Guess what! My website spam filter found a how-to-lose-weight-fast email trying to sneak in—I think it may have been triggered by the word “cookies” in my blog posts. They must not know about the calorie-free spiritual cookies which I periodically share in my blog! I have so many to share this week:
Soul Quilt: tree on the front, hand-dyed fabric with healing intentions and a prayer pocket on the back
Cookie #1: My client picked up her commissioned signature (soul) quilt last week, and she was so happy with it. I gathered information about her preferences and healing intentions prior to starting the quilt, and incorporated some of them as I made design decisions. I follow my intuition in all of my art, and I sure enjoy the sweet surprises in the response the client has to particular color and image choices. These quilts are made with the intention of holding the healing energy most needed by the client. I asked her to share the sensations she felt as she held the quilt: goose bumps, even down her legs (deeper grounding), calm between her eyes (third eye clearing), warmth in her chest (heart chakra expansion), and warm and happy (bringing love into all of her cells).Cookie #2: I was invited to exhibit 10-15 pieces of my art in a local hospital early in 2013! This will be a show of my textile art, in which I use techniques from the quilting realm. I will keep you posted as I complete at least 2 more pieces for this exhibit (one of them extra large!)
Cookie #3: Following our trip to Italy, which included Assisi, my husband and I have been reading more about the life of St. Francis (of Assisi!) One of the miracles he is said to have performed was for a woman whose hands “were so crippled she could do no work at all with them.” She begged St. Francis to touch her hands, which were cured when he did so. Did she fall to her knees to praise God? No. Did she decide on the spot to become a Franciscan? No. She ran home to make a cheesecake for Francis with her own hands! At first, I thought this was so funny (actually, I still do). Now I am also noticing how fitting it is that she is using the gifts she has been given.
Well, I am off to use my gifts today: raking, washing dishes, designing, stitching, and tuning in to my intuition about next steps in my life as a healer, as a teacher, and as an artist. Joyfully. Why not!
How will you use your gifts today?
Oh my goodness Janet, I had huge goosebumps reading about your client’s signature soul quilt. You are talented in so many ways, so beautifully gifted and I love that you are using your healing gifts and intentions to make it into something very powerfully healing for someone. WOW!
I love how your art work will be exhibited at your local hospital… how healing!
I truly enjoyed reading about more of your spiritual cookies. xo
Suzanne, It’s fun to get feedback from someone who is an artist and who senses energy. Thank you!
Congrats on your opportunity to showcase your work. Your quilts are beautiful! I love your sharing of the woman who used her recently healed hands to bake. It is so important to use the gifts we have been given!
Michele, Thank you! Yes, I’m still chuckling about the healing that led to cheescake!
Janet, I just unearthed a St. Francis statue in my back yard this weekend, a relic from the people who lived here long ago. He’d been lying face down and covered with years of pine needles. I dusted him off and set him under the pines where he has a clear, if not concrete, view of the new studio. Maybe he’ll bless my artist hands, eh?
Susan, What a coincidence! I’ll bet your artist hands are already pretty blessed . . .
Such a sweet post and great reminder to USE our gifts. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by, Anneri!
Using my gifts…. What a concept and perfect for today as i am fretting about joining janet at the hudson hospital for our show. Can i be merely adequate as my dear husband suggests? Why do so me of my pieces feel right one day and contrived the next? Today i am in a muddle, but am grateful for the guidance, janet, thank you!
Zannah, It is hard to have perspective on our pieces when we are in the middle of creating them or have just finished them. By the time I am on my last stitch, I am ready to give a piece to the first person willing to take it off my hands . . . and the more hours I have put into it, the more tempted I am to give it away. I know your work is beautiful, and that we each bring our own unique, energy signature along with our art. I am honored for us to both be showing at Hudson Hospital at the same time.
So love this title! Spiritual cookies really piqued my interest. How exciting that you traveled to Assisi. Today I am being present, staying calm and relaxed and remembering that even if I don’t accomplish the million and one things on my to-do list it’s okay. And today, I am not anxious. I am in that “zen” mood where I just float along with the day, doing what needs doing. I love being in that space and hope to hang onto this feeling for the rest of eternity (or at least until morning when I get to try again).
Julie, Thank you for sharing your gifts of the day. How I can relate to your desire to feel good forever. And to your to-do list!
What hospital are you exhibiting at? It would be fun to go see your work. Thanks for sharing those cookies – so nice to read at the end of a busy week. Blessings to you.
Hudson Hospital in Hudson, Wisconsin, from mid-January to mid-April (2013, which is NOT so far away!). I will keep you posted on the details.
Awesome! I love it.
Thanks, Deb! Hey, I had fun checking out your blog again. Great photos! And I like your artist statement.