Hazlegrove's young quilters enjoy success at National Festival

Enthusiastic quilters at Hazlegrove Prep School have enjoyed success at the national competition, The Festival of Quilts, with their entry 'The World We Live In'.

In 2019-20, Hazlegrove entered The Festival of Quilts Show for the first time and came third in the category for Schools and Groups of Young Quilters, and this year they decided to beat that place.

Head of Design Technology, Mrs Bonnie Barton reports, "It started in DT Club, the children designed patchwork quilts based on the specific theme ‘The world we live in’. We then looked at how we could use lots of the ideas all in one quilt and came up with the overall design."

The process involved children from Years 3 to 8 with Junior DT club who tie dyed large back panels using vibrant colours in anti-bac spray bottles. Years 5 and 6 created the central globe cutting up old damaged uniform to create the countries and the sea shapes. This was a particularly lovely collaborative element, and the globe is made of many layers of careful cutting and ironing in place.

Years 4 and 5 children designed houses around the outside of the globe and cut out the windows and doors. Year 8 were able to embroider on the houses to make them each so wonderfully unique and beautiful. They used lots of different embroidery stitches to create tile effects on the roofs and bricks, and the flowers and climbing plants are also superb. Year 7 designed and placed key landmarks and animals that could represent different countries and areas around the world.

Mrs Barton adds, "This quilt is a truly collaborative piece of work with children across the whole prep school contributing in some way to make a really beautiful and creative quilt, which placed 2nd in the 2021 competition and was exhibited in the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham during the summer months."

Design Technology has gone from strength to strength at Hazlegrove with projects including using smart materials such as thermochromic (heat-changing) paints and 3D printing. The children produce a wide range of work including iPad speakers, dark activated night lights, USB memory sticks and also take part in challenging engineering competitions, such as the Flying Start Challenge.

The award-winning quilt is now in pride of place in the Reception of Hazlegrove.