Healing Threads
One Sunday morning several years ago I turned around in my church pew to greet the woman behind me. Her name was Harriet and she was from Uganda. She had escaped a worn torn country and was starting over in this country. As we got to know one another we both got involved in the quilt group at our little church. She found, as I had, that quilting not only calmed and soothed her, it also sparked her creativity.
A few years later, we invited five women from a suburban church to quilt with us. As it always happens, we also had a serendipitous connection with another woman from Africa, a batik maker. She and Harriet were talking about the women in Africa not having a voice. Out of that conversation grew a quilting project depicting the women in Africa finding their voices. We decided to call our new quilting group Healing Threads. Here is the quilt that we made together to honor the voices of African women.
A few years later, we invited five women from a suburban church to quilt with us. As it always happens, we also had a serendipitous connection with another woman from Africa, a batik maker. She and Harriet were talking about the women in Africa not having a voice. Out of that conversation grew a quilting project depicting the women in Africa finding their voices. We decided to call our new quilting group Healing Threads. Here is the quilt that we made together to honor the voices of African women.
Each of the quilters made her own version of an African hut. One of our members volunteered to create the beautiful woman watching over all the huts. This African woman had found her voice. Then we gathered all our huts together and created this quilt. We auctioned it off at a fund raiser and the money allowed Harriet to bring her children to America.
A year or so later we found out that some of Harriet's African women immigrant friends, who had very stressful lives, would also benefit from the calming affects of quilting so we gathered about 8-10 of them together once a month to quilt, talk, eat, learn and share stories. Whenever a woman showed sustained interest in quilting, we supplied her with a sewing machine and the materials she needed to continue quilting. We all learned so much from each other, about women, about culture, about African design and fabric, about the art of quilting as a soul sustaining activity, about creativity, about our faith.
Quilting is a lovely art unto itself but when done with meaning it becomes "art with a heart." Healing threads was a soul strengthening experience; it was the power of connection. The core members of Healing Threads were Harriet O, Susan Eaton, Wendi Seminari, Dara Deal and Janet Hagberg.
A year or so later we found out that some of Harriet's African women immigrant friends, who had very stressful lives, would also benefit from the calming affects of quilting so we gathered about 8-10 of them together once a month to quilt, talk, eat, learn and share stories. Whenever a woman showed sustained interest in quilting, we supplied her with a sewing machine and the materials she needed to continue quilting. We all learned so much from each other, about women, about culture, about African design and fabric, about the art of quilting as a soul sustaining activity, about creativity, about our faith.
Quilting is a lovely art unto itself but when done with meaning it becomes "art with a heart." Healing threads was a soul strengthening experience; it was the power of connection. The core members of Healing Threads were Harriet O, Susan Eaton, Wendi Seminari, Dara Deal and Janet Hagberg.