So far sew good!

SOME of the women with the wall hanging

A 20-strong team of enthusiastic Saddleworth women has scooped two top awards in a major festival celebrating the art of quilting.

They turned their hobby into a stunning piece of public art by producing a striking quilt in the Northern Quilt Festival at Harrogate.

And their painstaking efforts, spread over 240 hours in six months, led them to claiming awards in the “best group quilt” and “best scrap quilt using fabric” sections.

Sue Lund, secretary of the Piecemakers’ Quilters and Textile group, said: “We are all overjoyed. The awards were totally unexpected — we just wanted our quilt to be seen by a wider community.

“It is the first time we’ve ever entered such a prestigious competition and we were competing against hundreds of other quilters. It’s a great result for the group.”

The quilt, measuring 12ft x 8ft, hangs in Denshaw Village Hall and now the team is planning to begin another project — making an even bigger quilt.

The idea for the quilt came from chairman of Denshaw Community Association, Oldham councillor Alan Roughley, who had seen some of the group’s work at Heights Church during the Saddleworth Festival two years ago.

Councillor Roughley said: “I am delighted at the group’s success. We are hugely impressed by this magnificent work of art. And, together with a second hanging, it will mean our village hall will be resplendent for very many years to come.

“We are indebted to Saddleworth Round Table, whose generous grant covered the cost of materials.”

The women each designed a number of squares which they stitched together to make a complete hanging.

Mrs Angela Thompson, a former textile teacher, was responsible for the overall design. She said: “I love working with mixtures of bright colours and wanted to make a real statement in this public space.”

It is estimated there are two million machine stitches in the piece and each group member has their name stitched on a label at the back of the hanging.