Hampden Park Quilt Project

Quilters take to the pitch at Hampden.

Many trophies have been lifted at Hampden Park over the stadium’s long and illustrious history. National cups, International cups and European trophies have all been held high but nothing has ever taken to the National Stadium playing surface quite like this!

Ann Hill, Resident Quilter at NHS Dumfries and Galloway, has rallied her quilting friends from far and wide and, in a unique event next Saturday (June 8), Ann and a host of Hill helpers will cover the entire playing surface of Hampden Park with over 4,000 stunningly beautiful and colourful quilts!

The quilts contain much more than many hours, days and weeks of patient work. Stitched into the fabric are the memories of many people with dementia.

People with dementia talk about what means most to them from their past and these memories of people, places and events are lovingly stitched into a quilt that is then presented to the person.

There is a great deal of stimulation and comfort obtained from a quilt that is uniquely tailored for the individual concerned. It is all linked to the Alzheimer Scotland/Scottish Football Memories Project that was launched three years ago.

Ann Hill commented:

“We have been working on this project for around four years and almost 3,000 quilters from right across the world have rallied to the cause superbly.”

Many of the quilts feature stars from the world of show business as well as the world of football. “We have quilts depicting Billy Connolly, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Sir Alex Ferguson, Gordon Strachan, Craig Brown and virtually every football club in the country,” Ann continued. “We are going to get some signed and they will be auctioned off at a football dinner and the monies raised will go to the Alzheimer Scotland/Scottish Football Memories Project. Billy Connolly has already signed his and was amazed at the work that had gone into it.”