Victorian Urn table runner (18” x 42”) hand reverse applique

These are excerpts from my trunk show, Quilting! A Creative Act of Hope!.

Creativity is an expression of hope, and hope is powerful.

This is all the more important in these uncertain times.

One doesn’t take the time or expend the energy to create, to quilt, unless one has hope. When we quilt, we spread hope. We inspire hope in ourselves and in others, one stitch at a time, one thread length a day. As we create, we take our concerns and fashion something beautiful out of them.

I am passionate about God, beauty and creativity, and quilting is my venue.

I love beautiful things. I love…. color that splashes…. clean, simple lines…. art objects that move…. beautiful melodic lines…. contemporary jazzy improvisations…. colored glass with light shining through it. And I love having touches of elegance around me. As Audrey Hepburn says, “elegance is the only beauty that never fades”. I don’t think beauty is extraneous to our life. I think it is a vital part of life precisely because beauty inspires hope!

Rose, 2 of 9 (16” x 16”) hand or machine reverse applique

My creativity and my faith go hand in hand, and a great deal of my creating was initially an avenue of transformation for me. It came out of an inner voice seeking to make sense of or find peace in the midst of my life circumstances. The act of creating stirs me to hope…… to life…to truth…to beauty, even at times when I’ve felt no hope.

It is through creativity that I’ve given expression to my life journey, to “Make”, as Andrew Frazer says, “beautiful things out of dust”, first through my career as a dancer and then as a quilter. I believe that one just doesn’t take the time or expend the energy to create, to quilt, unless one has hope.

For me, it is not just about creativity, it is about the person I become while I’m creating. How about you?

Life just makes more sense to me when I’m creating. I find hope. For without hope, what is the point? I am settled and at peace when creating. It is a meditation, a prayer. Just ask my husband. He knows when I need to go to my stitching chair to sit and stitch for a while, or spend time at my sewing machine. Quilting feeds my soul. Perhaps you know what I mean because you are a creative, a quilter, too.

Creativity is a journey of trust that transforms and renews us, but it also reaches out to others with the same gifts.

Appassionata Quilt XIV, (68” x 68”) hand or machine reverse applique

Quilts, I believe, are imbued with what we stitch into them: our thoughts and ideas; our hopes and prayers; our joy and playfulness.

One of the amazing things about a quilt is that because hope, love and joy are inherent in the creative process, hope, love and joy are stitched into a quilt,and so hope, love and joy are gifted right along with the quilt. It’s what makes a hand-made quilt different from a blanket bought at Wal-Mart.

For example, long before I began Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design I designed and made Barbara’s Medallion I, what ultimately became the first pattern for the business. I made it as a gift for my sister. When I gave my sister her quilt she cried. It touched her so deeply that it was designed and made just for her, in fabrics to go with her home decor! She was overwhelmed with love and filled with hope that somebody would do that just for her. She later loaned the piece back to me to use in my quilt show booth and I traveled with it for 3 years until I re-made my current blue/ green sample. When I returned her quilt to her, she cried again. She said, “It was like being given it for the first time all over again”. That’s the power of a quilt. A quilt is tangible love.

Fan the Flame Quilt VIII.(50” x 50”) Hand reverse appplique, machine piecing

As a quilter we get to play with color, pattern and design, feeding ourselves and others, as we participate in an act of creation by adding a personalized spot of gratuitous beauty to the world. We make quilts to warm hearts as well as bodies. This is beyond necessity. It is abundance. Extravagance. Elegance. Love. Each quilt has the potential to transform us the maker and the recipient. Each quilt is beautiful, and beauty inspires hope. When we quilt, we spread hope, we inspire hope, because quilting is a creative act of hope.

I hope you will creatively turn your worries into quilts and other acts of love during this season. Stir up hope in yourself and in others as you stitch your magic from your stash. Make quilts of beauty for yourself and for those that you love. Imagine the Show n’ Tells of tomorrow and the birthday, Christmas, Hannukah, and….. gifts to come.

Glorious, Medallion XV (42” x 42”) hand or Machine reverse applique with applique

Please send us pictures of what you are working on. We can all share and be inspired through social media. Remember, if you email us pictures of Eye of the Beholder projects for us to post on our Facebook page, we email you a 10% off coupon to use on your next website purchase.

All our patterns can be purchased as print patterns or PDF digital patterns. Plus we have the notions you need.

All print patterns and notions are 19% off through April 19th, 2020. Enter discount code: 19OFF at checkout.

Quilting is a Creative act of Hope!

Happy Quilting!