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The Heart of Living

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.

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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Patchwork quilts tell stories – intentionally or not. The fabrics used can reveal everything from economic realities to interpersonal relationships. Heirlooms passed down through generations take with them stories of the family. In some instances, quilts can speak to an entire community, with blocks added and signed by neighbours and friends, commemorating a birth, a marriage, a death and even a journey.

For The Heart of Living, Tekla explores the craft and tradition of patchwork quilts in Sweden, paying homage to its own background and inspiration while reinterpreting the humble design for a modern audience.

The quilts are constructed using the log cabin pattern, a traditional patchwork style thought to be established in Sweden and Northern Europe, which gained popularity in North America following its introduction by European settlers. The style consists of long fabric strips arranged around a central square, often symbolising the “heart” of the home.

Each quilt is made using cotton bedding in colourways taken from Teklas archive, reflecting its identity as a Scandinavian brand and its own design history while honouring the spirit of patchworking.

Throughout the space, references to rural Scandinavian interiors and Swedish design traditions can be found. The beds shown are inspired by box beds, or cabin beds, an enclosed bed typical in 19th-century rural and working-class Scandinavian homes due to their warmth and privacy. The beds in the exhibition are made in Copenhagen from pine, with the log cabin motif continued onto the doors. Also displayed are antique hope chests, a previously common piece of furniture used by unmarried women to collect household linens in anticipation of married life, including patchwork quilts commemorating their wedding.

Discover the exhibition at Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, open 10am-6pm until 12 June.
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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.

Heirloom craft and heritage design

The Heart of Living sees Tekla continue its exploration of heirloom crafts, first initiated through its exhibition, Modern Romance, in 2025. Inspired by traditional and old-world bedding, it introduced a collection of rational yet romantic pieces. Discover the collection, including a new Colette style.

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