Adath Shalom's QUILT

Quilts and notions Danielle D

The story of Adath Shalom' s new wall hanging is one of serendipity and blind audacity.

For as long as I have attended services in our chapel inside Hillel Academy, I have stared often at the blank walls and longed for something else to look at, yet I was unable to define its nature or shape.

Last year, as I endeavoured to learn to lead the preliminary service, I finally understood all that I was saying in Ma Tovu, and felt we had to make true the sentence "How beautiful your dwellings, O Israel."

Why a quilt? will you ask. I like the notion of assembled pieces, of a whole made great by small contributions, of numerous participants, of personal input. I like its unpretentious nature, a bridge somewhere between crafts and Art, something relevant, made useful by its transformation into a chupah, at Michael C's suggestion. I am able to thread a needle, and I particularly like the noticeable human touch on handmade objects. Simply put, I thought we could pull this together...

The search for an artist for its design led us to our very own Claire C. Foremost in this project was her belief that everyone is an artist, with creative forces at hand, with gifts to share; Claire has displayed all along a generosity of spirit and a trust in her fellow human beings that all would turn out well and go together in the end. For those among us who wanted specific lines along which to cut, she provided, for others who wanted to pull away from the suggested drawings and "do their thing," she gave freedom and approval.

For each decision reached, for each mistake along the way, I have found profound wisdom in the response of Israel upon receiving the commandments: "We will do and we will understand." Indeed, this is the correct order of learning, and my understanding of the power of shared doing has grown beyond measure.

This is particularly true when we reached mid-stage in the assembly of the quilt, and I accidentally came into close contact with Ottawa's own quilting expert, Elena, (whose creations are the Torah covers of Machzikei Hadas among others, or the Torah cover for the scroll shown at the entrance of the library of the SJCC). Here again, Elena offered the treasures of her experience to us, and guided our progress and efforts with a sharp eye for details, precise instructions, personal support and involvement, all doused in humour and common sense.

Fourteen congregants assembled at least one piece of the side panels, more got involved to trace letters, to quilt, to obtain quotes for the case to enclose the quilt, to give comforting applause and support, to trust that the end result would be something to be proud of, a true enhancement of our chapel.

The only thing one ever has is that which one gives away. We at Adath Shalom are very rich indeed.

On the total design of the quilt Claire C

In approaching this challenge of designing the quilt for Adath Shalom, the first thing that came to mind was "triptych" – Jerusalem as the center panel and Jewish holidays with various other symbols of our tradition as the two panels on each side.

The Jerusalem piece was to be divided into two parts, "Yerushalaim shel Ma'alah" and "Yerushalayim shel Mata" –that is, the spiritual Jerusalem, Jerusalem from above, and the earthly Jerusalem, the one below. The blue skies, mountains, etc. reflect the first part, the spiritual Jerusalem; the buildings of many shapes, the gates and domes, represent the earthly Jerusalem.

The two panels from both sides are the holidays and the many other Jewish symbols which represent Jewish life, rituals and practice.

More than the parts Ellen C

One shul experience that I find particularly moving is the awareness of the amazing cohesiveness throughout the Jewish world, in every generation, in good times and in bad, that wherever services are held, the same parsha is being read at the same time. The experience of quilting has given me a similar sense of camaraderie among women that I have never met, who throughout the world and the generations come together to share sewing and friendship, troubles and joys, hopes and dreams.

I created two of the side panels - the Masked Harlequin King representing Purim, and the opened Torah scroll embroidered with the theme of creation, and three buildings in the collage of Jerusalem - the small green domed minaret, the small "typical" home of red clay and domed roof, and the large gold domed house of prayer with an embroidered façade above the five arched doorways. This project proved that the whole adds up to much more than the parts. Individually, each piece has its own beauty and uniqueness. The creative imagination expressed is awesome. The design and workmanship in some of the embroidery and the appliqué work is fantastic. But it is as a whole that the wall hanging sparkles with the creativity and love that has obviously gone into each piece, and into the quilting that has bound it together. As a first time quilter, I have learned much about this time-honoured art. As a participant in the creative group experience, I have enjoyed the pleasures of fellowship with the other participants. And as a shul goer, I look forward to the pleasant distraction of enjoying the wall hanging.

Piece by piece Susan Robertson

I produced four pieces for the quilt, three buildings in Jerusalem and Tisha b'Av. For all four pieces, I was given a shape template and told to do with it as I would. Although I had some idea for the buildings, they very much evolved as I worked on them, the thought process echoing the building process, progressing in slow, even increments. I had one clear image for Tisha b'Av. While my image did change slightly as I worked, whether through the necessities of the cloth or the dictates of my eye, the end result is much as I had imagined. Like the destruction of the Temple, my vision was sudden and complete. I imagined flames behind a battered wall, an angry red sun in the sky.

My vision was so strong that I fear I may have sacrificed the unity of the quilt to adhere to it. I felt strongly that I wanted to limit the colour choices to reds, blacks, and greys. Bringing in other colours would have allowed the piece to blend more readily with those around it, but would have intruded on what was, from the beginning, a pressing sense of dread.

