Today's Quilter - UK (2020-05)

B

ackinthe1990sI wasinvolvedintheGreen

QuiltMovement.Thiswasduringthefirst

seriouswaveofconcernaboutourplanetand

climatechangewhentheholewasdiscoveredinthe

ozonelayerandit wasbecomingmoreapparentthat

theearthwaswarming.I wasoneofthepeoplethat

tookthisveryseriouslyandwasforeverbangingon

aboutit toothers.Thisdidn’tmakemeverypopular

andsoI turnedtomyothergreatpassionandtried

communicatingthroughmyquiltsinstead.

I discoveredtheGreenQuiltMovementwhenI

wenttoanexhibitionofContemporaryAmerican

Quiltsat theCraftCouncilinLondon.I wasvery

struckbya SusanShiequiltwhichwasdescribedas

a GreenQuilt.Susanwasoneofthefoundersofthe

movementandI gotintouchwithherandvolunteered

tostarta UKbranch.Webelievedthatwecouldhelp

ourplanetbystitchingloveandhealingintoourquilts

andbyspreadingthemessagethroughmakingquilts.

Unfortunately,themovementdisbandedbeforethe

internetandtheonlinequiltingcommunityreallygot

goingandthereis hardlyanytraceofit left.

TheGreenQuiltsI made,suchasSunWheel

MandalaandRecycledBallroom,areamongmymost

treasured.Nowseemsa goodtimetomakesomenew

GreenQuiltswhilealsoconsideringwhatit meanstobe

a GreenQuilter.

Do onething

Inthebattletohelptheplanetsurvivethecurrent

climateemergencyweneedtoconsiderallaspectsofour

lifestyles,includingtheimpactourhobbiesandpassions

makeontheenvironment.Personally,I amtryingto

makechangestomyworkinglife,suchasreducing

theamountofflyingI do.I amoftenaskedtoteach

internationallywhich,thoughveryflattering,doesgive

mea dilemma.RecentlyI havebeguntoproduceonline

classes,alongwithmyThreadHousepartnerKaren

Lewis.ThiswayI canstillreachquiltersfromallover

theworldbutwithoutthedamagingemissionsandfossil

fuelusage.

Someofyoumightwanttositdownbeforereading

thisnextsentencebecauseI amabouttodropa bit

ofa bombshell.I’malsoattemptingtocurbmyuse

offabricbymakinglessquilts!Cottonproductionis

quitea problematicissuewhenyoustartdoingthe

research.It takes20,000litresofwatertoproduce

onekilogramofcottonandsomeexpertscontendthat

cottonis thelargestuserofwateramongallagricultural

commodities.Otherissuesincludetheuseof

agrochemicalsandtheconversionofhabitat,andthat’s

beforeconsideringtheprintingprocess,whichinvolves

morewaterandmorechemicals.

Whilecurrentcottonproductionmethodsare

environmentallyunsustainabletherearethosetrying

ENVIRONMENTALISSUES

ANDQUILTING

CREATIVE CORNER l sustainable quilting

A close up of Jo’s Nature Needs Our

Help quilt, depicting leaves in distress

Nature Needs Our Help – Jo’s first Green Quilt in

decades, made from improv piecing and applique.

CREATIVE

CORNER