Saving Our Stories

Stories are full of power.

They bind us to people, places and objects in a way that few other methods do.

They inspire us to be better, they incite us to action, they compel us to give, they change our minds or they confirm our knowing.

And the re-telling of stories, calls forth the greater forces of love, mercy, generosity and strength.  And through these forces, we connect.

Being the needlework junkie that I am, I like all things to do with a needle and thread.  That being said, I tend to prefer needlework that tells a story...

Often, as a viewer attending a quilt or needlework show, I am left wanting more.  Beyond just the name of the artist and title of the work, I want to know why they made it?  For whom?  What are they trying to say?

This past weekend I was lucky to spend time with two organizations who believe in the power of story.

On Saturday, I attended the one-day conference, Not Fade Away: Sharing Quilt Stories in the Digital Age.  The conference was sponsored by the Alliance for American Quilts, a non-profit organization who has been documenting and saving the stories of quilts for the past 20 years.  You can read more about their oral history project, Quilters' S.O.S. (Save Our Stories), here.  As each quilt interview is completed, you can also read the transcript of the interviews on the website...all of the audio files as well as pictures of the quilts are being archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

The day was filled with interviews of quilters sharing their stories and a series of different workshops of which I took two.

One workshop was on Self-Publishing using Create Space (owned by Amazon) -- loved it! And the other workshop was a training on how to conduct my own QSOS interview.  You can read how to get involved and download the Guidebook for conducting an interview here.

The conference was well-organized and I would definitely go again.  Luckily for all attendees, they partnered with the Sacred Threads Quilt Exhibit so that our meeting was held in the same building as the 2013 show.
All I can say is Wow!  

I haven't been to tons of quilt shows...maybe just a dozen or so...but this was the first quilt show that set my soul on fire.

The quilts on display dealt with personal and/or spiritual subject matter with categories that included Joy, Spirituality, Inspiration, Grief, Healing, and Peace.  Hanging beside each quilt was a statement that described the spiritual journey the artist took in making their quilt.

It was an intimate exhibit...and the lack of ropes allowed the attendee to get up close and really see the details on each quilt.  Photography was not allowed but I was able to find some (not all) of my faves online...

Change Your Mind by Karen Cunagin
Mother and Child Crazy Quilt by Debra Spincic
Memories by Jennifer Day
St. Francis Preaches to the Birds by Barbara Curiel 
My Friend is Bi-Polar by Laurie Ceesay
Not Just Blue by Susan Walen

To say I was moved is an understatement.  Many times I was able to empathize with the maker who expressed their joy or grief or sorrow with needle and thread.  The Sacred Threads Quilt Show is held through this weekend in Herndon, VA.  If you live anywhere close by, I highly recommend going.

I wouldn't have gone myself either had it not been for my blogging needle friend, Allie Aller.  She was the one who invited me since she is on the Board of the Quilt Alliance and was planning to attend.

Allie and Susan, a bit dewy from their ride on the Mount Vernon Trail

Our story began in 2006 when I first started blogging.  Her blog was one of my favorites as I was eager to devour as much crazy quilting knowledge as I could.  At the time, Sharon Boggon of Pintangle was running a "100 Details in 100 Days" on her blog and Allie had decided to follow along, interpreting Sharon's detail as a seam treatment onto her Crazy for Flowers Quilt.  I followed Allie and worked on my Tea Therapy block.

So from these connections a friendship was born.  Fast forward to today and Allie has now turned "pro" in the quilting world. She's a nationally-renowned teacher, author and has just recently offered an online Crazy Quilting class through Craftsy.    If you are the least bit interested in crazy quilting, I highly recommend it.

Allie and I took advantage of being in Northern Virginia and biked along the Potomac River on the Mount Vernon Trail.  We had read wonderful things about the trail ride and it did not disappoint.

On Monday, we took an emergency trip to New York City for the day.  That's because Allie had found out that Tinsel Trading was moving and they were having a huge sale!

Antique Metal Ribbon at Tinsel Trading Company, NYC

It's true.  They are moving on August 31 and it is unclear as to how much of the current inventory will be moving to the new location.  That means...if you're anywhere close to NYC, you might want to stop in there for the sale...there were some great deals to be had.  Fingers crossed that the store will still emphasize vintage notions and supplies for the enthusiastic artist but there are no guarantees.

As for Allie, we always have fun and it's easy to pick up where we last left off...laughing and sharing and dreaming.

Thanks for coming Allie.  I hated to see you leave.

P.S.  I found this great online resource by an Quilt Appraiser on "What to Put on a Quilt Label"...it's worth a read and much of it translates needlework as well.  The only task I might add is the importance of taking a picture of yourself, the maker, while you are in the process of making the item as well as little note about your process.

