Why I . . . quilt

Abstract

Respiratory medicine consultant Kathryn Gow tells Erin Dean about how quilting can make order from chaos Constantly foraging and rescuing pieces of fabric led to Manchester based respiratory medicine consultant Kathryn Gow building up an impressive pile of scraps. Wondering what to do with them, she started cutting them into hexagons and gradually began creating her first patchwork quilt. “Any fabric that was lying around was fair game and got cut up,” Gow says. “Worn out jeans, tote bags, old clothes, tea towels, socks—anything that didn’t really have any other use.” Her first quilt took two years to complete, with Gow working on it in the evenings and weekends. “Quilting is quite an investment of time,” she says. “It wouldn’t take me that long now, but there’s a lot to learn at the beginning.” All the …