Gung Hei Fat Choi!
Happy Chinese Lunar New Year –
the year of the Sheep, the Goat, or the Ram.
I am still thinking about the quilts, the landscapes, and the people of New Zealand…who I met on my trip there last month.
There was one quilter I wish I could have met – and I am showing a detail of her lovely applique quilt from the quilt exhibit there. Here name was Ruth Wheeler, and she left this earth on Dec 31, 2014. I stood in front of her lovely quilt and heard local quilters talking about her, saying how sad it was that she couldn't see the award she won with this quilt.
However when I stood in front of this lovingly-stitched broderie perse style quilt, I felt Ruth's presence, and her joy of life. It came out through her colors, her attention to detail, her precise stitching. Her quilt was a celebration of her life.
In her quilt, I could see the whole story. She had bought that beautiful Asian floral fabric, had cut it up and designed her own quilt applique layout, then she had a blast with the rich colors of this piece. As I studied her work, I could see her smiling….I could feel the happiness she felt while putting it together. On this page (scroll down) it says that in the 12 years that she quilted, she produced around 180 quilts!
Whether we make patchwork quilts or art quilts, our creations are our legacy, and these heirlooms speak to our family members and also to total strangers, long after we go to the Big Quilting Hoop in the Sky. Whether our work is displayed on a bed or a wall, the joy we feel when sewing, will be felt by others for generations into the future.
Thank you Ruth for sharing your heart and your joy with me. I will never forget you.
* this is a Broderie Perse style applique quilt by Ruth Wheeler, with Asian fabric collage from eQuilter.com
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