A Sense of Comfort

Inspired by domestic textile traditions, ‘A Sense of Comfort’ reinterprets the familiar form of a quilt through three delicate paper patchwork panels.

A traditional quilt’s purpose is to provide warmth and comfort. Originally pieced and sewn with reused or scrap fabric, quilts are emotionally tied to the warmth and familiarity of home. Here, instead of cloth, these “quilts” are made from an unexpected and often overlooked source: used coffee filters, a material associated with the warmth, comfort and ritual of a cup of coffee.

Each filter has been cleaned, dyed, and sometimes patterned to resemble cloth. Cut into shapes and sewn together in a warp and weft of thread, the final patchwork mimics the softness, movement, and familiarity of fabric.

While they resemble traditional quilts, these patchworks are fragile and impractical. They ask how we can piece together comfort from the ordinary remnants and familiar rituals of everyday life.

Jennifer Coghill is a Toronto mixed-media fiber and textile artist whose practice centres on reuse and material transformation. Working with discarded materials, she employs sewing and textile techniques rooted in domestic traditions to create work that looks at consumption and disposability, while reflecting on fragility, care, and the things we use to shape our sense of home and belonging. A design graduate of the Ontario College of Art and a juried member of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), she has exhibited in numerous group shows since 2023. Some highlights include Ontario Society of Artists 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition, World of Threads (2023, 2026), Grand National Fiber Exhibition (2024, 2026), SAQA`s travelling exhibition Fierce Planets (2024-2027). She has presented four previous independent projects at the DesignTO Festival.