The Old Quilting Bee
H. W. Bryce
Ladies bending over quilting frame,
Busy fingers stitching squares
Into a pattern speaking love,
Happy voices humming hope.
Making patches, keeping memories,
Every stitch a kiss, each caress
A stroke of strength, a vow
This patch will help somehow.
Another patch into the frame,
Another tuft upon the thatch
Of a kind old soul not too rushed
To soothe a quilter’s mind.
Accentuating positive,
Resisting all that’s negative,
Happy people, nimble fingers
Spreading love, sowing hope.
Work together young and old,
Weak and strong, rich or poor,
Family now, stay together,
Work for good, work for all.
Old memories touching someone new,
Each quilting patch sending out new vibes,
Patchwork quilt, a unity of love,
Healing wounds, forgiveness given.
Yes, the old quilting bee updated,
A virtual holding hand in hand,
Patching strangers into friendship lives,
Folks together, one world view.
Square joining happy square, happy quilt,
People loving people, universal smile,
Harmony floating out in waves for miles,
Universal song, universal quilt.
About the Patches
Life is a patchwork of experiences, of ups and downs.
Some lives are torn apart and the patches may never be stitched back together.
In the case of the Alzheimer’s sufferers, life looks like a random collection of bits and pieces.
A pysical quilt can patch memories together and serve as a memoy album.
There is an example of such a quilt in the long-term care home where my Ann spent her final years. It was beautiful.
In the case of last evening, the patchwork quilt above was also for the homeless. Here is the blurb for the event:
Positive Resistance Community Quilt
Over the last few months Maple Ridge Artist in Residence Kat Wahamaa has been inviting folks to make quilt squares. The community quilt is being created by community at large – everyone from seniors to students – a multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-representational quilt expressing hope for the future of Maple Ridge and the world.
Each quilt square embodies positive energy, a positive resistance to negativity in our community and/or around the globe – in any way the individual chooses. It’s all about putting positive energy out into the world through art.
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The quilt was on display yesterday, October 12, at Maple Ridge Council Chambers at another event “HOME is Where the Heart Is!” for Homelessness Action Week. The chamber was packed with people.
I was invited to read my poem The Old Quilting Bee. It went well.
The evening ended with the showing of a very moving film by Cinema Politica in support of Homeless Week. Of course, for the homeless, life is a patchwork – and sometimes for the Alzheimer’s/Dementia sufferers, it feels like homelessness in that it is that disruptive for the sufferers, who sometimes wind up on the street, and for their care givers whose lives (quilts) are torn into “squares.”
The film followed several homeless people in Toronto. If you weren’t moved by this film you have no heart.
