Jul 22 07
ZIPPITY-DO-DAH!!!
I had another really fun, yet very busy, weekend! This weekend was the every-other-year Kaleidoscope Quilt Show in Northwest Ohio. It is held at Lourdes College and it was a beautiful weekend here with sunny skies and temps in the 75-80 range and not too humid. Despite the great weather OUTSIDE, lots of people seemed to make it INSIDE to visit the show! This is great because like many of you, I consider it my personal mission to get as many people as possible sucked into the cult of quilting!
It was extra special for me because two of my quilts won awards! The first quilt, called “Compassion Blooms at Hospice of Northwest Ohio” was made in honor of the 25th anniversary of our local community hospice. This quilt won Best Art Quilt award and here’s a picture of it:
The figure in the center of one person cradling another is our logo…isn’t it beautiful? I think it represents such a lovely sentiment. The quilt is made of commercial fabrics and I painted the background fabric surrounding the logo because I wanted it to seem that a warmth was emenating from the logo. I was trying to depict the concept of compassion blooming from the heart at the bottom of the quilt, and then that spirit of compassion kind of encompassing everyone. I made the vines out of small hearts, kind of like a stylized bleeding heart that was enveloping all. Here’s a closeup of part of the vine:
(For the record, I thought that the free motion embroidery I did around all of those little hearts might just kill me because many of them are only about 1/4 inch high! What was I thinking?!!) Anyway, this quilt was truly a joy for me to make, from start to finish. You, know, I never write anything personal about myself in this blog…if you’ve noticed, I ONLY write about quilting and embroidery and other than a few small tidbits about my very funny husband, Ernie, I really don’t reveal much about myself. Well, it is hard to talk about this quilt without it becoming personal. I feel very deeply about hospice, about the philosophy of hospice and about our hospice in particular. I started working at Hospice of Northwest Ohio not quite 3 years ago…and this has been the best experience of my life. I meet people and families and friends who are at such a vulnerable place in their life and it is really such an honor to share such an intimate time with them. Most people that I meet think that hospice is just for the last couple weeks of life and this is not so…we are there for the last several months of life and I have had so many people tell me these have been the best months of their life that I know hospice is a valuable thing. Our culture shuns the dying process and yet, there is something quite valuable about this time and it’s important that we acknowledge it and help each other through it. This is what brings me to what I was trying to illustrate in this quilt. There is something so rich, so moving, and so life-transforming about being able to witness people extending themselves for one another; helping each other through this difficult time, that you can’t go to work everyday and be a part of this without being changed by it. I get to see the best in people, again, and again, and again. Am I saying that all deaths are “good deaths;” that there are no messy, dysfunctional familial relationships that get played out during the dying process? Of course not. What I am saying is that we all have such a wonderful capacity for being compassionate, and in this job, I have the privilege of seeing a great deal of this. It has totally changed my view of people and made me hopeful about mankind. Ever since I’ve worked there, I walk around feeling like I know this special secret, and the secret is about just how wonderful people can be toward one another.
I was at the show for most of the weekend doing free motion quilting demos at the Quilt Foundry booth. Because of the hospice quilt, so many people came up to me and talked about their own experiences of having a loved one in the hospice program and they all spoke so glowingly…it made me feel so great to know how they had been touched by hospice!
Enough of me rattling on about kindness…The other quilt that won an award was Leaf Cycles II. It won the Best Use of Hand Dyed Fabrics Award:
And here’s a closeup of part of it:
No great symbolism here; I’m just hung-up on the beauty of leaves!
CONGRATULATIONS!! You have God’s Gift of Magic in your work. It shows in your quilts. The rewards were well deserved. Thank you for sharing. I am most appreciative.
I’m so pleased to hear this hospice is not just for the very end of life. My darling godfather/cousin died in our local hospice last year. Hospices are NOT funded by our National Health Service. Unbelievably, 2 doctors had to state he had less than 10 days left before he would be admitted. But it did provide a beautiful and peaceful end for this very loving man.
The quilt is lovely, did you design the logo? (I like the other one too) Boy, that is ROUGH that hospices are not funded by your national health service. In the US, Medicare has a wonderful hospice benefit that covers beneficiaries. I WISH I had designed our logo but it was designed years before I ever was a part of the organization.
Congratulations Patsy!
my only question: do you sleep? I don’t know anyone who gets as much done as you do!
I am very happy I discovered your web site/blog. It is so interesting to read and you are so generous with your knowledge. Thank you! This Hospice quilt is so beautiful in so many ways, I love it. You have inspired me to be more creative with my quilting.
Jan
The thought behind the Hospice quilt shines through and the colours of the Leaf quilt just “sing”. :o)
Ros