So, I did it…I made a quilt top. The Houston Modern Quilt Guild had a challenge, and I’m always sucked in by their challenges. It was intriguing as a modern traditional quilter to accept this challenge. Here’s the challenge:
The key was to make an improv piece. But in the middle of this challenge, the world blew up. George Floyd was murdered on May 25th, and our country cried out in so much pain.
While processing the many of the aspects of this tragedy, I couldn’t look at black and white fabric the same. I kept thinking about Jacquie Gering’s quilt, “Bang, You’re Dead.” I kept thinking about how I avoid deep trauma and delving into social oppression. “I can’t handle thinking about that.” “I’m just going to go watch tv to assuage the hard issues.”
But I haven’t gone to wash it all away with tv or put a couple of scriptures in my mind to “feel better” and move on. This isn’t the time to hide our head in the sand or just talk about what feels good. This is the time to be uncomfortable.
So I did what any good modern quilter does…I made a quilt. I’m in the middle of deep research of different spiritual practices, and one thing I am practicing is being mindful in most everything I do. Translating that to my quilt, every piece of fabric was picked for a reason.
I randomly put together strips of white and black starting at the top left intentionally putting them together fairly balanced using scissors to cut my initial strips. As the row went along, I intentionally put larger and larger pieces of white fabric with the black strips and random pieces falling falling…
I don’t know about you, but my initial reaction to tragedy is how can we fix it? How can we get out of this oppression? I always want to get to the bottom line. I’ve noticed my spirit asking this question: “Where is hope in all of this?”
In the spirit of the red being the blood from the gun in Jacquie’s quilt, I made improv letters (those are hard!!!! eeeep!) spelling out the cry of my heart using that red. I used a bias strip of the solid red for the word “hope” and appliqued with raw edges and straight stitches.
After I sewed on “hope” I realized I still had two black pieces to sew on. Instead of changing out my thread back to grey (which I purposefully used instead of black thread to match because I need to remember the history of oppression of African Americans), I used red on those two pieces designating the blood shed.
Where is PollyAnna Sally? So here’s the rest of the story. The black pieces are pointing and are all falling toward HOPE. Because I am seeing hope in the world amidst the chaos. I’m seeing people having conversations that would normally escalate into division. I’m seeing people listen to people who would normally shut them down. And I’m quieting my talking to hear what the Lord, first, is saying to me, and then those the Lord has put around me.
We’ve been called onto a path of conversations which are full full full of listening and a bit of talking, a few questions, and more and more listening! This is the only way HOPE prevails…when we understand we ARE all created equal and we can see others the way God sees them – loved and cherished by HIM!!!
And btw, that red thread is also the blood of the Lamb that was shed for you and me. What does that mean? That means that all who believe in Jesus are covered by his blood when we die so we are not held accountable for our own sins – sins of omission, commission, blatant sins of hate or racism, sins of self-absorption, and on and on.
And when we believe in Jesus and really understand his love for us, that He doesn’t want us to be separated from the LOVE of God, we realize it is THAT LOVE that changes our hearts to expell that hatred and/or apathy in our hearts.
It is that LOVE that heals a nation, that helps us to not just quote scriptures at our neighbors, but helps us to listen to them and HEAR them and love them with the Love that God has poured out on us. That, my friends, is HOPE!
Are you wondering about where the HOPE is today? Join me in my journey for HOPE right here at Sally’s Angelworks. We’re delving in…deep and meaningfully!!
Blessings,
