Some historians believe that Christopher Columbus was secretly Jewish. (Others contend that it was his cartographer who was a Member of the Tribe). Both would surely have appreciated this  20" x 20" mariner's compass block made by Sharon Gates.  She started it at a retreat with teachers Anita Shackelford and Sharon Stroud. It's hand-pieced and hand-quilted. The appliquéd letters read "Shalom." "It's a wallhanging, but I may use it for yontif on the table as a mat for candles." Nice, Sharon! Sharon lives in Cote St. Luc, a suburb of Montreal, and is one of the cofounders of Kvilt'n'Kvetch, Montreal's first and only Jewish quilting guild.

Here's a classic American folk-sampler style quilt that served as a beautiful chuppah for a California wedding.  Grace, a New Yorker, made each block symbolize an aspect of the bride's childhood . Email: Grace.Lippman@sharpsec.com
 

This is a friendship quilt chuppah. Jill, the bride, mailed blocks with instructions  to friends and relatives. The bride and groom even made some of the blocks themselves. Getting all the blocks back wasn't easy (par for the course with this type of project!)   "Some of the blocks only came back after many calls, emails, etc," says Jill. " A lot of people brought them to our engagement party."   Jill sewed them together, added backing, and sewed loops securely to the corners. Cable ties were used to attach the loops to eye hooks on top of the chuppah poles.  See more pictures at http://www.jamberry.net/view_image.php?album=2005/Jill_and_Daniel_Singer_Wedding&img=40. 

This lovely 'Tree of Life' challah cover was made by Winnipeg, Canada quilter Mary Ann Rosenbloom. The appliqué is her original design---branches spell 'Shabbat'. She surrounded the center with a blue Jerusalem print fabric. Mary Ann and a group of friends recently started a Jewish quilting group.  Reach Mary Ann at m2rosenbloom@shaw.ca. (And see Mary Ann's lyrical portrayal of Puah and Shiphrah, in the 'Group Hug' quilt below!).

Suzy's on a roll! She was going to make ONE tallit for her son David's bar mitzvah. That multiplied! The first one, which I call 'The Water Tallit', uses a wavy blue and purple print. The second one, incorporating a music print, is now worn proudly by our cantor. The third uses 'Western Wall' fabric (now, alas, out of print), for the stripes and the corners. (Hebrew letters were stenciled). For all three, the main fabric is a light silk noile that Suzy bought for about $3.50 a yard (such a deal!) at Silkconnection.com  (no affiliation). She left them their natural color, but she didn't have to: "These silks take dye nicely....I tried it on a sample."
 

A cybergroup of Israeli, American, U.S., Canadian, and Australian quilters made these blocks. We used one Jerusalem-themed fabric, as a unifying theme. Marge Bresel of Omaha Nebraska arranged and finished the quilt, with a lot of help from friends.  The quilt now hangs at Kol Rina, the Nachlaot community shul in Israel.  It was donated to this synagogue as a way of thanking them for hosting  the mitzvah quilting group called 'Quilted Hugs'. You can buy a beautiful oversized 5" x 7"  postcard of this quilt (to help defray Marge's costs) by emailing her directly, at breselms@cox.net  (No financial affiliation!).

Participants and their blocks included (Top row, from right to left): Elana Schachter, Israel, 'Nitzevet bat Ada'el (mother of David) cuddles her son and sings him sweet lullabies, giving him his love for music and poetry'; Shulamit Ron, Israel, 'Shulamit  (Rose of Sharon), based on the Song of Songs and the description of the beloved women as a Rose of Sharon'; Sharon Bolton (Arizona) 'Eve: A Reach, not a Fall: First woman, first wife, first mother, first to reach to be more;  Cathy Perlmutter, California 'Women of the Exodus: They made the matzoh and ran!';  Sharon Landecker, California, 'Tamar, a daring and courageous Canaanite women who risked death by fire to have a child; a direct ancestor of David'; Koren Kassirer, Canada, 'Daughters of Tzelophechad: When their father died without sons, these women brought the issue of women's inheritance to Moses,';Allye Kranish, Maryland, 'Song of Deborah.'

Center Row, right to left: Laurie Nathan, New York, 'All the Unnamed Women; They carried our traditions through the ages.; Mary Ann Rosenbloom, Canada, 'Shifra and Puah : Defying Pharoah, these midwives saved the infant Moses; they stand in water representing birth and the Nile." ; Susan Pel-Or, Israel, 'Shabbat Bride: Under the bridal canopy, the Shabbat Kallah looks over Jerusalem, carrying candles and wearing pearls; Annabell Samuel, Australia, 'Zipora at the Well: Moses protected Zipora as her sheep drank at the well. Zipora's father gave her to Moses." , Marilyn Levy, Canada, 'Pomegranate; The beautiful pomegranate is beaded with approximately 613 French knots and beads, to represent the 613 mitzvot;  ; Miriam K. Sokoloff, Massachusetts, 'Miriam the Prophetess: Miriam, sister of Moses, led the women in song after crossing the Sea of Reeds during the Exodus.