P.P.S.  My own life story is taking me on the trip of a lifetime to Scotland.

I'm a bit excited with all things Scotch at the moment and I'm afraid my enthusiasm will be bubbling over onto this blog in the next few days.  Just preparing you...I'm leaning toward tweeds and plaids and thistles and heather...oh yeah, and scotch!

Mrs. Rose is going to hang tight until September when life settles back into a routine...roses need stability in order to bloom and I'm anything but stable at the moment!~

The Art of Storytelling

Last Friday my good friend Maura invited me to go see the Art of Storytelling exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum here in Baltimore.

I'm going to have to go back because I spent the entire time I was there absorbing the embroidered story of Esther Krinitz.

I had seen Esther's embroideries many years ago and have never forgotten their power.

Seeing them for a second time, I was able to move beyond the "what" of the story and focus more on how her story was told.

Esther grew up in a small town in Holocaust Poland where she saw her family terrorized by Nazis and eventually forced to leave their homes and march to their deaths.  At fifteen years of age, Esther together with her 13-year old sister, Mania, separated from her family in a desparate attempt at survival.  They sought refuge from townspeople and a family friend, but were constantly pursued by Nazis who were seeking them out.

Esther embroidered her story in 36 panels, many with captions helping to tell her tale of survival.

As I studied her story for the second time, I realized how the format that she had chosen for telling her story...needle, thread and fabric...helped to soften the horror of the events that happened to her and her family.   It made her story more digestible.

And I felt how she had used the many, many hours of stitching to honor and memorialize all those in her family whom she had lost.

And, as Esther shared her personal horror story, she never failed to incorporate plants, flowers, trees and other plant/animal life.  It is amazing to me that she had the capacity to remember the beauty that surrounded the atrocities that were committed against her and her family.

©Bernice Steinhardt & Helene McQuade

This ability to reflect beauty and joy at times of tremendous sorrow is an invaluable gift, and I might argue, that it was key to her survival.    It reminded me of a similar attribute of Roberto Benigni when he directed and starred in the academy-award winning movie Life is Beautiful, one of the greatest movies ever made (imho).

To Esther, nature gave her refuge, solace and nourishment.  When she was hungry, she found food there.  When she had no place to hide and the friends and neighbors she had known could no longer protect her, the forest gave her safe haven.

©Bernice Steinhardt & Helene McQuade

My second favorite panel is the one below where Esther felt that the bees that nested on the farm where she worked had saved her from the Nazis.  Somehow she felt the bees that had shared the fields with her, had sensed the foreignness of the soldiers and attacked them.

©Bernice Steinhardt & Helene McQuade

But my most favorite panel is this one where Esther, her mother and her sisters ran into the fields behind their house fleeing from the Nazi soldiers who were raiding their home.

©Bernice Steinhardt & Helene McQuade

Esther's mother urged her to separate, knowing that they each had a better chance of survival if they ran apart rather than together.  What heartache her mother must have felt to knowingly ask her child to leave her so that she might survive.

Later, I watched the award-winning documentary titled Through the Eye of the Needle:  The Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz.  In that movie, a psychiatrist stated that this was a pivotal moment in Esther's life because her mother was giving Esther permission to survive.  This permission would help define Esther and guide her actions as she evaded capture and death.

I loved how she stitched the flowers up and over the skirts so you could almost feel like the field was alive and actively working to conceal the girls.

The story, as sewn and revealed by Esther, is captivating, compelling and, at times, charming.  If you have the opportunity to view the exhibit one day, I highly recommend it.  You can view the traveling exhibit schedule here.

And if you cannot, might I recommend that you visit the Gallery at the Art & Remembrance website where you can view all her embroideries.  The pictures are in high-resolution so you can click twice and feast your eyes on all the details.  Also, turn up the volume on your computer...many of the slides are narrated by her daughters.

Though Ester was an accomplished sewer, she had no formal art training.  She told her stories to her two daughters and wrote in many journals but she wanted them to be able to see pictures of her memories.  It wasn't until she was 50 years old that she began using embroidery to translate her story.  She hesitated to begin because she felt she could not draw.   She asked her daughter Helene to draw a picture of her childhood home.  Her daughter responded, "But, Mom. I don't know what your house looked like!  You'll have to do this yourself."

©Bernice Steinhardt & Helene McQuade

And so she began her first embroidery and, once started, she didn't stop.  There's a lesson there for all of us.

Esther died in 2001 at the age of 74.  Her daughters continue to share her pictures, and encourage other youth to use art to express their feelings.

There's a picture book of the exhibit titled Memories of Survival and much more to explore on the Art & Remembrance website.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  I am so grateful for this wonderful internet that allows us to share our friendship and love of needlework.

See you next Monday.  xoxo