Another initiative of Sacred Threads is a collaboration with The Healing Arts Program at UChicago Medicine. Starting in September there will be an "Art in Hospital" exhibit at the University of Chicago Medicine, where quilts will be visible for patients, staff and visitors. The goal is to bring joy, healing in the hospital through art. Positive thoughts on all those blank walls!

Those of you who know me, know this is a cause always very dear to my heart. I just love the uplifting power of fabrics and color, especially for those who are going through a hard time. In my shop days, we made hundreds of cancer quilts for patients, we decorated many places of breast health with fun bra quilts. My daughter has a kidney quilt in her medical office and all 3 my "medical" kids have a H quilt (health, healing, happiness) in the colors of Yale, their alma mater. As my daughter in law always says: it is a fantastic piece to relax patients who are a little nervous coming in. A few words about the quilt and the blood presssure goes down. Yale too has this same quilt hanging somewhere in its hallways, made by this grateful Mom. 

As soon as I heard about this initiative I applied for the exhibit and gave them permission to sell the quilts for the good, if there would be an interest for that. Abundance and Growing Color both have been accepted and are leaving this week for their journey to Chicago. I hope they bring a smile to many.

There are plans to expand this program and maybe have our art also hanging in other hospitals. They need your work! Please take a look at sacredthreadsquilts.com and see if you can make something for their call for quilts. We all have some responsibility in introducing other people to our favorite hobby and in hospitals we can not only find a new and captivated audience, but also send some warmth to the sick and their caregivers.

Per request from Sacred Threads, I went to my local Ace Hardware store to buy some slats to hang these quilts. I brought my quilts in for measurements and explained to Zach, the very helpful employee, what I was looking for. "Are they going to a hospital? May I do my share and cut the metal for you to size and put the holes in it? After having spent some time in a hospital recently myself, I would love to help my way". 

Within no time he had cut perfect slats for me. No charge for this service. He only wanted me to pay for the metal, but nothing for his more than generous and skilled labor.  I would not have been able to do this myself.....

The magic power of the quilts was already happening!