The Sleep Quilt

Book excerpt: The Sleep Quilt is unlike any other quilt you will have seen. Commissioned by Tracy Chevalier, it is entirely stitched and quilted by prisoners in some of Britain's toughest jails. Each of the 63 squares explores what sleep means in prison. A moment of escape for some, for others a dark return to all they most regret in life, sleep has a great significance in jail that is only strengthened by the difficulty of finding it in the relentlessly noisy, hot and cramped environment. By turns poignant, witty, lighthearted and tragic, The Sleep Quilt shines a light on lives that few outside can guess at. An essay by Tracy Chevalier and an introduction by Katy Emck of Fine Cell Work, the charity that made the quilt possible, as well as many quotations from prisoners, frame this remarkable work.