The Back Door

As the photographs of my quilts have been posted to Penelope’s Pride Quilts I must say that I am in complete agreement with Lisa Boyer.

Quilts have beauty that can only be appreciated tacitly. In Lisa’s book That Dorky Handmade Look she describes how she would host a quilt show. “I would have all visitors sit in big comfy easy chairs and tuck quilts around themselves. Some soft music would be lovely, and maybe a nice tray of cookies and hot tea.”

I wish I could have you all over for a cup of cocoa or mint tea and we could cuddle up in one of my favorite quilts to chat. We would share stories about our favorite patterns, the dream stash, our best ideas for a perfect studio and pass around pictures of our family. Therein lies the true beauty of a quilt; it is in its warmth and comfort that it can be genuinely appreciated. Even in the simple quillows made for my children years ago there was beauty. Favorite colors and familiar softness made it easier to adapt to the strange surroundings of hotel rooms. Even in a foreign country “their” bed was a safe place because the quillow was there.

One of my collections as I have traveled the world is my collections of quotations. Thoughts like ‘The only way to go is through; there is no way around,” or “Lengthen your stride,” encourage me. This quote from Viktor Frankl teaches me something new each time I ponder it: “Again and again I admonish my students both in Europe and in America: ‘Don’t aim at success, the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. “For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run, in the long run, I say!, success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.” One of my favorites related to quilting comes from a pioneer woman who said, “I quilted as fast as I could to keep my family warm, and as beautifully as I could to keep my heart from breaking.” Quilting does indeed warm the soul while the quilt warms the body.

I too “hope that the quilts I make are precious enough to be loved to shreds.” So when looking at my quilts in 2D remember my open invitation to wrap in my quilts and feel the love I have placed within them.