Many Hands

Many hands worked on this quilt.  A couple of years ago  Friend Elke in Germany and I organized our friends in a round robin exchange.  Elke and seven of her friends and seven of my friends and I each made a center medallion.  We packaged them up and sent them on.  For almost a year we traded and made borders.  Then, heartbreak.  Our package of eight finished quilt tops was broken in transit and five of the quilt tops were lost.  I was frantic and sick and scoured the postal system looking for the tops and begging the postal authorities for help in the search.  I could hardly breathe. I was in anguish for the women who worked so hard on our quilts and for the five of my friends who didn't receive theirs. 

 It was months before I could look at this gorgeous piece of art without crying but I promised myself and Elke that after we moved and the house was settled I would bring it out and quilt it.  I had to honor the work of the women who made this for me and I had to love it for me.   I brought it out and began the first of January.

It is SO me!  I like all colors (except teal) but blue is my favorite, the one I gravitate to.  I love birds.  The closer I got to it as I hand quilted it the more I saw the detail in stitch and color choice the women in Germany made. It truly is a beautiful thing.

I finished it last night, my hands the last to work it.