animals and children have access to sharps. Um, but I thought it was very important that they had everything they needed so it wasn’t oh they have to go and find a needle or have to go and find some scissors or …or whatever but each week that the midwife goes in again she can offer them more templates and more fabric. So it’s a bit of an incentive to keep going. Um, you know, and we’ve had women who have… have literally used it like cigarettes and had it by the bedside and sewn as soon as they’ve woken up because that’s the most difficult time or them. Um, or other people who have… have sewn with their children. Um, and it’s been incredible valuable for relationships and that again is another thing about sewing is that you’ve not got direct eye contact with… if you’re sewing ’cause you… you’re… you’re looking down or you’re next to somebody, um, and it’s so much easier to talk to somebody if you’re… if you’re not sort of threatened in that way. So it has been incredible valuable. We’ve got various examples of… of how that has really, um, helped relationships within families. Um, so irrespective of what the analysis may show from the research projects it’s… I’m so delighted what it’s achieved already.
VM: So when did you start doing this? When did these… the first packs go out?
HB: Um, its been a long… a long process really so probably about five years ago something like that. Um, and then as opportunities have arisen to apply for bits of money and then the process of writing the research protocol and getting somebody able to support that process. I’ve had, um, some amazing research midwives who’ve helped along the way with various points applying for ethics, collecting data, creating databases, um, and another one doing the analysis at the moment so it… it’s been quite a long protracted process but, um, it… it’s been something that’s been available probably for about five years. We need to get this analysis done and written up now and, uh, see how far we can take it.
VM: So where do you hope it’ll go? Do you hope it’ll expand? Where to?
HB: Um, I think… I think it needs to be recognised as an option. Um, so yes I have talked about…I’ve talked about the research. I’ve talked about it at conferences. I’ve done presentations etc. um, but I think often we need something that’s been validated to take it any further and I think, um, once it’s written up and it’s out there and in the research world that other people can think oh that’s something that, um, we could perhaps take on. I don’t see it as something that I own. Obviously I don’t own quilting. Um, and I think however people adapt it, um, uh, you know, that… that would be good. Um, and even, you know, people seeing avenues to take it to family and friends, you know. If somebody’s ill or sad or needs something that they can do with another family member or friend, colleague then I think it has lots of applications. I don’t think that it’s so much that we need to think about it as only have a… a… a value in smoking but you could Quilt to Quit boredom, Quilt to Quit anxiety. Quilt to Quit overeating. It has so many different applications so, um, yeah I would like… like to see it spreading whatever way is of benefit or value to anyone else. Yeah. Um, it would be good if…if there were enough resources in the… in the health service for it to be something that was on offer or an option, um, for women because obviously it… it does need funding. It’s… it’s very cost effective if… if it was shown to work, um, you know, as an option. It’s not a, you know, it’s not a drug so it’s not… doesn’t have cost in that sense but, um, the cost to the health service of smoking is immense. The implications, um, in terms of premature birth, complications, um, you know, not only the financial cost but the emotional cost of smoking in pregnancy is… is vast. Um, so anything we can do to help reduce that has got to be a good thing. I’d like to see funds available for it. Yeah.
VM: You said, I mean, you’ve hinted that there’s been some success stories that, you know, it’s helped them through family relations and all sorts of things is there any other stories you’d like to tell me about.
HB: Um, well I think it… it is about that. It’s about how women have used it, um, because as we’ve already said it’s not just about sewing. It can be about cutting out, it can be about any part of the process so it’s not just something that women do. As I talked about my husband does sewing and its… it’s helped him but, um, I think it’s something that all… a range of people can engage with so it may be that a woman who smokes has… has done it with her mother who has, um, said ‘oh I used to sew when… let’s… let’s do this together’ and it… it sort of gives a focus around which you can communicate. Um, but I think it goes back to that issue of it being a non-threatening thing. Um, and being able to open up, um, so the examples of people talking about problems, um, that they’ve not really spoken about before. Um, being able to, um, resolve problems through talking about them to reflect on them and to realise that, um, it helps to talk about things and we have examples of… of situations improving that I can’t really, um, disclose in this context but, um, definite examples of… of positive outcomes following quilting. Not just with, um, the… the pregnant woman and her children but pregnant women and their mothers and other family’s members. Yeah…
VM: Well thank you very much for sharing that with us. You mentioned… you’ve mentioned Simon a few times. Was it… are you responsible for getting him into sewing or was he… was he a man who sewed before?
HB: Um, no I don’t think he sewed before. He’s always been interested in learning new… new things and, um, I can remember when I was pregnant with Hannah, um, our eldest child who’s now 26, um, he… I showed him how to knit and he made a jacket for Hannah when… um, which matched a jacket that I used to wear all the time. Um, and it was amazing. Really beautiful jacket. So he learnt that skill then. Um, Simon has Huntingdon’s Disease which is a neurological condition which means that he has, um, uncontrolled movements occasionally and sometimes they’re really quite distressing for him. Other times he, you know, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with him. He, you know, he… he can’t work anymore. He’s had to retire. Um, but he’s… he’s very busy but sometimes when he’s quiet sitting his… his movements can be quite distressing um for him and, um, I… I can’t remember the precise moment or how… how it came about but he… he’s interested in… in design, um, and he… he can draw quite well. Much better than I can. So he has a good sort of eye and he has a mathematical sort of, um, more, uh, more mathematical brain than I do so he’s interested in how things fit together. Um, so I suppose that’s probably may have been something that drew him in. Um but he… he had a go at sewing some templates. I’ve always probably said to him oh will you cut this out for me or, um, you know, while I’ve been doing something. Um, so he’s done various parts of… of sewing but then he… he took it a step further in terms of looking at different shapes um so he’s made things with… with diamonds and he’s interested in how they all fit together. Um, but the sewing he found really helped his movements because it just… I dunno it’s how the brain works but focusing on the activity of sewing things together, um, helped him relax and he did find it really relaxing and does find it relaxing. He took that further and has made some beautiful bolster cushions for the children. Um, and they were very much in demand and very much the colours chosen for them as individuals. Um, and again it’s that because he loves his children so much, you know, doing something for people that you love is… is an important thing to do so yeah he’s… he’s been a big part of this blue quilt that we were talking about earlier but also, um, yeah he… he likes making things for people and showing how much he cares about people by doing that.
