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The Heart of Living
Visit the exhibition
10 - 12 June, 10:00 - 18:00
Kongens Nytorv 1
Assembly Hall (Festsalen) 1st floor
1050 Copenhagen K
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Tekla returns to 3 Days of Design with The Heart of Living, an exhibition at Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, exploring the tradition and craft of patchwork quilts. The exhibition pays homage to Tekla’s background and inspirations, with special pieces inspired by antique Swedish designs and using colours taken from its archives.
The origins of the craft
Patchwork quilting is one of the oldest textile traditions, with roots stretching across cultures and centuries. Born from necessity – stitching scraps together to form something larger and warmer – evidence of the craft appears as early as ancient Egypt and medieval Europe. But the craft as we know it today flourished in North America from the 17th century onward, when harsh winters and restricted access to materials led European settlers to patchwork in far greater numbers.
By the 19th century, quilting had evolved into a social ritual. Quilting bees – communal gatherings where women worked together on a single quilt – were common, and patterns were passed down through generations, often carrying names tied to everyday life on the American frontier: Bear's Paw, Flying Geese, Wedding Ring, Log Cabin.
Patchwork in Sweden
Sweden’s own history with patchworking emerged in the 15th century. Reserved for the very wealthy, embellished silk, wool and leather quilts were used as decoration in churches and the homes of nobility. Patchwork’s shift from elite to popular craft hinged on the return of Swedish emigrants from North America. A total of 1.1 million people emigrated between 1850-1930. Those that returned brought with them patterns and techniques that six months of winter and harsh economic conditions made essential.
But as industrialisation increased and people moved to cities, peasant culture began to dissipate – and with it, a knowledge of folk craft. Various societies, among them Svensk Hemslöjd, were established to preserve traditional Swedish crafts. For these associations, quilts were not considered truly "Swedish" – the fabrics and designs had been imported. Where weaving and embroidery were protected as indigenous textile expressions, patchworking fell from public consciousness.
Quilting today exists in Sweden in a somewhat paradoxical position: a living craft, practised across generations, yet still not fully claimed as part of the national textile identity. As Åsa Wettre writes in Old Swedish Quilts, “I made a hobby of asking everyone if they had any old patchwork quilts. They often said they didn’t, but after I questioned them for a while, they would sometimes say that they had some old rubbish in the attic – just rags. Many of the ‘rags’ turned out to be patchwork quilts.”
The owners Wettre spoke to often shared stories about the women who made them — some, she writes, "stranger than fiction." These stories form the basis of Old Swedish Quilts – a key reference for Tekla when developing the exhibition quilts – and substantiates Sweden's rich, if overlooked, history with the craft.
Decoding the log cabin pattern
As quilts evolved from an essential item to a cultural movement, certain patterns began to emerge. These visual codes were all born from concerns of the day – migration, nature, domestic labour, survival – and continue to be used to this day.
The log cabin pattern’s origins are hard to discern, though it’s thought to have been established in Sweden and Northern Europe before gaining popularity in North America following its introduction by European settlers. The earliest firmly documented examples date to around the 1860s.
The style, believed to signify shelter and belonging, consists of long fabric strips arranged around a central square, often symbolising the “heart” of the home. The pattern also features a mix of light and dark shades, interpreted as either sunlight and shadow falling across the cabin walls, the warmth inside against the cold outside, or the known against the unknown.
The pattern and its themes, which resonated deeply with Tekla, feature throughout its quilts and upcoming exhibition.
Subscribe to be invited to the exhibition at Charlottenborg, open 10-12 June.
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