Here in the US we are somewhat hesitantly venturing out into a new world…a new normal…taking off our masks and for many of us, nervously putting them back on again.
I have spent the last few days thinking about the beginning of the pandemic when the army of sewing volunteers rose to the challenge to sew millions of facemasks, when there was a PPE shortage. I also remember the day when my brother in Washington DC said to me, “I learned a new term today – Social Distancing”. Remember the first time we heard the phrase “Mask up”? I am not being nostalgic about the traumatic and jolting start of the pandemic. I am just reviewing and writing down these things because in 50 years will our grandkids have forgotten what happened? Or will they still retain the hard-won wisdom that the human race has obtained in the last 14 months?
Many of us have found solace in Nature, and as our forests grow lush and Spring-green, our streams overflow with the melting snowpack, and the first few bees are venturing out to our gardens…spending a warm sunshine-filled day outdoors has us heaving a collective sigh.
Here in Colorado since we are such an athletic outdoorsy bunch, the mountain trails have been over-crowded through the whole pandemic, but there are still ways to have a private moment with Mother Nature. Camping, hiking at dawn, and backwoods wilderness trekking, are a popular secret among those who long to commune with Gaia. Meditating with only the sound of the birds, the water and the wind, is deeply healing to the soul.
As quilters, we collect the fabrics that remind us of these soulful moments…the dewdrops in the grass, the magical encounters with wildlife, the scent of a pine forest…and we put these memories into quilts to remind us of these things when it is time to come back indoors. And maybe we put a Flannel backing on that quilt so we can snuggle by a fire when the snow is flying.
We stitch the wisdom of the forest and the whispers of the wind into our quilts when we are sewing on vacation, and those stitches will speak their own kind of poetry long after we’ve gifted those quilts to our beloved family and friends.
…sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn
July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK
“For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery
Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts
Sept 27 – Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild – Lecture.
Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival
Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada
Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM)
“For the Love of Gaia” quilt exhibit
Sat, March 19 – “International Quilt Trends” power point lecture – NEQM
