Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth has an exceptional collection of quilts, bursting with social history and stories about the past, which will be exhibited once visitors can be welcomed back.

Two new quilts, one real and one digital, are going to be added to the collection to help commemorate shared experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and to capture the experiences of the community during this transformative moment in time.

The museum is asking the public to get involved with the project by sending in content to be displayed on both of the quilts.

COVID-19 is affecting the lives of the global population in unprecedented ways, causing a huge shift in social and working lives. The aim of this project is to explore the values people may want to leave in the past and those to take into the future.

Ceredigion is no stranger to isolation and quarantine, having faced several epidemics, including smallpox in 1738 and 1819, cholera in 1840, the 1918 flu pandemic and typhoid in 1946.

What patch would you place on the quarantine quilt? Everyone can get involved by sending the museum voices, videos, photos and sound pieces, to reflect a broad range of experiences across Ceredigion.

From those working on the front line to those working at home, to those embracing new skills, from parents turned home-school teachers to the older generations adopting online get-togethers and young people technologically partying.

Examples could include something that illustrates how physical spaces have been transformed – the quieter streets, the resurgence of nature; the effects on key and home workers, life without school, online homework, the things that have made  people laugh and cry, a favourite P.E. session with Joe Wicks, the clapping for carers, facetiming relations and friends, random acts of kindness or the repeated Stay Safe, Stay Home messages?

Contributions for the ‘virtual’ quilt can be emailed, using a file sharing app, to [email protected].

People can also get involved with the creation of the ‘physical’ quilt by sending in their creative creations. These could be poetry pieces, drawings, soundscapes, songs or even fabric and thread.

For contributions to the physical quilt, send patches of 14cm x 14cm (including a 1cm seam allowance) to Ceredigion Museum, c/o Ceredigion County Council, Canolfan Rheidol, Rhodfa Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3UE

Contributions to either quilt should include an explanation of why it was chosen, what it means to the contributor and the story it tells. Questions about the quilts can be e-mailed to: [email protected] or phone 01970 633 088 and leave a message.

The Quarantine Quilts will form part of Ceredigion Museum’s exhibition ‘Quilts: Human Threads’, which will explore these objects as gateways to fascinating stories and social histories and consider how remarkable they are for both their exquisite craftsmanship and their emotional resonance.

Both quilts, once completed, will be available to view on www.ceredigionmuseum.wales and at the museum during the exhibition. Closing date for contributions is September 30, 2020.