2023 Is shaping up to be the year where the art of quilt making takes centre stage, with exhibitions from Hauser & Wirth, The Royal Academy and a new showcase for three Gee’s Bend quilts in the Tate Modern.

It feels like suddenly the world has woken up to quilts as an art form and is ready to celebrate them, and at the studio, we couldn’t be more excited to see our favourite art form taking centre stage this year.

In celebration of this quilt revival (or reawakening), we have pulled together our top picks for seeing, buying and making quilts in 2023.

Where to see quilts in 2023:

The Royal Academy

17th March - 18th June 2023

The Royal Academy’s flagship Spring show is curated by Souls Run Deep and is a celebration of the work of black American artists from the Deep South.

Hauser and Wirth, Bruton

28th January - 8th May 2023

Hauser and Wirth are showing New Bend, which brings together 12 contemporary artists working in the raced, classed and gendered traditions of quilting and textile practice.

Tate Modern

Permanent display.

Inherited Threads is a new display at Tate Modern which demonstrates the ways in which cloth holds memory through the art of The Gee’s Bend quilt makers. Hung just along from Matisse’s snail, this exciting new acquisition means that you can see the beautifully imperfect Gee’s Bend quilts for free whenever you like!

Make a quilt in 2023:

If 2023 is the year you’d like to try your hand at making a quilt, then the good news is this is an incredibly accessible craft. All you need is some scrap cloth, a needle and thread and some scissors to get you started.

If you’re feeling adventurous, why not try a quilted jacket, you can keep it simple or be inspired by our studio jacket, an unplanned patchwork jacket we made from scraps from the studio in 2021. The joy of this jacket pattern is that you start by making flat panels (much smaller than a full quilt) so you can get the feel of quilting as you go along before finishing up with a quilt that you can be wrapped in at all times!

If you’d like to learn some skills in person, you can join my workshops at Neptune Chichester in October and November 2023, where I will teach you how to create a patchwork quilted sampler, which can be turned into a cushion or kept as a flat piece that you can keep adding to as your skills grow.

This workshop will be part of the launch of the Spring / Summer collection for the Flags collection and will teach you the skills you will need to one day make your own quilt.

Buy a quilt in 2023:

There are so many options when buying a quilt that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. At the studio, we like our quilts to be one-off, a bit wonky and preferably made with offcuts of fabric.

Quilts are nuanced objects, imbued with work hours (even when made on a mass scale) and inherently handmade. They carry the hand of the maker through their imperfections and gather up the bodies of their owners as they wear. New patches can be added and stitches replaced; they are living artefacts designed to be loved and not feared. They are often an expensive investment, but they will see you through your whole life and the lives of those who come after you.

Before browsing, why not check out our handy ‘how to’ guide? We’ve pulled together some helpful hints and tips to consider when you’re considering buying a quilt, and it’s a great place to find your feet.

After that, we’d recommend heading to some vintage markets to get a feel for the size and weight you might like in your space. Try looking at Kantha quilts and Japanese Boro to get a feel for different styles. After that, you can buy off the peg or think about commissioning a more bespoke piece. For off-the-peg, Toast makes some lovely textural velvet quilts, and womenswear brand Sideline makes quilts using their fabric offcuts.

You could, of course, choose a GB studio quilt - all of the quilts from our studio are unique pieces made from textile remnants, making them a sustainable option which we hope you will save for generations to come. Our quilts are paintings brought to life in cloth, filled with movement and texture; they are an investment but one which will keep you warm and comfort for years to come.

Whatever you choose, remember to pick something you will love for years to come, as that is always the most sustainable choice!

2023: The year we're going to be wrapped in quilts