Friends stitch tapestry
Friends from Staffordshire Area Meeting have stitched a tapestry panel depicting the Quaker Service Memorial
Friends from Staffordshire Area Meeting have stitched a tapestry to be shown at Lichfield Cathedral this summer.
The tapestry will be on display as part of the Quaker Service Exhibition from 14 June to 2 July.
Rhoda Wharton told the Friend: ‘The tapestry shows the Quaker Service Memorial among trees. In the centre are stretcher-bearers in monochrome. It is striking as everything else is in colour. There is a white poppy and at the bottom are designs that were done by children asked to think of refugees.’
Rhoda Wharton said the tapestry was originally intended to be part of the Quaker Tapestry in Kendal, Cumbria, as the Memorial is ‘part of Quaker history’.
She added: ‘We had a workshop with Bridget Guest from the Quaker Tapestry Museum in 2014, funded by Area Meeting and the Quaker Service Memorial Trust, to show us how to do the stitching. Then we became aware that it couldn’t be part of the tapestry, because it is complete, but we still went ahead.’
Six Quakers put the tapestry together with the expertise of Wendy Brown, a non-Quaker who designed the panel. The tapestry was completed in 2017. Following the exhibition, the tapestry will be housed by each Local Meeting in Staffordshire Area Meeting for two or three months. Friends are looking into a location for a permanent display.
The Quaker Service Memorial was completed by Friends in 2013 to commemorate the Friends Ambulance Unit and Friends ‘Relief Service to give an ‘alternative perspective’.
The Memorial, which consists of four simple curves of Rutland limestone with benches resembling a Quaker Meeting, is at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire.
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