| Description: | This was an intergenerational project and involved both children and adults from the wider Derry/Londonderry areas. The project was designed to engage them in meaningful discussions on identity, history, culture, and heritage, in the hope that it would not only address community relations issues, but that it would also bridge the ever expanding gap between children and senior citizens. The project also encouraged positive interaction between children from marginalized Protestant and Catholic communities, bringing them together to share their stories and to talk to older members of their communities.
The participants took an in-depth look at their identity, culture, and heritage and then sought to capture those elements in the form of small stitched fabric segments that were added together over the year, representing the thoughts and feelings of members from our society. Each participant created his or her own patch for the quilt, using images or words that most resonated with them. The patches were created using materials left over from shirt factories. The medium of needlework was chosen to represent the shirt factories and how they were an integral part of Derry/Londonderry's history, and a place where women and men, regardless of their religious affiliation, worked side by side.
The project was facilitated by Louise McElhinney, co-facilitated by Tina McLaughlin, and co-ordinated by The Playhouse's Community Relations Officer Siuán McLaughlin. To date, twelve schools have participated and 367 children have completed the project.
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