Thank you Heather Hutchinson for your thoughtfulness and care on that day and for all those days when you took over for me. You and Wendy Gauthier added a layer of laughter and friendship to the stitching times we had Thursday after Thursday in the church hall. Thank you Judy Larimer, enthusiastic supporter and friend, for bringing your famous cupcakes to go along with Heather's chocolate cake and the other treats brought in by the women. (Heather took most of the photos in this post which is why there are two of me.)
Special thanks also to Julia McCutcheon, Heather Thoma, and Joanne Lewis for your faith and support in me and to the project over its entire four years. Reverend Faye Stevens, thank you. You believed in the project from the start. Without Faye and Julia, I don't think it would have happened. Thank you everyone, all 147 of you. Thank you Ned.
We borrowed the church china tea cups, there were cards and speeches and tears and a standing ovation. Thank you for that.
I continued to gather hands and draw rings/bracelets for the book throughout the day.
Very powerful.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great project, and to have had so much support from others for such a long time is quite remarkable.
ReplyDeleteWhat's next?????
Oh my, how lovely. What an accomplishment. And what lovely photos of you!
ReplyDeleteIt's rare to have such flattering photographs of moi - and so I am living it up here.
ReplyDeletexxx
What a lovely day it must have been.
ReplyDeletelove these photos glowing with the joyfulness and the sharing
ReplyDeleteI for one, do not want this project to be over ... I have enjoyed every moment reading about it and have been so inspired not only by the stitch, but by the camaraderie of all the helping hands. A marvelous accomplishment! Thank you for letting us follow along.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I read about this project I always think about the melody "May the Circle be unbroken"
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on achieving something great.
ReplyDeleteevery magnificent idea needs someone to believe in it and many willing, helping hands to implement it. i have enjoyed watching from afar, and i look forward to seeing more of the hands book. x
ReplyDeleteahh, the long breath exhaled, the next ready in the lungs
ReplyDelete~ you are SO welcome!~ loved every minute. XX ~
ReplyDeleteWhat joy! For those who created, and those many many who will gaze. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteYour community project has really inspired me. Whatever will you do now that your degree work is done, your three year long daily stitching project is done, and your community project has come to a close? I always feel incredibly lost when I finish a big project. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next.
ReplyDeleteSo appropriate to celebrate the completion of the project with a lovely gathering. Congratulations to all.
ReplyDeleteperefect....
ReplyDeletejude said it. perfect. and congratulations to the entire community. judy, you're marvelous.
ReplyDeletehow wonderful-every stitch a prayer. a breath. an exhale. congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I am fascinated by your work. Congratulations to all.
ReplyDeleteEvery ending asks for a new beginning.......
ReplyDeleteI have admired this project for the four years. I think it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read about. I love the pieces themselves, but what I really applaud is the community of women coming together to stitch for so many years.
ReplyDeleteIt is a true treasure, and your vision was so wonderfully realized.
ahhh! I see "birthing" tables, and you have the glow of a woman who just gave birth--with help--to a magnificence. This is just the beginning... it lives on.
ReplyDelete