Welcome to CLOUT! – a zine created by ReMode to showcase ideas, voices and work addressing the environmentally destructive fast fashion industry and imagining sustainable alternatives. This is our 8th edition – ‘Quilted.’ Inside you will read about our community quilt making project that has taken place the last few months at ReMode, culminating in the creation of two beautiful works – the Garment Workers Solidarity Quilt and The Paisley Makers Quilt. We are also thrilled to share the work of many quilters in Renfrewshire and further afield. Numerous quilts and their stories are documented here, including family heirlooms, community quilt projects, and the protest quilts and banners of the Glasgow Women’s Library archive.
So why quilts? Quilting has a rich history, from historic and contemporary U.S. Black Abolitionist practice, to women’s self-organisation, ecological protection, and Queer struggle; quilts will show up as a means of fundraising and of collective expression. Whether made to protest or to provide warmth, quilts can be powerful mediums for telling stories about love, craftspersonship, histories of domestic work, intergenerational care, collective action and resilience. They are traditionally sustainable; their patchwork technique reuses discarded scraps and offcuts to create a new object. Lastly, quilting is a task that requires thought, care and patience and provides its practitioners with an opportunity for meditation, reflection, healing, and a connection to a long tradition of predominantly women makers.
We hope you enjoy this zine and its contributions to the rich tradition of quilting!
Thank you to all those who took part in the workshops, to everyone who submitted their work and words, to Jack Patton for supporting the project, Rush Johnstone for editing, and the rest of the ReMode team for their support.
Rae Halliday
Creative Programme Assistant at ReMode