One Patch, Your Pride: join our community quilt for Happy Valley Pride's 10th anniversary | craftandcanvas.co.uk
We have been trying to think of a way to celebrate Happy Valley Pride that felt genuinely ours — something that reflected what Craft and Canvas is, what the community around us is, and what Pride means in a place like Hebden Bridge. What we came up with is a community quilt.
Here is the idea. We are asking anyone and everyone to make a patch that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and Pride — however they want to interpret that, in whatever craft they feel most comfortable with — and send it or bring it to us at 3 Carlton Street by 30th June 2026. We will stitch all the patches together into a quilt, display it in our shop window throughout July leading up to Happy Valley Pride on 26th July, and then donate the finished quilt to Happy Valley Pride as a lasting piece of community artwork.
This year is Happy Valley Pride's 10th anniversary. Ten years of celebrating LGBTQ+ life in the Calder Valley, ten years of bringing this community together, ten years of one of the most beloved Pride festivals in the north of England. We wanted to mark that with something that could only be made by many hands — a quilt that carries the creativity, the colour, and the voices of people from across the community and far beyond it.
That is it. One patch, your pride.
Who is this for?
Everyone. Genuinely, everyone.
You do not have to be LGBTQ+ to take part, though we hope members of the LGBTQ+ community will feel this is theirs. You do not have to be an experienced crafter. You do not have to live in Hebden Bridge, or even in the UK. This project is open to crafters anywhere in the world — if you want to add your voice to a community quilt celebrating ten years of Happy Valley Pride, we would love to receive your patch wherever you are making it.
Allies, friends, families, crafters who simply believe in equality and want to show it through what they make — all are welcome. Pride is for everyone, and so is this quilt.
What your patch should celebrate
Your patch should be a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and Pride — but what that means in practice is entirely up to you. There is no template and no required imagery. What we are asking for is your interpretation, made in your craft, with your hands.
You might draw on the symbolism of Pride — the rainbow flag and its colours, which have represented LGBTQ+ visibility and solidarity since Gilbert Baker designed the original in 1978. The bisexual pride flag, the trans flag, the non-binary flag, the lesbian flag, and the many other flags that represent the breadth of LGBTQ+ identity. The pink triangle, reclaimed as a symbol of resistance and survival. The lambda. The interlocking symbols of solidarity that have meant so much to so many people over so many decades.
You might celebrate a person — someone from LGBTQ+ history whose courage changed things, someone in your own life who has lived their truth and inspired you, or simply a name that matters. You might create something abstract — colour combinations that feel like Pride to you, shapes and forms that carry meaning without being literal. You might stitch or knit or felt a word: love, pride, resist, visible, free, joy, brave, together.
You might use the colours of Happy Valley Pride's 10th anniversary to anchor your design. You might make something personal and specific, or something universal and bold. You might make something quiet and intimate, or something that shouts.
What we are looking for is sincerity. Make something that means something to you about Pride, about the LGBTQ+ community, about love, visibility, and the simple right to be exactly who you are. That is what this quilt is for.
What your patch can be made from
The only sizing requirement is that your patch works to a 15cm grid. It can be 15cm x 15cm, or any multiple of that — 15cm x 30cm, 30cm x 30cm, 30cm x 45cm, and so on. Any combination that fits the 15cm grid will sit alongside every other patch in the finished quilt.
Beyond that, the technique is entirely your choice.
Knit it. A rainbow of stripes in stocking stitch. A Pride flag in garter stitch blocks of colour. A motif worked in simple colourwork — a heart, a star, an initial, a symbol. Use yarn from your stash. Cast on in the colours of your flag.
Crochet it. A granny square is the classic, and a rainbow granny square in Pride colours is a thing of enduring beauty — but any crocheted piece worked to the right dimensions is welcome.
Sew it. Patchwork the colours of the rainbow. Piece together fabrics that mean something. Appliqué a symbol onto a background. Let the fabrics tell the story.
Embroider it. Stitch a name, a flag, a flower, a phrase. Cross stitch, satin stitch, long stitch, freehand embroidery — on fabric, on felt, on canvas. Bring as much or as little detail as your patience allows.
Felt it. Build a rainbow in wool. Needle felt a portrait, a symbol, an abstract burst of colour. Wet felt a panel and work into it. Felt is one of the oldest textile crafts and one of the most immediate — the results can be extraordinary.
