Letters Home

When I was growing up I loved writing and receiving letters. Receiving letters from penpals in France, Germany, Italy, Canada and India was great fun. On leaving home family and friends were great to keep in touch by post. While making this wall-hanging 'Letters Home' I recalled all those envelopes and created one for each of the 15 addresses I have lived at. Plain cotton calico was dyed using onion skins, tea, coffee and red wine to achieve the look of faded papers. Free-machine embroidery captures the memories in hand-written letters. 5 miniature 'memory quilts' sit in the envelopes to capture moments in time. Red child-hood shoes, a bicycle in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region), a funfair, an old sewing machine bought at a second-hand market and the front-door of 'home sweet home'. This quilt is often exhibited to show people how a wall-hanging can be made to celebrate everyday memories.