Come and frolic with us on our new Cardigan Seaquilt project. Frolicking was the name given in America to a meeting where women come together to make quilts and there were many women from Cardigan who left for America and Canada and took their quilting skills with them. This particular area of Wales has a great history of quilting; made from offcuts from wool made in the local woollen mills - quilts were made from scraps of old clothes and other household fabrics, giving each quilt its own story.

Well thanks to Cardigan Castle I can announce the launch of a new and exciting collaborative community project - which combines our heritage of seafaring and quilt making...a project not as daunting as the giant and now famous Aberteifi Cardigan, but nevertheless a project which retains the same qualities of connection with our history. There are benefits to frolicking:- skill sharing, learning new ideas, eating cake, laughing, making new friends, and doing a little bit of stitching - nothing too scary - all you need to be able to do is some basic stitches, and even if you don’t feel confident enough to even do that, we will make you welcome, sit you down with a cup of tea and show you where to begin. We are happy to have Sian Collins Castle archivist working alongside us, helping us with historical research.

This first SEAQUILT will depict a map of the sea and coastal regions between Cardigan and Ireland and the shipping routes from Cardigan Castle. There will be mermaids. There will be dolphins, pirates and saints and Vikings. Each stitcher will receive a map square and their square of quilt (30cm). The stitching is simple and up to you what you choose to depict. We meet every Tuesday in the rooms above the 25 Mile in the Pendre from 6-9pm. If you can’t come then, you can still participate by collecting a square and working at home. Come along to our launch and talk at the SHIRE HALL on Saturday 19th April at midday. The finished quilt will be auctioned to raise funds for Cardigan Castle.

You may already be a part of a quilting group in which case we’d be even more pleased to see you! If you know a lot about quilt history or shipping and would like to come and talk to us while we work please contact me on 01239 891333 or email me lisa.hellier@btinternet.com