Bottom row, right to left: Allye Kranish, Maryland, 'Song of Deborah' "Deborah gave counsel under the palm trees. The brown stave was used by Yael to defeat Cissera." ; Debbie Sichel, California, 'Yochaved's Star: Yochabed was the mother of Aaron, high priest, Miriam, phophetess, and Moses, prophet. She was a mother's mother! ; Jacki Eisenberg, Virginia, 'Women at the well: For all the named and unnamed women in the Bible who went to the well" , Debbie Markowitz, Israel, 'Queen Esther. shown hidden to symbolize her modesty and her ability to keep a secret; Belle Plummer, Illinois, 'Deborah.'

The Nebraskans who helped finish the quilt  included Doris Alloy, Enid Blumenthal, Esther Bogdanoff, Midge Bowers, Annette Fettman, Sandee Friedman, Cathy Gluck, Yael Gluck, Shirley Goodman, and Sandy Passer.  Quilting designs are from The Seven Species by Shulamit Ron of www.canaanart.com. Thanks to all!

Above, left: quilter Mary Ann Rosenbloom's portrayal of midwives Puah and Shifra. Above right, 'All the Unnamed Women,' by Laurie Nathan.  

Click below to see block closeups of: 

'They Made the Matzoh and Ran' by Cathy Perlmutter. An unadorned square of the 'inspiration' fabric is in the lower right corner.	'Nitzevet bat Ada'el (mother of David)', by Elana Schachter
'Pomegranate', by Marilyn Levy	'Yochaved's Star', by Deborah Sichel, z''h. In loving memory of an extraordinary artist. You are missed.

I have heard a lot of great  huppa stories, but this one beats them all. Only in America?

It all started rather traditionally. Quilter Marcy Huggins of  Minneapolis a quilter for 20 years, who happens to be tattoo-free, decided to make her first appliqué quilt. It was to be a huppa for a beloved young woman, the daughter of a good friend, who is also, incidentally, untattooed.  Marcy had been close to the bride ever since the young woman was a baby. 

Marcy envisioned a Tree of Life design. "I wanted one with great branches and equally great roots," she recalls. "I tried Googling 'Tree of Life,' and I wasn't finding  what I wanted. I spent a LOT of time looking. Then a different friend, who is Irish, mentioned to me that she was thinking of having a Celtic Tree of Life tattoo someday. So I quickly did a computer search for 'Celtic Tree of Life.' I was not entirely thrilled with what I found.  "I thought 'What the heck? and I Googled  Tree of Life tattoo'. This picture  popped up."

*Disclaimer: This story is not an endorsement of tattooing, which, of course, is not in keeping with Jewish law . I do, however, heartily endorse creative huppot, artistic collaborations, and scrupulous ethical hygiene (ask for permission!) before adapting any images that are posted on the Internet!

Ann Feitelson
  
 

Ann is fascinated by 6-pointed star quilts.  Her first was featured on the cover of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, in April '04.  ( It's also at http://www.handsacrossthevalley.org/gallery). Her second was published in the Museum of the American Quilter's Society book, 'New Quilts from an Old Favorite: Seven Sisters.'

On the left is what she calls "Winter Quilt." On the right is a banner she made for Sukkoth.

Ann uses a combination of  traditional and speed  methods. An article outlining her system appeared in the November, 2005 issue of QNM, and there's more about how she does it, and her favorite tools, on my  6-Pointed Stars page.

Ann's approach does involve Y seams. When I whined to her about my own fear of Y seams, she responded like a true quilter would:  "I think it's worth fussing to rotate the pieces because the geometry of it is so beautiful...It's cool when it all comes together. I'm in a rhythm with them. I can make a star in maybe only 20 minutes, that includes getting up three times to press! Then again, I flounder around about the composition, and change my mind, and  change it again...but all that gives me more leftovers to work with, which is good!"

Her two recent quilts above prove that y seams, floundering, care, and sheer talent pay off!  Ann  teaches her method for 6-pointed stars at local fabric shops in Western Massachusetts, and can be reached at phweis@valinet.com.

PS: If you're a knitter, Ann's name may sound familiar. She's also the author of the book "The Art of Fair Isle Knitting" (Interweave Press, 1996).

Erica, who is from Maryland, adapted Judy Neimeyer's complex "Diamond Wedding Ring" paper-pieced pattern (available at Quiltworx.com) to create this exceptionally beautiful  chuppah for her son's wedding. At the event, only the top was used---she quilted it afterwards.

 The lettering---one of the seven wedding blessings---is done with fusible web and a careful, close satin stitch.  "I did the first couple of letters with a white bobbin thread and a purple satin stitch thread, but even though I had the top thread fairly loose, I still had some show through. So I switched to all purple, top and bottom. When I started, I could do about 7 letters in 3 hours, but once I was comfortable with the process it got a lot faster!"

Here are more pictures of this quilt in progress, plus closeups . Erica  is at ekolatch@gmail.com .