Sewing seeds of opportunity

Quilt-making workshop [Mango/EthiopiaLives]

Two women have entwined the ancient art of Welsh quilt-making with the rich weaving and embroidery culture of Ethiopia, through a CAFOD-funded training workshop

Welsh quilt expert Jen Jones, from Llanybydder, and seamstress Janet Bridge, from Cardigan, travelled to Ethiopia to give master classes in their ancient skills to a group of poor Ethiopian women.

Selling hand-sewn quilts

The Ethiopian women attend a CAFOD-funded women’s skills centre in the northern region of Tigray, and the aim is to make money from their new skills by selling their hand-sewn quilts in both Ethiopia and Wales.

Grandmother of nine, Janet, who has never travelled to a developing country, led the training sessions.

She said: “Travelling to such a beautiful country and meeting these incredibly poor but gifted women was the most inspiring experience.

"I’m so moved to realise just how much of a difference their new skills will make, not only to their chances of earning money to feed their families but also to their own confidence.”

Enthusiasm and talent

Jen was shocked by the poverty she saw but hugely impressed by the women themselves.

“The women’s enthusiasm and talent for quilting means we have already been able to bring back two crib-sized quilts made in Welsh style with Ethiopian cotton, which we’ll sell for them.

"We really connected with the women and there is huge potential for us to provide an outlet for their products through our website and gallery."

Jen also remarked on how the experiences of Welsh women in the past and those of Ethiopian women now can be linked.

“Poor women who became master quilt-makers in Wales to avoid destitution and prostitution in the last century are linked to women in northern Ethiopia doing exactly the same thing this century," she explains.

Jen pointed out that a dying tradition in one country is helping to stimulate market development in another.

How it all started

CAFOD’s representative in Ethiopia, Beverly Jones, came across Jen’s quilt shop whilst visiting her mother-in-law in nearby Carmarthan and the two got chatting.

Beverley says: “There is a long tradition of weaving and embroidery in Ethiopia. The country is just recovering from cycles of drought and war which have left the majority of its people impoverished.

"But now there is a possibility for developing new products and creating more income for women who would otherwise be forced into sex work or other hazardous ways of earning a living.

“The Daughters of Charity, who run the women’s project, and CAFOD are very excited by the possibilities this Welsh-Ethiopian link can create.”

The Ethiopian made quilts will be inspired by the styles and patterns of Welsh quilts and made using flannel woven at the Welsh Woollen Museum at Drefach Felindre by Melin Teifi as well as the colourful Ethiopian fabric designs.

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