Introduction

When Hurricane Katrina hit Hancock County, Mississippi on August 29, 2005, she flooded and damaged Solveig Wells’ quilt fabrics. During debris clearing operations, some became buried on the beach in Bay St. Louis. In December 2005, Solveig returned from her other home in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Walking on the beach on January 6, 2006, Solveig recognized bits of her fabric sticking out of the sand. She pulled at the scraps and discovered a cache of about 15 yards of her fabric, some severely weathered and frayed, some “tie-dyed” and some hardly affected. More fabric was found, still wet after four months, in a wheelbarrow and in a filing cabinet. Some fabric remained in the “Poolhouse,” her flooded Mississippi home, for the four months it took to gut and rebuild the house. Solveig and her wonderful friend Miss Ann recovered wet, damaged fabric from the ruins of Miss Ann's collectibles shop in Old Town Bay St Louis. 

Solveig collected and washed these Katrina-affected fabrics, and began creating “Katrina Recovery” quilts. As she pieced together traditional quilting themes, she stitched together stories of Katrina’s force, the resolution shown by survivors, the generosity of thousands who came to help in the recovery, and the hope emerging from the chaos of Katrina.

Between January 6, 2006 and April 12, 2007, Solveig created the 55 quilts shown here. 

Click on either the thumbnail image, or the sidebar menu to browse through the quilts. You can also advance through the gallery by clicking on the quilt you are viewing.
Solveig is a proud and active member of the Bay Oaks Quilt Guild.  
She can be contacted at
Solveig@KatrinaRecoveryQuilts.org