| Description: | While visiting a quilt exhibition in Cultra, Castlerock Sew & Sew quilting group were approached by the curator, Valerie Wilson, who inspired them to make a quilt on shirt making. The quilt, comprised of individual blocks, is made from shirt and pyjama fabrics, embellished with cuffs, collars, tie pins, cuff links, buttons and ties.
The back of the quilt is made from squares of stack and whack, inscribed with the names of the shirt factories that were based in the North West and the names of all who made the quilt. Working on the quilt evoked many memories of work, now virtually gone, which was the backbone of the local economy, mainly done by women, where their earnings supplemented or in some cases were the only family income. One woman, reflecting on the deep tradition of shirt making in this area, reminisces: "My great grandfather came over from Scotland to manage one of these factories; there's a bit of all our families in this quilt."
The women enjoyed the communal experience of making the quilt: "especially when we were together as a traditional quilting bee for the quilting and binding of the quilt", commented one participant.
For this group, similar to many groups in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, through their sewing they stitched their heritage and identities, bearing witness to a past long gone, at a time when the strife and realities of the present may have seemed unbearable.
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