During 2024-2025 a number of people met weekly at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Bridgwater to study Old Testament history and the stories associated with it. As part of the Bible study, participants recreated the stories into individual quilts. These quilts are now going to go on display in the church to showcase not only the work of those who created them, but as a different way to see, understand and think about the stories in the Bible.
Revd Catherine Carlyon, Vicar of the Benefice of St Francis of Assisi, Bridgwater, who developed the idea for the quilts, said the project grew from her experience working with the Deaf Church, where traditional bible study methods can often feel daunting. “Coming from the Deaf Church background, I’m always aware of people who don’t study in the conventional sense, can find ‘Bible Study’ quite intimidating. I was trying to think of something a bit more creative so people could access scripture and faith through alternative means.”
Catherine explained, the Bible study combines storytelling and quilting. The participants would listen to a Bible story and discuss it, and then take the quilt pattern, which Catherine had designed, together with fabric of their choice home to make the quilt square and the following week return with that story completed. The patterns used have drawn on traditional patterns to new ones created especially for this project.
“I’ve got an interest in sewing and quilting so I thought we could do a Bible study by making a little square of the Bible story as we went through the study. The first one I did a few years ago, showed the impact doing something like this can have. One person had been bereaved, and it gave her something to lift herself out from where she was. Another lady was in hospital for a long time, we sent her packages of what she needed to sew, and she got on quietly with it.”
St Francis is one of Bath and Wells Magnificat parishes, which means it is high on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Catherine says they didn’t want to exclude anyone who may want to take part, “I didn’t want this to become a budget issue for people. So, I gradually gathered bits of fabric and because it is an area where people don’t necessarily have the resources the project was handsewn, which meant the minimal requirement would be a needle and thread, which I could provide quite easily.” Her patterns varied from simpler ones to more complicated ones. “For Psalm 23, for example, I had three shepherd ones, and the easy version was a really cute sheep. This allowed people of different ability and ambition to still be a part of this group.
Everyone who joined in committed to finishing a whole quilt – even if they didn’t complete all the story blocks. Creating their own individual quilts often resulted in them sharing the stories depicted on them with family and friends. Catherine said, “Just by having the quilt and showing it to their families, it opened up conversations about the stories in the Bible, so it’s gone beyond the group.”
In total, around 14 quilts have been made, with possibly a 15th still being completed and the final part of the finishing was made possible at cost by the generous time and skill of Catherine’s sister, Frances Meredith, though some participants chose to finish the quilt by hand.
For Catherine, the project is about helping people grow in faith in ways that work for them. “On Bible Sunday in October, I ask people what they’ve learned that year. Even if it’s just one thing; maybe they’ve done a conventional bible study, learned a poem, discovered a new hymn, something they’ve learned about God and their faith. It’s about finding different ways for people to engage with Scripture and understand that discipleship is where we are constantly learning and growing in our faith”.
An exhibition of this work is planned for Saturday 21st March (10am -4pm) at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Saxon Green, Bridgwater TA6 4JA. If you would be interested in using the patterns for your church, Catherine is happy for you to get in touch email her at vicar@stfrancissaxongreen.org