TO BRIGHTEN SOMEONE’S DAY

TO BRIGHTEN SOMEONE’S DAY

Two of Linda’s Hearts

Three sisters were vacationing with their husbands in Nevada in 2014. Stopping at Rainbow Vista, the ladies searched for cell service while the husbands explored a nearby trail. One of the men found a little quilted heart, with a tag saying “I need a home”. Finding a heart created and hung by a stranger transformed their lives, creating a brand-new purpose for the sisters.

The sisters started the I Found A Quilted Heart project that year. The project’s purpose is to brighten someone’s day. To date, hearts have been hung and found worldwide. The project asks that the maker not sell or profit from the hearts; the focus is on the finders of the hearts, not the makers. The sisters want the making and hanging of the hearts to be an act of kindness between two strangers.

The IFAQH website encourages heart makers to be creative.  So for the maker, there is almost complete freedom to experiment with all the facets of quilt making, such as color, embellishment, balance, texture and edge finishing techniques. 

Participating in this project brings me great joy and a sense of completeness. I am very happy I started making hearts. 

Mel Beach wrote an article about IFAQH quilted hearts in the Fall 2022 Issue 115 Quilting Arts Magazine, pages 42 – 46. Her article has directions and illustrations for the hearts she made. For more information, visit the I Found A Quilted Heart site at https://www.ifoundaquiltedheart.com/ 

PANDEMIC INSPIRED QUILTS

PANDEMIC INSPIRED QUILTS

Have you considered the way you feel about the impact of the pandemic on your life, and expressed those feelings in shape and color, fabric and thread?

Making such a quilt could be a very enlightening and emotionally freeing experience. In “The Creative Art of Quilting” Michelle Napoli says “You symbolize how you understand something before you can find the words.”

Some of the traumas of the pandemic have been grief, loss, stress, uncertainty, isolation and anger. But as you know, there are also positive components to this pandemic. Living through this time we have experienced personal growth, the appreciation of all the truly important things in life, the preciousness of valued relationships, the strengths within ourselves, our humor and joy.

Consider this abstract from the Journal of Occupational Science: Exploring the Forgotten Restorative Dimension of Occupation: Quilting and Quilt Use.

“Restorative, or restful, occupations serve to renew depleted energy resources and result in an improved physical and mental state, with feelings of regeneration during and after participation. Restorative occupations include sleep and quiet focus activities such as quilting. Historically, the concept of restoration has been a neglected dimension of occupation within the fields of occupational therapy and occupational science. The process of quilting is used in this article as an example of a restorative occupation. Restoration from quilting may be gained through the experiences of meaning, tradition, ritual, and rite of passage that quilting provides. Quilt use may be restorative as well, through associations with sleep, meaning, and the sensory qualities of quilts. Both quilting and quilt use have therapeutic benefits that promote restoration”.

Below are some interesting examples of quilters responding to the pandemic. I especially like the self-portrait in the Hillsboro Current Threads exhibit for its humor, and the cubist scream in the SAQA exhibit for its intensity.

Linda Lunt

WESTSIDE QUILTER’S GUILD
https://pamplinmedia.com/ht/117-hillsboro-tribune-news/500894-401423-hillsboros-current-threads-exhibit-reflects-pandemic

SAQA

https://www.saqa.com/art/browse-collection/facing-down-pandemic-cubist-scream

COMMUNITY PANDEMIC QUILT SQUARE

https://www.elainelutherart.com/community-pandemic-quilt-square/

QUARANTINE QUILTS

https://quiltmuseum.org/visit/upcoming-exhibits/

PANDEMIC QUILTS

https://www.quiltingdaily.com/inspired-pandemic-art-quilts/

REFERENCES

Journal of Occupational Science, volume 7, 2000 – Issue 2

by Dana Howell & Doris Pierce, Pages 68 – 72

Published 26 Sep 2011, Taylor & Francis Online

https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2000.9686467

Nextavenue, Vitality Arts, The Creative Art of Quilting

by Marijke Vroomen Durning, July 12, 20187

https://www.nextavenue.org/creative-art-quilting/