Combine techniques. A knitted base with embroidered detail. A sewn background with felt appliqué. A crocheted border around an embroidered centre. Pride has always been about bringing different things together, and your patch can do the same.
Use recycled or meaningful materials. Cut up an old T-shirt from a Pride event. Use fabric from something that carries personal history. Repurpose and transform — there is something fitting about that in the context of a Pride quilt.
What happens to the patches
Every patch we receive will be incorporated into the quilt. Nothing will be left out — this is a community piece and every contribution is part of it, whether it travels from the end of our street or from the other side of the world.
We will stitch the patches together and display the finished quilt in the Craft and Canvas shop window at 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, through July — visible to everyone passing through town in the weeks running up to Happy Valley Pride on 26th July.
After the festival, the quilt will be donated to Happy Valley Pride as a permanent piece of community artwork — a record, in colour and craft, of everyone who chose to mark their 10th anniversary with their hands.
How to get your patch to us
In person: bring it to Craft and Canvas at 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER during normal shop hours.
By post: send it to Craft and Canvas, 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER, United Kingdom. This applies whether you are posting from across town or from another country.
Your patch must arrive by 30th June 2025. That gives us time to stitch everything together before the quilt goes in the window.
There is no charge to participate and no registration required. Just make your patch and get it to us.
Why we are doing this
Hebden Bridge is a particular kind of place. It has always had a strong, proud LGBTQ+ community, a long tradition of independent creative life, and a sense that the people who live here and come here actually care about each other. Happy Valley Pride reflects all of that — and as an independent shop in the middle of town, we wanted to contribute something that felt genuine rather than performative.
A quilt made of individual patches felt right because it is literally what community looks like. Different people, different skills, different backgrounds, different stories, different places — all contributing something of themselves, stitched together into something none of us could make alone. That is Pride. That is Hebden Bridge. And in a year when Happy Valley Pride is marking ten extraordinary years of doing exactly that, it felt like the right thing to make.
We hope you will be part of it.
Everything you need to know
What: One Patch, Your Pride — a community quilt celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride in collaboration with Happy Valley Pride's 10th anniversary
Who: Anyone and everyone, anywhere in the world
Subject: A celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and Pride — interpreted however you choose
Size: Based on a 15cm grid — 15x15cm, 15x30cm, 30x30cm, 30x45cm, or any multiple combination
Technique: Knitted, crocheted, sewn, embroidered, felted, patchwork, mixed technique, or any textile craft
Deadline: 30th June 2025
Drop off or post to: Craft and Canvas, 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER, United Kingdom
Cost: Free
Where the quilt goes: Displayed in our shop window through July, then donated to Happy Valley Pride on 26th July 2025
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be LGBTQ+ to take part? No — this is open to everyone. Allies, friends, families, and anyone who wants to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community through craft is warmly welcome.
What Pride themes can I use? Anything that feels meaningful to you — Pride flags and their colours, symbols of LGBTQ+ history and identity, names and words, abstract colour work, portraits, landscapes, anything that connects to what Pride means to you personally.
Can I send from outside the UK? Yes — we would love patches from anywhere in the world. Post to Craft and Canvas, 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER, United Kingdom.
Does my patch have to be exactly 15cm x 15cm? No — it just needs to fit the 15cm grid. A 15x30cm rectangle, a 30x30cm square, a 30x45cm piece — any combination of multiples of 15cm will work in the finished quilt.
What if my crafting is not very good? Then your patch will be exactly as it should be. This is not a competition and there is no standard to meet. Every patch will be included.
Can children take part? Yes — patches from young people are especially welcome. A simple rainbow square from a child is just as much a part of this quilt as a complex embroidered piece from an expert.
Can I send more than one patch? Yes — if you want to make more than one, please do.
Will I be able to see the finished quilt? Yes — it will be in our shop window at 3 Carlton Street throughout July. If you cannot make it to Hebden Bridge, we will share photographs of the completed quilt on our social media so you can find your patch.
What happens to the quilt after Happy Valley Pride? It will be donated to Happy Valley Pride as a permanent piece of community artwork — a record of the people who helped mark their 10th anniversary, in colour and in craft.
https://happyvalleypride.co.uk/news/100/one-patch-your-pride
Craft and Canvas | 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER | craftandcanvas.co.uk | In proud collaboration with Happy Valley Pride