Community Quilting Bee

Martha Laub

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Let’s Play (2023)

When I think of play – I think of small children. They are free, colorful, uninhibited, self-propelled, self-fulfilled, spontaneous, hopefully not worried about being watched, not product oriented, joy filled, not competitive, boundary-less.

Then we all grow up and the play is often grown out of us. We become competitive, comparative, goal and product oriented, fearful, time constrained and full of boundaries.

I picked these photos as they represent CHILD play. The pure, innocent, spontaneous JOY!
Have a SMILE or two on me!

Neon Ruins (2022)

The poison of my ancestral path is mostly resolved. As I imagined, remembered and observed my journey- it comes in COLOR. I love color- in my house, in my clothes, in my hair (now purple, blue and red). My motto for now is “If it has to be grey- I will make it fun! And I will be an old lady who dances in rain storms!”

So, as I thought of the colors- trying to integrate neon challenged me, as I am not too much of a fan of neon colors.

Off to the fabric store I went- scanning, pulling, comparing, putting pack, getting various fabrics cut. (It is SO exciting to feel the bag with the weight of the fabric as my mind paints the picture of how they will come together!)

In what ways can the past illuminate the preset and guide the future?
For me, my ancestry is circular- the past influences the now and the future- for good or not so good.
Just as I have done and do the best I can with what I have-so I now realize and look with more compassion on my ancestors and how they lived and influenced my past, present and future.

How are we shaped by the collective memory/ How do we shape the collective memory?
So, I have worked and cried and tried to check out early. I have talked and tried different advice I have received. I have walked, slogged through, tried to numb, and tried to destroy the circle and have finally come out to the place of “color with cracks.” A place where, like KINTSUGI, there will be cracks and I will repair them with gold.
“Kintsugi, also known as kintsukuroi, is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.”

By continuing to acknowledge the cracks and not allowing them to open wider- I am attempting
to shape a better future for myself and the people I love.

How can we give life to what is no longer seen as useful?
Acknowledge it, don’t judge, or categorize it, observe how it fits in my present and my past, maybe sit with it awhile and give it back to God and the universe, creating a beautiful, glowing place waiting to be filled with light.

SO, the quilt square. When someone says, quilt, my Mennonite practice- uses fabric. I love fabric- it’s textures, colors, pliability.

The CENTER on the quilt, is the boiling up of the poison and the “not so good” of my/our past. Trying to push it back down results in a host of other problems. I believe our emotions are manifested in physical illness if we do not acknowledge and repair the faulty thinking that goes
with those emotions.
The dots are the movement of what needs repair into manageable bites. Then, at some point in the journey, we must walk through the fire or the emotions to a place of
color. The fire I walked through involved several WISE women and settings that guided the walk gently. There was energy work, guided visualizations, difficult questions and eventually, a rephrasing of the emotion for the better. As the emotions are teased out- the color begins to flow and separate out from the darkness-into bright solid neon- sure and strong. Into shiny new emotions and approaches to previously dangerous thoughts and practices.
Finally- the place of a million colors- the happy, good, useful, productive and positive thoughts and practices. The cracks will always be there, but there is beauty in the texture and movement of the cracks and I can always get out my GOLD paintbrush and repair them.

THANKS!

P.S. You are invited to touch, ruffle, cut off a small piecer as a remembrance or guide. Sharing
our journey is another important part to shaping and illuminating our future and the future.

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Envisioned Futures (2021)

Sewing has always been enjoyable for me – piecing quilt tops included. Most of my sewing/quilting is pretty traditional, so this more abstract square was a bit of a challenge. I was honored to be asked and the journey to the finished product was healing in many ways.

Grand Prismatic Spring – Yellowstone National Park

Although the spring itself is only about 160 feet deep, its heat comes from the Earth’s mantle, which is a layer of silicate rock between the crust and the outer core. … It has a thickness of 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) making up about 84% of Earth’s volume. It is predominantly solid but in geological time, it behaves as a viscous fluid, sometimes described as having the consistency of caramel.

When I was asked if I wanted to participate in the 2021 Community Quilting Bee, I was hesitant and had no idea what I would do.

A short week or so l later, I was looking through a picture book a friend has and saw this picture – there was this “AH HA,” in my head. This is what I want to do for my quilt square.

When I re-read the color theme (grounding neutrals), I tried to think of something else to do – but this is what was before me, no matter how hard I tried to put it aside.

The colors are certainly not neutral, but they are all natural – one of the many amazing color palettes nature offers. I am a color person – the more colors, the better, so this was attractive right away.

But, more than that – this hot spring represents my emotional and spiritual journey of healing. The message is “Deep calls to deep.” I am called to DEEP HEALING, DEEP GROWTH, DEEP HOPE, DEEP LIVING, deep relationship, deep commitment, deep wisdom.

So, how does this hot spring fit – its depth, its heat from the earth’s core, its colors – vibrancy and hope, beauty and heat – emotions, spirituality, heat – this is how the picture spoke to me. The heat and the emotions welling up and being brought to light – the only way for deep healing to happen. With healing comes HOPE and GROWTH and a willingness to live more deeply. With healing and hope comes a willingness to take the risk of DEEPER relationships and commitment.

The heat also represents the times I have wronged someone else and need to ask for forgiveness – how hard is that?

The experiences and the emotions that come with them and the healing – will hopefully result in DEEP WISDOM and a belief/trust that I am always moving closer to wholeness -will I ever be 100% there? Probably not – will any of us?