A community group that runs weekly from Coxhoe Village Hall is participating in an international arts project.

Coxhoe Quilters Group has joined up with The Barefoot Heart’s 70273 Project. The project was commenced in the United States by an individual called Jeanne Hewell-Chambers to commemorate one of the atrocities of the Nazi’s in the Second World War.

Between January 1940 and August 1941 (before the Holocaust began), 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were murdered by the Nazis. Though they never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating,  Nazi doctors read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours.

The project of  Jeanne Hewell-Chambers commemorate these 70,273 voiceless, powerless people who were so callously and casually murdered by gathering 70,273 blocks of white fabric (representing innocence and the paper the doctors read), each bearing two red X’s (representing one person), and which will be stitched them together into quilts. The quilts will then be put on display in major locations when the project is complete. This was a massive task for one individual but contributions to the project are being sent to Jeanne from over the world.

Coxhoe Quilters meet at the Village Hall every Friday morning between 10am and 12 noon. They have set themselves a target of producing 50 of the fabric blocks.  At time of publishing they had produced 23 and on their way to their target.

Can you help? If you can call in to the Quilters Friday morning craft sessions. New members of the group are welcome.

You can find out more about the project here.