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When the Freedom Quilting Bee was begun in the mid-sixties in Alberta, the civil rights movement was in full swing. As a way to create a supplemental income, several women came together to create quilts using patterns that their mothers and grandmothers had passed down to them, using a skill that was rapidly disappearing into the ready-to-wear world. Unwilling to let this historic project end, four women have banded together to continue sewing. Two of the women are daughters of original members of the Freedom Quilting Bee.
With the original building in disrepair, quilters now work in each other’s homes cutting, piecing, and sewing by hand. They use new fabrics and old quilting patterns, but have redesigned some patterns to create new and innovative looks. A cutter cuts the fabric into the requisite shapes for the chosen pattern; the pieces are then sewed together on regular sewing machines; the quilts are stretched over wooden frames (from the original bee); and quilting stitches are sewn along the seams. One queen size quilt can take from thirty to forty hours to complete.
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