My guild is also currently working on zippered bags, pillow and quilts for Sarah's Inn, a domestic violence shelter in Oak Park. Several members have been working on maple leaf blocks for the victims of the Fort MacMurray fire. I just finished a big purse push for a menstrual hygiene education project for girls in Zambia. Guild member Emily H yesterday presented a fabulous quilt idea based on the work of Charles Eames that she and fellow architect/guild member Melissa developed for our next charity quilts in conjunction with QuiltCon 2017. Currently my guild has an exhibit at the Mitchell Hospital at the University of Chicago medical complex. As a guild we have worked with the Greater Chicago Food Depository,Project Night Night, and Teen Living, donating everything from reusable cloth grocery bags to full size quilts. Individually some of us responded to the victims of the 2011 tsunami in Japan by sending quilts.
I am full of love for the women in my guild and especially for those officers who are guiding our guild. And we are as disparate as any guild can be. We are all at such different life stages. One of us is starting our sophomore year in high school, and one of us has been retired for 12 years from high school. Some of us are joyful and some of us are in deep mourning. Some of us have health issues. Some of us are dilettantes, and some of us are professionals. Some of us work full time. Some of us are just becoming parents, and others of us are burying our parents. We all have our individual struggles and our individual joys. And yet, it's the art/craft that brings us together. We are connected by our spirit of generosity, and I am proud to be a part of this group. What an influence this group has had on my creative soul in the past 7 years.
Now? I need to quilt.
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