I was asked to speak about the circle project in church this morning. The deadline prompted me to bind the edges of Earth Ark. 
Mitered corners are second nature to me now.
On Saturday, Ned and I took the quilt to the sanctuary. 
He put up one of the stands he has built over the years. This was a temporary solution. The meditation panels will eventually be installed on a wall.
Seeing the quilt up made me feel sad for some reason. It was not perfect. It needs to be cleaned, there is still a lot of quilting to do. It needs to be blocked so it hangs well. I put two twigs together and sewed them on. In the large cathedrals of Western Europe, it was important to have a visual means of illustrating bible stories and religious ideas, as most of the population were not able to read Latin. The carvings, sculptures, tapestries, and stained glass windows in those churches remain. They still move us.
Today, we can all read. Do we still need liturgical art?
This is a quilt. Quilts bring to mind women and the domestic. For some, a quilt is too humble to be considered art. But it is art. It is an art that helps us to feel.
Quilts give time, not take it
They give the maker’s repeated caress.
7 comments:
I am sad it is finished (or close to). I have enjoyed seeing you all work on this quilt and been amazed at the amount of embellishing and quilting and tiny piecing. I will miss seeing it here regularly.
You are so right, quilts do you time, not take it. Time to sit quietly and stitch and think. To notice the small things.
Beautiful post.
Jacky. xox
mom this is so impressive! so monumental! i am happy that you are nearly finished one...you still have more you know.
thanks for the info
seeyousoooooon!
xo
yes I think we do, people can read, not all can read between the lines...
actually not all can read.
recently when i gave away a qov i wrote a letter to the recipient, explaining in detail why i'd made the quilt, when i made it and my history pertaining to war....
he added me as a friend on fb
and wrote that he'd dropped out of school in 7th grade.
later he was drafted to serve in vietnam, and because of the war they waived the fact that he'd never graduated high school.
he walked point over seas, and to this day, still does not read. he could not read my letter.
his email said,
ty i can't read it. sorry.
(many find it odd that non readers can use the computer but they can)
i believe quilts to be their own primordial language, where the tactile, the warm, the nature of womb and home and all that is holy still pulse in a gentle manner.
quilts are quiet art. they absorb time and hold it.
It is a most beautiful piece of art Judy
whether one can read or not is less important in this instance...liturgical art, indeed all art, speaks to us on a different level than printed, spoken or sung words. it touches the heart and spirit of the observer. it is evocative in a way that no word can ever be and taps the well of heartfelt emotion and ancestral streams of memory, bringing to the observer an experience that can otherwise not be felt. thank you so much for sharing your work! may you continue to touch so many with your vision...
this is beautiful. Quilts give time, not take it.
(wish everyone could read, that would be amazing!)
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