When I was a kid the local grannies set our school a task of making a 'community blanket'. They handed out a hexagon of fabric to every student and tasked us with embroidering our name and a little image of anything we liked on it, which in my case was a racecar. My mum carefully embroidered the car (I was 8, cut me some slack) and I remember feeling really sad that we had to give it to my teacher because I was so pleased with how it came out.

What seemed like a lifetime later the local nans turned up at assembly and unfurled a giant patchwork blanket made up of all our little names and drawings. It was so impressive and made me feel sad I was leaving the school because I felt so connected to all the little patchwork people around me.

That really stuck with me, and Katy and I have often talked about ways to capture that spirit. At one point we were considering sending an item of clothing from person to person to embroider on - and we may still do that - but we think we've had a better idea.

Lockdown Quilt Project

We're asking you, if you'd like to be involved, to send us a piece of embroidered fabric. We'll put them all together and turn them into a big blanket with our tailors in India. We'll showcase the result here and everyone who submits will get a little thank you in return (we haven't decided if this will be digital or something physical yet).

The nitty gritty

• YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE "GOOD". This is about doing something personal and maybe even learning a new skill. Naive and outsider art and craft is the best.
• Fabric must be a 5 x 5 inch square and the 'artwork' needs to be in the middle and at least 1.5 cm from all the edges so we can fold them over when we stitch.
• You can use any colours and any type of woven fabric (no stretchy / tshirt material, no leather, no silk)
• Please use any scrap fabric you have - this is also a recycling project!
• Embroider or applique anything you like!
• You must cover expenses (including postage) but your submission should fit easily into a standard envelope and standard post should be totally fine in most cases.

Deadline: 1st June. Post here in the UK is pretty OK at the moment but I know that's different in other countries so we are closing submissions in June and will continue waiting for post until 1st July.

Send your submission to:

Story Mfg (storage 5005)
Unit 9, Freshfield Industrial Estate,
Stevenson Road,
Brighton
UK
BN2 0DF

Please include your name and email address with your submission so we can contact you. If you have Instagram include your handle too so we can tag you.