One of my favorite quilts

I love the challenge of making quilts as a collaborative effort, especially when the quilt is meant as a gift to someone special. This is one of my favorite quilts, because it was a gift from the hearts of many to one recipient, to honor her for her years in teaching. It uses artwork made by non-quilters (in this case - children) which is a fun collaboration (try it sometime!). But this quilt is not the first group quilt nor the first quilt featuring children's art that I have made. The first such quilt was one created especially for Grandma Shirley Burkom in honor of her retirement as the Director of the Becker Early Childhood Center, where my children attended preschool. It just so happens that she retired the very year that my boys were graduating from PreK. (Grandma Shirley, I need to get a new photo of your quilt to add here!). I went on to make a quilt for one of my sons' Kindergarten teachers, a wedding gift from the class (Kari, I'm way over due for a visit to you & would love a photo of your quilt to put here!). I even made a quilt for the WUE school auction one year. It featured many many blocks of kid-art in bright colors (third photo, this time needed from Melinda Mogas. Please Melinda?).

But enough of other quilts that I don't have photos of ... The quilt that I am featuring now was initially blogged about it nearly a year ago, shortly after its completion. I removed the blog post almost immediately after posting it, as the quilt was meant to be a surprise and there was a great fear that the surprise would be discovered too early! So I am happy to feature my original post about this lovely quilt that has been given to Reverend Jan Imig, from the many school children at First Methodist Church.

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What do you give someone to honor her for the years of caring and dedication she has given to your religious school program? My friend Sandy Faison had a great idea: make a quilt filled with art by the children. Jan Imig -- I hope you know how loved you are! Here is your quilt, made by the school children at First Methodist Church, and with Sandy's inspiration and organization:



Sandy chose a biblical theme -- very appropriate considering the reason behind the quilt. Each age/grade level worked on a different block. Here is the beginning, the First day of Creation by the Two-year-old class:



The second day, representing Sky and Water, is by the Three-year-old class:



The third block is the Third day of Creation, art by the Preschool class:



The fourth block, the 4th day of Creation, is by the Kindergarten class:



The fifth day of Creation has art by the First Graders at First Methodist.



The sixth day of Creation features art by the Second grade class:



The seventh block, the 7th day of Creation, has the honor of representing all the children that do not have their own block on this quilt: families with children who have already passed through the classes at First Methodist and families with young children who have yet to start their journey here.



Once the seven days of creation were used, Sandy selected three more biblical stories for the 3 additional classes. The eighth block represents the story of Noah with artwork by the Third grade class:



The ninth block, the Nativity, is by the Fourth grade class:



The tenth and last block is Jesus and the Disciples by the Fifth grade class:



All the artwork above was transfered to fabric by Original Works, the original art-based fundraiser celebrating children's creativity since 1989. For more information, here is a link to their website: www.originalworks.com/

The biggest struggle with making this quilt was deciding on a lay-out for the 10 blocks. Ten blocks seperates easily into 2 rows of 5 blocks each, but would you want a wide and squatty quilt to hang on the wall? Or how about a tall and skinny quilt? After much pondering and playing with ideas on paper and in my head, I came up with the above layout. I like how this keeps the seven Days of Creation together. Next, choosing fabrics and border-widths. After assembling the blocks and borders into a quilt top, quilting is added, unique patterns to complement the individual blocks. The finishing steps are to add binding and a label .... The quilt was completed and delivered to Sandy on Saturday evening, Aug 24th. In fact it is being presented to Reverend Jan Imig during the "Welcome Back" program at First Methodist Church-Downtown Houston on Sunday, August 25, 2008. [Note: I believe the actual presentation happened on a different day, a tad later than the original plan.]

By the way, this was my 3rd completed UFO Olympic piece during last summer's UFO Olympic games that I participated in (just couldn't blog about it until AFTER the quilt had been given to Jan!

ATCs

I have just finished my second ever ATC -- and here it is:


This is a Backstitch-Handstitch ATC for a lottery-swap in my Textile Challenges group that we held in June. Susan in Liverpool has patiently been waiting for me to finish this and send it her way. Meanwhile I received mine from Ati months ago and will add a photo of it soon (see my Sept. 6 post).


Below is the first ATC I ever made as a one-on-one swap with Carol T in Wales. Notice the size is a little wonky -- I wasn't sure of the actual dimensions that ATC's were meant to be. Always learning -- that's me! Carol is the leader of our Textile Challenges Yahoo! group. It is a great group because Carol is always coming up with innovative, fun challenges and swaps for us to try.


The top ATC is my second finished item for my personal UFO Olympics. Yep, I know -- it's small -- but it is now finished & soon will be in the mail overseas to Liverpool, original home of my favorite group, the Beatles!

Henrietta Szold

I've finished my piece for "With One Voice" the 2008 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibition. It is not too late for you to join the exhibit, too!

First, Breaking Traditions is an art quilt exhibit, curated by Lynn Krawczyk, that will be on display at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan from September 26 to 28, 2008. The theme this year is "With One Voice" as stated on the website:

This year the exhibit will give a voice to all the good that is present in the world. From the next door neighbor who helped to shovel your snowy walk, to organizations built solely on the purpose of serving those in need, to famous individuals using their influence to do good. We honor all those who stand up and say, in one loud clear voice, "I will make a difference."

