The materials and tools for the project were supplied by Britta Fluevog's studio hoard; Verena Winiwarter's self-made plarn from various wrappers, saved yarn scraps from an attic cleaning and donated from craft projects of various kinds; and Anna Svensson's generous contributions:

 

Three tablecloths (the background of the quilt): The two bright floral panels are my maternal Grandma's old tablecloths that the extended family, friends and strangers have gathered around over an endless supply of coffee and home-baked treats. In turn she repurposed them as tablecloths from curtains that had hung in a nearby institution. This meant they already had a wide hem we could use for mounting the quilt! The central panel is a vintage embroidered tablecloth bought secondhand.

Hand-woven linen sheet: I bought this beautifully worn linen sheet from a retired couple in Uppsala with roots in Småland where the sheet is from. It has a fine hand-sewn seam down the centre attaching two woven panels into one sheet - this seam is visible in some of the panels. 
 
Using a linen sheet to make A4-sized panels as backgrounds is apt given the long history of paper made from recycled linen rags before the advent of wood pulp. The panels mirror, or mimic, the written page on which most of our research is conducted.

 

The Project was co-developed and co-created by:

 

Univ.-Prof. (i.R.) Ing. Dr. phil. Dr. h.c. Verena Winiwarter, Austrian Academy of Sciences, https://www.oeaw.ac.at/m/winiwarter-verena

 

Britta Fluevog, Artist, PhD Candidate Transart Institute/ Liverpool John Moores University https://brittafluevog.blogspot.com/ & https://protesttextiles.blogspot.com/

 

Dr Anna Svensson, Researcher, Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/staff?query=N19-964

 

In conjunction with:

Scott Braun, Artist/Educator, creator of #thedecencyproject. www.scottbraun.com


 

WCEH 2024 Environmental Craftivism Quilt

 

At the Maker Space during the World Congress of Environmental History, attendees were invited to visit, talk, explore and create. It offered the chance to process ideas haptically via the act of artistic creation. Together, we crafted panels for the quilt on the theme “Using the Past to Envision the Future”. A quilting bee was also hosted as part of the conference activities where the quilt was sewn together. The quilt was made at and gifted to Oulu University in Oulu, Finland. All materials used were responsibly sourced for minimal environmental impact. Names and links to further images are provided with consent of some of the makers.

 

Thanks to all crafters and to everyone who

worked on assembling during the"Quilting Bee"

session, with special thanks to:

Phia Steyn, Kristin Prins & Sho McClarence