Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Pennants.

Why Pennants ? - Traditionally in sport, competitors exchange Pennants as a sign of friendship. To continue this tradition, and as a memento of their participation in this event, we are undertaking a project to make an A3 (12" x 16") Pennant for each athlete - a personal gift for each athlete, created by you. Irene Heathcote combined the idea of Pennants and Journal Quilts and created the 'Quilts4london' Pennant Project.

Pennants - They can be made using a variety of techniques - patchwork, painted textile, photographs printed on fabric, felted, embroidered, cross-stitch, and appliqué (with lace and fabric or anything else), or knitted - and even embellishments can be added (Tassels, buttons, beads, fancy threads etc). They can be made by hand or machine. Quilted or unquilted. If you are in any doubt and would like to ask a question about this or anything else to do with the project, please use 'Contact Us', and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Pennant Shapes - The shape of the Pennant is derived from a sheet of A3 paper (42cm x 30cm approx). The 'Pennant Instructions' PDF File shows you how to make a template. Pennant templates are available for printing out, but you have the freedom to make the shape of your pennant as unique as possible.

Layers - Need to be a minimum of 2 layers.

Colour – Any colours can be used for the body of the pennant.

Designs – Any design from abstract, patterned, pieced, pictorial to anything you fancy. It could be an image depicting something local to you, or maybe depicting a sporting event, or maybe celebrating your regional heritage and culture or made using local /regional materials. It can be anything you like. There are restrictions placed on the use of the Olympic rings logo and ‘London 2012’. This is to comply with the Branding Restrictions set by the Olympic Committee. It is advisable to follow this link and read the information regarding Olympic Branding before designing your piece.

Edges – The pennants can be made by the bagging method (sometimes known as the ‘birthing’ method) or bound. If you bind the outside edge it would be ideal to use a colour from the Olympic rings – Green, Blue, Yellow, Red. Black, White - to harmonise the pennants. If your pennant needs a different colour binding, then by all means please use your own colour choice.

Hanging Sleeve - In order to display the pennants, they all need a sleeve on the back. This needs to be a minimum of 4” wide.

Label - Please add a label to your Pennant with some information about you and the Pennant. Add as much or as little information as you like. Suggestions are the Title of the piece, Date completed, your Name (could just be your first name), the Town and County and maybe a message to the recipient. If the Pennants are being made by a school or youth organisation the Child's first name, an adult contact and the name and location of the school/organisation.  A printable "Quilts4london" label is available for printing onto fabric; use the Pennant Labels' PDF File below. Printable Fabric Sheets are available here.

Can I make more than one? - Yes you can. You have until the closing date of the end of December 2011 to make as many variations of Pennant as you would like. Over 12,000 took part in the Beijing Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics, so we would like as many of you to help as possible.

What do I do next? - Please post your finished and labelled Pennant to - 'Quilts4London', 39 Hunting Gate, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, HP2 6NX - . The Pennants need to be completed by closing date December 2011, but we are collecting them from now onwards in order to exhibit the work in the time leading up to the Olympics. There will be an exhibition of all the Pennants before June 2012. The arrangements for the giving of the Pennants to the Athletes are to be confirmed.

Who can take part? - The Pennants can be made by groups, by individuals, any age or ability. We encourage school groups, young quilters and embroiderers, textile students and other organisations to take part. We would like everyone to take part who is able to sew (or would like to make this their first time) and has an interest in textiles, mixed media, art or just having fun. If you are helping children make a Pennant, it would be a wonderful idea if they made two - one to give to quilts4london and one to keep as a memento of the Olympics for themselves.

Can I take part if I live outside the UK? Yes you can. We welcome all international participation.

Need a bit more help ? - There is more information available on our Web Links section, to give you further help and advice with - the hanging sleeve, assembling the quilt, searching for images, sewing on binding, plus some other information.

What not to use if you want your Pennant to go to Australia - Please be aware that some countries have quarantine restrictions on imported items, please read this regarding Australian Quarantine . If you are happy for your Pennants to be distibuted randomly, then please make your Pennant out of anything you like, and we will find a very happy recipient for you.