After completing the piece on Tisha b'Av, working on the buildings was a delight. I dusted off some dormant embroidering and tatting skills and felt free to experiment as I went along. It was a delight to see how fabric and thread could come together to create a whole. And what a special delight to see how everyone's individual wholes came together to make Jerusalem. I don't think I've oohed and aahed so much since my children were young.

Adath Shalom Chris S

I was very pleased when I was assigned the quilt piece that represents Adath Shalom. The design is based on our logo of the dove and a tree with the branches spelling shalom. I wanted the piece to include the name of the Shul too, so I decided to have the roots spell out adath. As the roots nourish and support the tree, Adath Shalom nourishes and supports its members.

The fabrics that I used were left over from quilts that I made for my children when they were babies. I also made quilts for other friends from this fabric, including one for Ari Goldberg.

Succot and a Jerusalem building Fern G

If I had to do it over again, I'd have done it differently, better, taken more risks in design and technique. But that's easy to say now. At the time I was both thrilled and anxious about trying out a piece for such an ambitious project. Courage to try something different could only come after doing the first round...and learning from others' works. The whole is far greater than its parts. The quilt is as dazzling as it is because of everyone who worked on it.

Tu b’Shevat, Ner Tamid, Shavuot Danielle D

Tu b’Shevat marks the new year of the trees; I am told of the lovely sight of almond trees in bloom. I could not help think of our own apple trees in blossom and the soft pinks which freshen the air. Other ground covers surely also grow where there are pink blooms.

Adath Shalom's new Ner Tamid was a high point last year in our life at Adath Shalom: In Thy Light Do We See Light.

Shavuot is a festival which offers many elements: seven weeks have passed since Pesach, with seven stems of wheat, also drawn to evoke the first harvest, the giving of the Torah, represented by the tablets at Sinai, the awesome light of revelation.

Havdalah and Rosh Hashanah Carol S

I worked on Havdalah and Rosh Hashanah. I had helped pick the material for the quilt, and the blue with little gold spots said "Havdalah" to me, even when we were still feeling pretty vague about the design. When we were picking the fabrics for our pieces, someone (I think it was Zena) said how special it was to use "personal" scraps in the quilt, and to some extent that is what I did. The Rosh Hashanah "table cloth" connects with my daughter's wedding, the Havdalah candle was left over trim from my dining room valence, and there are other bits in the chupah that have personal connections. Of course, the biggest thrill was working together and seeing the final product. It is personal and communal and something we can all look on with pride.

Shofarot, Yerushalayim Claire C

My two pieces in the quilt were the Shofarot – to represent the High Holidays and the blowing of the shofar on Yom Kippur. The design of the shofarot is composed to create the word (shofar) in Hebrew.

My second piece is composed of the Hebrew word (Jerusalem) with doves hovering above the letters – to symbolize peace. I used gold and silver threads to emphasize Jerusalem of Gold.

Pesach Ruth K

For Pesach, I decided to portray “From Slavery to Freedom,” Me’Achdut L’Cherut, using the symbols of Matzah and Elijah’s Cup. It was interesting to find fabrics with textures that would help represent these symbols and to use fabric paint to transform them. We all worked on our contributions individually so there was such a sense of excitement on the first night when we all brought our finished pieces to Claire’s apartment and could see them together, pinned up to the background! The vibrancy of the finished quilt is a testament to the many hours of joint labour and love that went into it. I am thrilled to have had a hand in this unique creation.

Jerusalem Gate Danielle D

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your G-d;

bid Jerusalem take heart . . .

This quote is taken from the first Haftorah of consolation after Tisha B'Av (Isaiah 40: 1–2). It evokes all of Jerusalem's battered existence until this day, and her and our need for tenderness in this difficult time.

Assembling the quilt Ruth A

Against my better judgment but to my great delight, my participation has involved helping to assemble The Quilt. This marvel of co-operation contains the laughter (90%) and frustration of many women, all of whom have had a common purpose: to participate in creating something of great beauty.

It's been a treat to work with some of the most interesting women I've ever met, especially Danielle, who has held it all together (in more ways than one!) Thanks, Adath Shalom.

Magen David, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Jerusalem Leslie R

I enjoyed thinking about the design for Yom Ha’Atzmaut. When I lived in Israel, I really loved the celebrations for this holiday. It was, to me, the most joyous, and the most fun. It was a day to party, to thrill to our accomplishments and the reality of the State of Israel. Later on, Elisha, my son, was born on the eve of Yom Ha’Atzmaut and the date became ever more special.

In the piece, I tried to convey the lightheartedness, the whimsical, the feeling of joy, by making the different pieces disproportionate in size and using cheerful colours. I used a number of different but complementary colours in my piece for the Jerusalem part of the quilt because Jerusalem is like that – made up of many, many different pieces that all come together to form the whole.

Around the quilting table at Ellen C’s

Claire C, Ellen C, Fern G, Leslie R

“Did we have to plan colours? Or designs? It all happened.”

“There is so much spirit around the quilting table.”

“It is a joy to be part of this.”

“I came to read the quilters poetry and make them mint tea and I got sucked into quilting.”

“Quilting is relaxing, hypnotic...like meditation.”

“Our stories around the table are woven into the fabric of the experience.”

“We put other things aside to quilt.”

“There is a great ruach around the table.”

Special thanks to Danielle, who had the imagination and the drive to make it happen.