VM: So do you have fights over the fabric stash? Does he get his own fabric?
HB: Well I suppose we respect each other’s skills so, um, he says he’s colour-blind. I can’t imagine a world that… I don’t quite understand how that is but obviously I know it’s a… a phenomenon but, um, so he, you know, he knows what’s blue and what’s green but the shades and the tones and the… he’s not, you know, more subtleties to him. So he would ask me to choose colours or, um, or I would provide him with particular colours. Um, he’s made some beautiful pincushions but I’ve chosen the colours, you know, where… where you put them but he’s the one that has sewn them beautifully and precisely and perhaps in a… in a technically much better way than I might have done. Um, so it’s a partnership. Um, but yes he does, I mean, he… he appreciates art. He… he’s very much, you know, he… he really does. He likes a sort of, um, random pictures and designs so he… there will be certain designs that he really likes and I… I have an understanding now, having been married for a while, um, to know what’s sorts of things he will like doing as well.
VM: You’ve… you’ve mentioned your Bernina, do you use technology much at all when you’re doing sewing? Is it just that sewing machine? Do you prefer to do things by hand?
HB: I think doing things by hand, um, is where I prefer to come from regarding this because it’s so portable it’s about being able to put it in your handbag or take it on holiday or whatever. And as much as I like my Bernina it isn’t something that I pack in the car when I go on holiday. Um, but it… it… it is important. It’s very important in fact. I love my sewing machine and if… a few… not many years ago, two or three years ago, um, I was sewing and it went up in smoke and I… I was… I was so, so upset. We put it outside and I thought that was the end of my Bernina that I’d made my wedding dress on and I was absolutely de… devastated. Um, and, you know, Simon was well, you know, don’t worry we’ll… we’ll buy you another one. We were looking at them and… on the internet and nothing would take the place of that Bernina. So he took it apart and actually you could see where the fire had come from. The… the smoke. Um, and, um, we made enquiries. Anyway we took it on a long trip. Well it wasn’t a long trip. To Leeds, um, and apparently this is a phenomenon that happens with some sewing machines and he mended it and I’m so delighted that my Bernina has survived and the smoke wiped off and it looks brand new so it’s fine. I love it.
VM: Do you use any other, I mean, do you use scissors? Do you use a rotary cutter? Do you…
HB: Oh okay, um, yes I have my favourite scissors. Um, and I, yeah when… when I’ve been preparing to do workshops for, um, making up packs I’ve made, um, strips of fabric so, yeah, I’ve been on the kitchen table with a rotary cutter and yeah ’cause otherwise you’d just get blisters immediately from cutting. Um, so yeah rotary cutters brilliant. Uh, a good rubber mat, you know, and, um, big ruler. Yeah invaluable. Yeah. Definitely.
VM: What about, I mean, have you… [interruption and pause] The only other thing I was gonna ask was if you’ve, um, if you’ve been to any workshops, have you any kind of… you’ve gone to any classes at all or whether you’ve just kind of picked things up as you’ve gone along or have you used books for inspiration?
HB: Um, I haven’t been to any classes about quilting. I did go to a Quilters’ Guild event a couple of weeks ago, um, but I’m not a member. Um, Pinterest… can I say that?
VM: Yeah.
HB: Yeah I’ve only… I’ve only recently… my daughter’s children do help you grow up, um, it’s introduced me to Pinterest and yeah what a phenomenon hexes are. I never knew that there were so many passionate people, um, about hexagons. Um, but yeah I… I don’t know really. I have got books on quilting and it’s something I will look at in terms of the intricacies of… of doing the binding and making sure I do justice to this particular quilt but, um, it’s not something that I’ve had any formal training on other than, you know, like I was talking about inspirational sewing teacher at middle school. You know, having that opportunity and that, um, space I suppose where a teacher will recognise that there are such a range of different learning needs within a group and, you know, some people value just being able to have time and access to machines. Makes a difference. Um, I’m very lucky that I’ve, you know, I’ve had a machine. I’ve… that my family don’t mind if I sew, you know, it’s not ‘oh mum you’re not doing that again’. It’s, oh wow what you making, you know, it’s, uh, and it’s nice… it’s really nice to be able to share that with Hannah um, in a way that she’s picked up on her own. You know, um, it’s not that I’ve said ‘oh you must do this’ but that she’s developed her own interest and shared that with me and I’ve grown through what she’s done. Um, and she’s made some amazing quilts. And… and cushions and things that she has… be totally different to what I would do, um, because of the different designs and colours that she likes, um, and that’s amazing. Mm.
VM: Super, well thank you very much for that.