+ Her Barefoot Heart
News of The 70273 Project with a side of Jeanne’s Barefoot Heart
Thank you, Wendy Daws, for this video and to Lucy Horner, 70273 Project Ambassador, and to all those who helped make this magnificence happen.
The quilts will hang in Rochester Cathedral till March 12, 2018.
The Engineer and I will be there on 1/24. If you’re in the vicinity or can get there, I sure would like to meet you. Let me know you’re interested, and I’ll let you know the particulars including what time.
Subscribe to The 70273 Project YouTube channel.
While The Engineer and I made our way to Iceland yesterday, this was happening at Rochester Cathedral . . .
Photo Description: a large table, covered with red and white checked tablecloths. On top of the tablecloth is an expanse of white fabric, waiting.
Photo Description: A jumble of red X’s with the occasional quilt block (white background with pairs of red X’s)
Photo description: People stitch the red X’s onto the white fabric
Photo Description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white fabric
Photo description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white background
Photo Description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white cloth background
Photo Description: One red X is stitched onto the white cloth background. (One down, one to go)
Photo Description: Two large red X’s are stitched onto the white background
Photo Description: Two red X’s are stitched onto a large white cloth background as women look on
Before:
Photo Description: Rochester Cathedral as it appeared in the morning
After:
Photo Description: Banners hanging at Rochester Cathedral
Photo description: Five smiling women who appeared in other photos as they stitched the red X’s to the expanse of white cloth
Artist Wendy Daws (wearing glasses) with her Band of Merry Banner Makers.
These banners and the quilts will hang in Rochester Cathedral through 3/12/2018. The Engineer and I will be at Rochester Cathedral on 1/24 to see these magnificent banners and the quilts they portend, and I look forward to having an opportunity to thank (and hug) those who commemorated those we honor with such dedication and astonishing beauty. If you want to come put your neck in front of me to be hugged, let me know and I’ll get back to you with the exact time to meet up.
Thank you, Lucy Horner and Wendy Daws for these photos
. . . and so, so, so much more.
~~~~~~~
There’s much more magnificent commemorating to come,
so subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single thing.
And feel free to share this post as you will.
From Monday, January 8, 2018 to Saturday, January 27, 2018
this building – TheJersey Heritage Museum –
will be filled with quilts made by residents
of Jersey, Channel Islands, U.K.
70273 Project Ambassadors Kim Monins and Gisele Therezien
have worked tirelessly for more than a year,
hosting block drives, piecing tops,
quilting and finishing quilts.
Gisele and her son, Ed and Kim and her husband, Steve spent all day Sunday, 1/8/2018 hanging the quilts.
and creating information centers to enhance
the experience for visitors.
Go visit if you can.
Treat yourself to what promises to be some amazingly beautiful quilts
and some gorgeous spots of Earth.
Thank you, Kim and Gisele, for all the time, energy, and expertise
you’ve invested in these commemorations
and for taking and sharing such beautiful photos.
I’ll be profiling each individual quilt in future blog posts,
so you might want to subscribe so you don’t miss a single thing.
Photo by Margaret Jackson
Meet The 70273 Project Quilt 241 that will soon hang in Durham Cathedral in observance of Holocaust Memorial Day. Though I can’t tell you the exact dimensions, I think you can tell that she’s a girl of sizable proportions.
395 people are commemorated in Quilt 241, and these are the people who made the blocks:
Julie Lovatt (Coxhoe, Durham, U.K.) (She commemorated 168 people in this amazing quilt!)
Painting for Pleasure Art Group (Trimdon, Durham, U.K.)
Ann Hewitt (Ferryhill, Durham, U.K.)
Emmajayne Saunders (County Durham, U.K.)
Marjorie Collins (County Durham, U.K.)
Mary Robinson (County Durham,U.K.)
Pauline Marr (County Durham, U.K.)
Lesley Snell (Kelloe, Durham, U.K.)
Alex Storey (County Durham, U.K.)
Matthew Storey (County Durham, U.K.)