Following its own theme, this year the Breaking Traditions show proudly teams up with Fiberart for a Cause, a project led by Virginia Spiegel which has raised over $160,000 for the American Cancer Society. What a fabulous way to continue to spread all that is good in the world!

Without further ado, my quilt for this exhibit honors the memory of Henrietta Szold .... and here she is!



The striking image of Henrietta above is used with courtesy from the Jewish Museum of Maryland. The original is dated 1913, one year after Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. She is 52 in this photograph, an age of independence, strength and maturity.

I chose to honor the memory of Henrietta Szold (1860 - 1945) not just because she is the founder of Hadassah, but also because she blazed a new trail for women in an age when women were not encouraged to venture outside the traditions and expectations set by family and society. How do I summarize her life and her character? To begin at the beginning ... Henrietta was born December 21, 1860 in Baltimore, Maryland when the country was entering the Civil War. Imagine the lifestyle of American citizens in those years....

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition describes Henrietta Szold as an American Zionist leader, editor, and translator. Further stating these facts: "After graduating from high school in 1877 she taught (1878–92) in private schools, organizing some of the first night school classes for immigrants. She was a founder (1888) of the Jewish Publication Society of America and served as its general editor until 1916. In 1912 she founded Hadassah, of which she was president from 1912 to 1926. In 1920 she moved to Palestine, directing the organization’s medical service and relief work. She is particularly esteemed for her leadership (1933–45) of the Youth Aliyah, an organization that rehabilitated thousands of children during World War II. She also translated many works from French, German, and Hebrew."

But this just doesn't capture the full essence of her remarkable spirit. As an educator, Henrietta not only taught English to new Jewish immigrants (a necessary skill), she also taught them History. She continued her own studies by receiving permission to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary, after promising not to seek rabbinic ordination. Remember, this was a time when only men were Rabbis. If she lived today, she could become a Rabbi, no questions asked! My how the world has changed! The children she "rehabilitated" during World War II in fact were over 22, 000 Jewish children rescued from Nazi Germany!

But what about Hadassah?
After traveling to Palestine in 1909, Henrietta was aghast at the poor medical conditions which existed there. In 1912, at the age of 51, Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah with a goal to improve medical conditions in Israel (then Palestine) for all its citizens, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. The Hadassah Medical Organization (one small aspect of Hadassah today) has achieved international acclaim for promoting peace in the Middle East by providing equal treatment to Palestinians and Israelis and was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize! What an honor!

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America has grown from its small beginnings in 1912 to become the largest women's, largest Zionist, and largest Jewish membership organization in the United States. In Israel, it supports medical care and research, education, and youth institutions, and reforestation and parks projects. In the US, Hadassah promotes health education, social action and advocacy, volunteerism, Jewish education and research, Young Judaea and connections with Israel. For more information, please check out the Hadassah Web site at www.hadassah.org

This organization continues to grow and change with the times and now reaches beyond the original goal of improving the medical needs of Palestine. According to the Hadassah Mission Statement, Hadassah is
"a volunteer women's organization, whose members are motivated and inspired to strengthen their partnership with Israel, ensure Jewish continuity, and realize their potential as a dynamic force in American society. ... Committed to the centrality of Israel based on the renaissance of the Jewish people in its historic homeland, Hadassah promotes the unity of the Jewish people. In Israel, Hadassah initiates and supports pace-setting health care, education and youth institutions, and land development to meet the country's changing needs. In the United States, Hadassah enhances the quality of American and Jewish life through its education and Zionist youth programs, promotes health awareness, and provides personal enrichment and growth for its members." I, myself, have been a Life Member of Hadassah for nearly twenty years.


I've rambled on too long --- but I am amazed by all that exists today because of the daring and determination of this one voice, the voice that once belonged to Henrietta Szold. Encouraged by her actions, I urge all women and men today to follow their hearts by acting on what they see as a need whenever/wherever they see it. Help us to make the world a better place.

Imagine the future positive repercussions there could be by speaking out with one voice, yours!


P.S. This is the first completed UFO for my UFO Olympics ... on to the next ....

UFO Olympics

I've decided to join Lynn Krawczyk and participate in the U.F.O. (Un-Finished Objects) Olympics while watching the numerous Olympic events with my boys.

Here are the basic rules for the UFO Olympics as originally devised by Lynn (with additional comments from me):
1) The project must already be started. It does not matter if it is half done or just started. Just not something new. (note from Cathy: Lucky me, I've endless possibilities to choose from!)

2) The size and scope of the project does not matter. It can be as simple as finishing knitting a pair of socks or completing the quilting for a large quilt. Quantity of projects completed does not matter, just shoot for finishing at least ONE thing. (Since I don't knit, I will not be finishing any socks ... yet!)


3) You must finish one thing before moving on to another U.F.O. Again, the whole goal is completion, completion, completion. Flitting about with fiber art ADD will not get you anything. (This may be the toughest rule to stick too, which makes it the easiest one to break?)


Won't you join us in UFO-Olympics?
Drag out those projects! Finish them up! Clean off the work table in your studio! Wipe the slate clean!
The glee of finishing one or more UFOs will surely match that of the Olympic competitors earning their gold, silver and bronze medals!

Ready? Set? GO!!!

I am starting with my Breaking Traditions piece -- after all, that deadline is fast approaching!