Last night, I was notified that my quilt, “Goldfinch in My Garden” has sold. Great!! news! Since then, I’ve been overtaken by a flood of memories and want to share them with you.

I made this quilt in 2019 and haven’t seen it since early 2020 when I shipped it to Virginia to be part of the Sacred Threads Backyard Escapes traveling exhibit. It is always an honor to have your art selected for an exhibit. I knew it would end it’s journey this year and I knew it was for sale. However, sometimes with special pieces you send them off and hope they come home.

I took the inspiration photo during a trip in 2019. I traveled a lot in 2019, which was something I didn’t do much of in years prior. I was full of energy and hope, enjoying life. Once in Virginia, it was selected to travel to a quilt festival in California. I was super stoked about that opportunity! I felt like I was on a roll. Then, something happened … uhm, … covid. Need I say more? The tour dates for this exhibit were put on serious hold while the world scrambled to deal with a pandemic.

Later in the year, I and several other Backyard Escapes artists were commissioned to re-create our quilts for a permanent installation at Inova Schar Cancer Center in Virginia. Super exciting news and such an honor! So, I made the quilt again, this time square and titled it “Contemplation.”

Now, as the Backyard Escapes tour ends, it will hang one last time during the Sacred Threads exhibit in Herndon, Virginia. All remaining unsold quilts are currently on sale through their website (view the sale page here). 25% of the sale going to Schar Cancer Center fund for Arts and Healing. As part of the Sacred Threads exhibit, my red shouldered hawk quilt “The Messenger” will be hanging nearby. If you’re in the area and want to treat yourself to some art therapy, please visit this dual exhibit. It holds such meaning for me and all the other’s artists participating. I hope you find similar meaning in your own artistic practice:

“Sacred Threads is an exhibition of quilts exploring themes of joy, inspiration, spirituality, healing, grief and peace/brotherhood. This biennial exhibition was established to provide a safe venue for quilters who see their work as a connection to the sacred and/or as an expression of their spiritual journey.”

Sacred Theads  14-24, 2022.
Floris United Methodist Church: 13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon, VA 20171
Hours for the exhibit:
Mondays – Saturdays: 10am – 5pm
Sundays: 1pm – 4pm