We are storytellers….we who stitch and mend, piece and embroider, weep and laugh over our work, alone and with friends…often telling stories in our work that someone else has to point out when we are done. We read stories to our children when they are little. We tell our mothers’ and grandmothers’ stories, and as we age we tell our own stories that have accumulated over the years. The stories that perhaps bored us when were were younger, now have meaning, and capture our imagination.
I’ve just finished reading the 4-volume saga of Swedish emigrants, by Vilhelm Moberg. They have helped me to understand more about what my Swedish ancestors went through to come to this country, and indeed what stories all immigrants have who leave everything to come to a new country. It is humbling.
This weekend late at night I stumbled across the last half of Slumdog Millionaire (which I adore) and had to stop what I was doing to watch what was left. Tonight on Turner, they were playing the 1968 Best Picture winner “Oliver” – the musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. Which I also adore. (Saw it in the West End in London in 2010.)
It strikes me as very serendipitous that both of these were playing, and that I managed to catch the last half of both, when they have such similar plots. (Orphans on the street fall into the hands of bandits, who lead them to a life of crime, and the young hero finds love and redemption.) We love these stories because they lead us into the darkness of despair, and eventually lead us out in the light of hope. Then we carry that light and hope out into the challenges of our daily lives, and they give us strength to carry on.
Our quilting and sewing also gives us the strength to carry on. As we stitch and piece, we are mending and healing, and as they say….when Life gives you scraps, make a Quilt!
…sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska (Anchorage & Katmai)
Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival
Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum
Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada
Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit
Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