Marcus Storey (County Durham, U.K.)
Margaret Jackson (Coxhoe, Durham, U.K.)
Valerie Collins (County Durham, U.K.)
C McLean (County Durham,U.K.)
Jenna Wilson (County Durham, U.K.)
Beryl (County Durham, U.K.)
Quilt 241 was Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson.
The Engineer and I will be headed across The Pond soon, and I am beyond excited at the prospect of seeing these quilts and meeting the people who made them. I’ll be able to spot the Makers in even the most crowded room because they’ll be the ones wearing bandages on their sore-from-stitching fingertips!
Thank you, Coxhoe Quilters and Neighbors, for your dedication in making sure the 70,273 people are not forgotten and that they did not die in vain as they help us celebrate the perfectly imperfect who live today.
You can read more about The Coxhoe Quilters here and here,
And if you’d like to make a quilt by yourself or with your group (think family, guild, club, school, colleagues, etc.), you can find more about that here. Or if you’re more inclined to make a Middling (fat-quarter sized art quilt), head this way. If a fabric postcard is more to your liking, go right over here and find out more about that. And of course we still accept blocks, if that’s what interests you. However you decide to participate and help us commemorate the 70,273 people who deserved to live, thank you.
Blocks made by Jeff Rich, fellow member of the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild
Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I checked in blocks from these good folks:
Rachel Williams (US)
Barbara Jensen (US)
Alida Palmisano (US)
Jeff Rich (US)
Brenda Andrews (US)
Robin Olsen (US)
Elizabeth (Liz) Sutcliffe (US)
Cindy Ridgedell (US)
Anonymous
Patsi Brletich (US)
Gayle Visher (US)
and quilts from:
Quilt 335 from the Channel Islands (U.K.) (there will be many more. I’m compiling them now for a series of blog posts.)
Quilt 206 made by Wendy Tuma and others
Quilt 482, made by Patricia Gaska (US)
Quilt 483 made by Susan Bianchi (US)
When we kicked off 2017, we had commemorated 6845 people. Do you want to guess how many commemorations we have as of January 1, 2018? If you said 32,922, give yourself a gold star ’cause you’re exactly right! In case you think your eyes are playing tricks (and because I like saying it), as of January 1, 2018, we have:
or, according to The Engineer, 46.8% of the 70,273 people we will commemorate
Thank you to all of you who continue to commemorate by making blocks, block quilts, Middlings, and Minis, and to all of you who turn bundles of blocks and quilt tops into finished quilts (if you want a bundle or top, let me know). Please don’t stop stitching and sharing news of The 70273 Project, inviting others to pick up a needle and thread, too. And please keep sending me your stories. They fuel me. They really do.
There are some exciting things right around the bend, so be sure you either subscribe to the blog or check back often. And remember the occasional newsletters called The 70273 Project XXtra.
I hope each one of you know how amazing you are.
Wishing all of you The Best Year Ever in 2018.
I am trying to stay on task this year,
having no more than three cloths in the works
at any one time,
finishing one project
before starting another.
(Wish me luck.)
One project must be portable –
able to fit in a small bag
that will fit in my purse or tote
because we travel
– a lot –
Which is why it often takes so long
to cross the finish line.
I am using my machine on some projects,
(I couldn’t’ve finished the Christmas presents
– table runners for my son and his wife –
without the assistance of my sewing machine)
but always there is a bit of hand stitching.
Stitching In Our Own Language 4
is my night-time stitching project.
If I continue to stitch 2 drawings a night,
I will be finished in 10 days.
It’s quite satisfying to lay out a plan
and stick to it
and quite satisfying to complete things.
It’s a feeling I want to experience
more often this year.
If It Is Not Too Dark
Go for a walk, if it is not too dark.
Get some fresh air, try to smile.
Say something kind
To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.
Always exercise your heart’s knowing.
You might as well attempt something real
Along this path:
Take your spouse or lover into your arms
The way you did when you first met.
Let tenderness pour from your eyes
The way the Sun gazes warmly on the earth.
Play a game with some children.
