Journey of the Quilt

Every moment is sacred if you are fully present to that moment.

Every expression outward of what is stirring deep within is sacred...a prayer if you will..if the intent is to remain open to all that is possible...and accept that journey as it truly is.  Prayer is communication with Creator....intentful connection with our highest expression  as well as surrender to the Source of all life.  Soul speaks in those connections through images, sounds, scents, textures, and all sensory experience.  The question is...are you afraid to listen?  Are you seeing what you want to see because it is comfortable, predictable…in a word…safe?

Photography is a prayerful experience for me.

When I am open to all experience, all that I am is called to experience something more.  I do not "look for” but rather "listen to".  Most times I am drawn to an image or experience that opens my heart...soothes my soul and clears my mind. Some images challenge my thinking, some invite me to go where I would rather not, but all change me in some way.  In the movie, "August Rush", the main character suggests that "the music is all around us..all you have to do is LISTEN".  And so it is, the message and the music surround us...but do we hear?  Are we willing not only to hear but be transformed?  

Many times, images I capture are not so much about the subject as the relationship of the subject within that context.  Isn’t that why we frame things? 

We want to draw attention to a certain relationship…a certain experience web.  When I create a quilt based on these many images, as I often do, the sensory experience...the textures, the colors, even the scents...are designed not simply to enhance a 2D image...the superficial experience...but to take you deeper into a connection that will speak to your soul. 

Linear thinking often leads us to match image to a predictable scent or texture...but further reflection leads us to a different way of seeing and experiencing.   What does that experience call forth in you?  How do you "re-member" when you experience this quilt?

Have you ever touched a fabric and "re-membered" the love of a grandmother who tucked you in or the cool smoothness of water as you sat playing?  Have you ever seen a place in the day connected with warmth and playfulness yet that same place at night filled you with awe and wonder as you viewed the night sky?  Have you ever smelled cinnamon or lavender and were instantly called to respond to the warmth and pleasure of calm memories?  This is soulwork.  Discovering who we truly are without fear, blame or shame.  This soulwork molds and connects as we are transformed.

Quilting and fabric art have the ability to take us beyond what we see as physically there to the experience of what is.  In the above example, carefully painting in a night sky with glow-in-the dark highlights invites the person to experience not only the illumination of the daylight, but the mystic revelation of the night sky. 

When I create a quilt, much reflection takes place as the design is drawn...and each fabric as it is cut and pieced....and even more as details are added.  Sometimes, as in life, only the tiniest detail can open a whole new connection for someone.  Sometimes, the juxtapositioning of rough and smooth can communicate transformation, growth and forward movement.  Sometimes, changes in depth as you quilt is not about outlining....but more about the bumps in the road...the struggle as you  journey towards the vision. 

And, there is always a vision awaiting revelation...so, as in life, are you listening to the music that surrounds you?  The wonderful thing is that the more we listen...the more we see and experience.

Quilting, for me, has become a voice that not only communicates soul experience, but challenges me to awaken to my surroundings and even more to the essence of their song.  Like photography, the moment is captured....but the deeper journey remains.  Where words fail, the quilt can communicate.  The experience of sewing is rhythmic and calls one to be present.  The experience of piecing together fabrics that have found new usefulness..a new place to contribute their story and wisdom sheds much light in a culture that manages by disposing of what is not useful to it.  The richness of the story is enhanced not with things by themselves but with relationships. 

We are all connected....and each of us is never truly alone.  For me, quilting invites us to discover those deeper connections...knowing we are safe to explore.  It is all good!