centenary | Ruth Singer

Today marks eleven years since I officially became a self-employed artist. Last year I missed my 10th anniversary because of other things going on in my life and this year it feels a bit flat because of the state of my country and the Somme centenary today.

Centenaries and anniversaries are important in my work and I have chosen two projects to celebrate and mark this anniversary.

Ruth Singer Harefield Hospital Centenary Quilt (full) copy

Last year I was proud to work with Harefield Hospital NHS Trust to celebrate the anniversary of their foundation during World War One.

This week also marks the centenary of the birth of my Grandad, Douglas Eaton, whose life I have celebrated in my work over the last few years with the Tool Shed series and Metamorphosis.

My Grandad

Tool Shed stitched artwork by Ruth Singer. Photo by Joanne Withers

Grandad’s tools

Embroidered handkerchiefs

Tool Shed stitched artwork by Ruth Singer. Photo by Joanne Withers

I recently completed a really enjoyable commission for Harefield Hospital NHS Trust to celebrate their centenary. There’s a brief background on the project here. This quilt is inspired by a 1915 quilt made as a fundraiser for the first hospital on the site and the new quilt tells the story of Harefield Hospital since the First World War to the present day. Throughout June 2015, I worked with communities, staff, patients and volunteers to create this quilt full of details about the hospital. The quilt is made from traditional hexagon patchwork with over 400 individual pieces including the techniques of hand and machine embroidery, digital printing, screen printing and natural dyeing. The pieces are all hand sewn together and the quilt is hand tied.

The pieces used in the quilt were made during a series of workshops at the hospital, starting with screen printing and natural dye to create patterned fabrics to use in the patches. We used plants from the hospital grounds to colour the cloth and images from the buildings and archives as screen prints. Later workshops included digital printing, embroidery and making the 400+ hexagons used in the finished quilt.

Harefield Hospital commission first workshop (Ruth Singer)

Quilt making workshop

Workshop making patches

Making patches at a workshop

Workshop

Cutting and assembling patches

Assembling

Natural dye workshop

Many of the patches are made from digitally-printed images using photographs from the hospital archives and photos I took of the grounds and buildings in Spring 2015. We have also used logos, plans, documents and photographs of recent events at the hospital.

Quilt patches being added. Digital images

Making patches

Patches made during the first week of workshops

Sewing in the final patch

Finished quilt detail

Assembling the quilt

Blue and grey fabrics used in the quilt are old and current nurses uniforms from Harefield. Written quotes include oral history testimony from staff and patients, as well as comments from the hospital’s Facebook pages. Regular contributors have hand stitched their names onto patches and some contributors gave photographs of family members or documents which refer to their relationship to Harefield Hospital and to social activities related to the hospital. Hand stitched outlines of leaves refer to the wards named after trees growing in the grounds. We have also included details of the red and white ANZAC quilt and photographs of the ANZAC cemetery at Harefield Hospital.

Rowan leaves to represent Rowan Ward. Hand embroidery.

Detail from Harefield Hospital quilt commission, 2015.

Finished quilt detail

Harefield Hospital Quilt Commission

Finished quilt

Finished quilt detail

The quilt was entered into the Festival of Quilts open competition in August and will be on permanent display at Harefield Hospital from mid-September.