“We don’t heal alone. We have to share our stories. We have to talk to each other. We have to listen to each other.” Captain Diane Carlson Evans, Army Nurse, VietNam era The blustery winters of Minnesota create long snowy days and starlit freezing nights. Ideal weather for the nimble fingers of stitchers to hand-sew […]
Category Archives: Cleo Thoughts
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The realization of the power of story began in my childhood. I lived in the rural areas of Iowa and Wisconsin where I attended one room school houses. The sparse collection of books on the tiny wooden shelf included a series with an orange cover called “Childhoods of Famous People.” I read every volume from […]
The whole procedure should have taken fifteen minutes. A routine blood pressure score measured by a nurse. My husband, Vernon, dropped me off at the main entrance of the medical center before parking in the back of the lot to read a book. In and out. A logical plan. Walking around the burgundy sedan parked […]
“We think of inheriting as land or something, not things that people teach you.” -Louisiana Pettway Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilt Artist The story of the Gee’s Bend Quilters is a testament to the unexpected. The community of Gee’s Bend became a geographic location in the most unexpected manner. An isolated hamlet folded in a […]
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“I am SO guilty of starting a new project before I finish the last one.” – Julie Cefalu, The Crafty Quilter One of the positive consequences of “sheltering at home” during the virus epidemic has been the completion of so many UFOs- Unfinished Objects. Every quilting site on social media brings a daily visual of spectacular quilts which days […]
“You can be anything you set your mind to. The only true obstacle is you.” -Joseph Philip Gomer, Tuskegee Airman Quilt created by Vivian L. McCullin for National Museum of African American History and Culture Memorial Quilt for Tuskegee Airman 2d Lt. James McCullin The story of the Tuskegee Airman delves into the very fabric […]
“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” – TV show, The Wonder Years Bill carried in a box of neatly folded t-shirts and started to lay them out on the long table. The women gathered for the Stitchers’ meeting gazed […]
The students in my class for behavior disordered boys usually burst into the room with energy enough to light a city. One morning, the six of them dragged their feet along the linoleum. Their heads hung from drooping shoulders. Bags worth of packing hung below drooping eyes. This was a sign that the day was […]
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“There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made.” -Willa Cather The oxen leaned into the yoke, pushing against the wood with their sinewy strength. Under the weight of the covered wagon, the iron rimmed wheels grated against the gravel cutting ruts of legacy. […]
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“I always have the most fun on the Fourth of July. You don’t have to exchange any gifts. You just go to the beach and watch fireworks.” -James Lafferty Linda Nelson Johnson- Fourth of July hand dyed fabric with metallic thread Learning How to Celebrate We were just married. Inexperienced. Not thinking things through. My husband […]