Extend yourself to a friend.
Sing a few ribald songs to your pets and plants –
Why not let them get drunk and wild!
Let’s toast
Every rung we’ve climbed on Evolution’s ladder.
Whisper, “I love you! I love you!”
To the whole mad world.
Let’s stop reading about God –
We will never understand Him.
Jump to your feet, wave your fists,
Threaten and warn the whole Universe
That your heart can no longer live
Without real love!
~Hafiz
~~~~~~~
In Our Own Language 4:27-33
Nancy, my developmentally disabled sister-in-law draws.
I, the woman who flat-out loves her, stitch her drawings.
The body is a sensing instrument of consciousness.
Without the body and the mind, the trees couldn’t see themselves.
Usually we think that we are looking at a tree,
but the tree is looking at itself through us.
Without this instrument,
the tree doesn’t get to see itself.
We are the sensing instruments of the Divine.
– Adyashanti
In Our Own Language 4:24
Nancy, my developmentally disabled sister-in-law, draws.
I, the woman who flat-out loves her, stitch.
Happy New Year from Jeanne and Nancy
Every New Year’s Day, my Grandmother would finish breakfast, get lunch on to cook, then take her seat in the chair underneath the telephone. She’d pull out the baby blue zippered 3-ring binder that held all sorts of important information, turn to the curled-up page where she’d written all the family phone numbers, and put her finger beside the name at the top. Carefully, making sure she got the number right, she dialed one number after another.
“Hello?” answered the receiving party.
“Hello. Is this 1-9-7-6?” Grandmother would ask, clamping her hand over her mouth so the person on the other end would take her seriously.
“No,” they’d say, thinking she was referring to a phone number, “this is 5321.”
“Oh yes, it is so 1976,” she’d say, “check the calendar,” her laughter erupting as she slammed down the phone. She’d take a few deep, satisfied breaths to collect herself before dialing the next number on the list.
New Year’s Day is the only day my grandmother ever turned prankster, and she wore that year-turned-telephone number prank slap out. Today, ignoring caller id because that’s not important to the memory, my cousin Stacy and I race to call each other on New Year’s Day, asking simply, “Is this 2-0-1-6?”, laugh, and hang up.
Happy New Year, y’all. I hope you’ve had your black eyed peas and turnip greens and pork cause there’s no need in tempting fate. But listen here: whatever resolutions you make, whatever resolutions you break, may 2016 hold delight around every turn. May you laugh more than you cry. And may you never question – or let anyone else question – your worthiness.
Now let’s get on out there and have ourselves a big time, why don’t we.
~~~
Doesn’t matter what day of the year it is, Nancy and I continue doing what we do . . .
Nancy draws:
And I stitch:
And we watch to see where that carries us.
There’s the joy of becoming reacquainted with the sewing machine that was a gift from The Engineer on our first Christmas some 42 years ago, paid for with winnings from two radio contests. And the joy of using that sewing machine to make gifts – four long, skinny quilts to grace the holiday tables of my children, my mother, and my brother. The joy of (re)learning that while I like learning new techniques from others, I do not like following patterns. Makes me scratchy, irritable.
There’s the joy of having a roof that holds under the constant onslaught of viscous thunderstorms and torrential rains. The joy of watching the flood waters stop four steps short of coming into the house.
There’s the joy of tissues with lotion woven in. Of Mother mixing me up some of Mama Helen’s special cough syrup that uses only 3 ingredients: Maker’s Mark, lemon juice, and honey. The joy of a text that comes from my daughter while I’m in the doctor’s waiting room promising to take care of me while the antibiotics do their job.
But neither the raging weather or the raging sinus infection dampened the joy of being with family. The joy of hearing my daughter sing at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. The joy of hearing how the younger generations intend to get after the future while swapping stories from the past that give roots and clues. The joy of laughter and camaraderie that become our heritage and history.
I took the Storm-at-Sea to enjoy the joy of stitching . . . but I didn’t get much joy done on that front.
This work by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.TheBarefootHeart.com.
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