This spring I applied for a job to lead a quilting group in the Downtown Eastside. I did not get the job, but the director of the program encouraged me to join the quilting group. So, I began dropping by and quilting with them. Their goal in this project is to create community through quilting. The group is situated at the intersection of Carrall and East Hastings--where the peak of the homeless population of Vancouver resides. The quilting group is an effort to create a creative community for them, and for those interested in making a positive impact in this area.
I was encouraged to make a quilt to hang in their art show. And so, I decided to take this project into the Day Program, and make a quilt with my clients there. One day at the quilting group, I met a woman who happened to be the foster mother of one of my clients at the Day Program! (There were all sorts of neat connections like this that happened at the quilting group.) She brought in some samples of her work using a technique called "flower pounding".
In this technique, you pretreat fabric. Then you pick flowers, tape them to the fabric, and pound away with a hammer! The dyes from the flower bleed through the fabric and are preserved. For the month of September, we picked flowers from the Day Program's garden and around the neighborhood. The clients arranged them, and we all hammered away. We then discovered that the fabric went through the typewriter very well! My coworker, Meghan, and I asked the clients what they thought of flowers and gardening. We then typed their quotes onto the squares.




After finishing the squares, I needed to figure out how to piece them together into a quilt. Fortunately, my mother happened to be visiting. She helped me put everything together in the end. Thanks, mom!

The quilt is now hanging in the gallery. It looks stunning against the brick wall, surrounded by so many other beautiful, thoughtful quilts. On Saturday it will be auctioned off, and proceeds will go to the Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts.
For more info:
http://www.decentreforthearts.com/home/programs/fabric-arts/community-quilt-project-stories