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COMFORT: The Breast Quilt is a large collaborative textile artwork exploring women’s lived experiences of breasts through embroidery, storytelling and participatory workshops. Created with 254 participants, the quilt brings together 180 embroidered squares reflecting themes of body image, health, sexuality, breastfeeding, ageing and gender identity.

The project was developed through workshops with community groups across the UK. It invited women and teenagers to share their experiences. This included trans and non-binary participants sharing their stories in their own words and images. Through embroidery and conversation, participants reflected on personal and social experiences ranging from puberty and body image to breastfeeding, illness, surgery, sexuality, pleasure, embarrassment and ageing.

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Every woman has a story about her breasts. Some stories speak about the joys or frustrations of breastfeeding. Others explore illness, surgery, hormones or gender transition. Some reflect on experiences of sexualisation, harassment or body confidence. Together these embroidered squares form a collective artwork that brings private experiences into public conversation.

Since its creation, the quilt has toured exhibitions across the UK, reaching more than 25,000 visitors, including presentations at the Festival of Quilts and Glasgow Women’s Library.

The quilt is available for exhibition, talks and workshops.

Participation and Workshops

The project involved 254 participants, working through workshops and group sessions across a wide range of communities. Participants included:

• women’s groups
• secondary school students
• art students
• transgender and non-binary participants
• women who had experienced breast cancer
• people at risk of homelessness

Workshops created supportive spaces for open, informed and often frank conversations about bodies, health, identity and social expectations. Through creative activity participants were able to reflect on their own experiences while contributing to a shared artwork.

The process of making the quilt helped participants explore issues of body image, self-esteem and confidence, while feeling heard and represented.

Why a Quilt?

Quilts are traditionally associated with comfort, warmth and safety, making them a powerful form through which to share personal stories.

By using embroidery and quilting, intimate experiences can be expressed through colour, stitch and symbolism. When assembled together, these individual pieces create a collective artwork that acknowledges both the diversity and commonality of women’s experiences.

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Touring Exhibition

Since its creation, COMFORT: The Breast Quilt has toured a range of cultural, educational and medical venues across the UK, engaging diverse audiences and sparking conversation about bodies, health and identity.

Exhibition highlights include:

• RSE Day, Derbyshire — 29 June 2023 (Audience approx. 100)
• Festival of Quilts, Birmingham NEC — 3–8 August 2023 (Audience approx. 22,000)
• Blythe House Hospice, Chapel-en-le-Frith — 6 September 2023 (Audience approx. 40)
• The Infirmary Museum, Worcester — Sept–Dec 2023 (Audience 582)
• Glasgow Women’s Library — 11 January – 9 March 2024 (Audience approx. 2,000)
• Association of Breast Surgery Conference, Bournemouth — 12–14 May 2024 (Audience approx. 500)

Total exhibition audience: 25,222

Project in Numbers

25,222 exhibition visitors to date

254 people participated in the project

180 embroidered squares created for the quilt

16 groups involved

Participant Voices

“I felt the project was a fantastic opportunity to communicate your feelings to other women, which made me feel less of an outcast and more included into a community.”
— Participant, age 14–17

“My embroidered boob is inspired by my joy in breastfeeding my two little boys. The ‘zzz’ represent the blissful sleep that came along with it for us all.”
— Lucy, participant

Project Catalogue

A free digital catalogue is available for the project. It includes participants’ stories, photographs of each embroidered square in the quilt, and reflections on the themes explored during the workshops.

Exhibition and Publication Opportunities

COMFORT: The Breast Quilt is available for exhibition and for inclusion in publications exploring themes including:

• textile art and social practice
• body politics, identity and gender
• breast health and lived experience
• participatory art and socially engaged textile practice
• feminist art and storytelling
• creative approaches to health communication

The project is particularly suited to galleries, museums, libraries, festivals, health conferences and educational settings where audiences can engage with the stories behind the work.

Artwork Details

Title: COMFORT: The Breast Quilt
Artist: Lois Blackburn
Year: 2024
Medium: Collaborative embroidered textile quilt
Materials: Cotton fabrics, embroidery threads and mixed textile techniques
Participants: 254 contributors
Quilt panels: 180 embroidered squares, total quilt size: W 227cm x H 212cm

The quilt is composed of individually embroidered squares created by participants during workshops.

Each square reflects a personal story, memory or perspective relating to breasts and body experience.

Exhibition enquiries:

The quilt is available for exhibition, talks and workshops. The work is designed to be displayed as a large wall-hung textile, or on a bed. It is suitable for exhibition in galleries, museums, libraries, festivals and conference settings. Please contact Lois Blackburn for further information, images, or installation details.

Press, Publications and Research Interest

COMFORT: The Breast Quilt has generated interest from audiences across the arts, education and health sectors. The project has been presented in both cultural venues and medical contexts, including the conference of the Association of Breast Surgery.

Podcasts

With Thanks

This project has been made possible through an award of public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Partners include: Back on Track, Black Women in Menopause, Blythe House Hospice, Booth Centre Manchester, Derbyshire Children’s Services, Derbyshire LBGT+, Derbyshire Federation of Women’s Institute, Glasgow Women’s Library, Keeping Abreast, Lime Arts, Poland Syndrome Charity PIP, Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust, Worcester Medical Museum.