Quilting nurtures relationships, memories and art in every stitch. Handmade quilts are as unique as snowflakes, each embodying its own creativity and history. When quiltmaking becomes a community activity, all who participate become a part of something larger, because a quilt is much more than the sum of its parts.
Next weekend, New Bridges invites the community to stop by and join in making a quilt at the organization’s second street fair in Palo Alto. Titled “To Life! A Jewish Cultural Street Festival,” the event takes place Sunday, Sept. 9 along California Avenue.
Participants’ artwork will become part of five of quilts that will help initiate the first Northern California chapter of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. Founded in 1992, the guild has chapters throughout the United States dedicated to needlework of all kinds–including quilting–with a Jewish theme.
Jan Weinman, a New Bridges board member who is on the festival committee, said that the organization came up with the idea of making a quilt during the street fair. “We wanted an activity that represents what New Bridges is all about: connecting people to the community and building that community. We thought it would be wonderful if everybody who came to the fair could contribute and share in creating a lovely quilt.”
“I love the idea of sitting with others and working creatively,” she added. “Quilt-making is a social activity with a purpose. Being active in New Bridges, this seemed a perfect way to spread the word and encourage people to get involved. The theme of New Bridges’ booth at the fair is ‘Tie the Community Together.'”
The goal of the street fair project is to create five distinct quilts, each representing a Jewish theme: Israel, Jewish foods, holidays, symbols of Judaism such as the ark and the Torah, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
“We want each quilt to be seen as a piece of art, a mosaic,” said Weinman, who lives in Cupertino.
The idea took shape when a friend sent Weinman, who is herself a quilting novice, a bag filled with pieces of fabric, each bearing a Judaica theme. Some were whimsical, some serious, others religious.
“I had never seen anything like that. Somebody suggested making a quilt of the fabric, and the idea for a quilting booth at the fair just grew from that.”
Determined to hook up with others who were interested in needlecraft, Weinman was introduced to Dorothy Stern and Jessica Bernhardt, who told her about the Pomegranate Guild.
“Until now, the closest Pomegranate chapter has been in Los Angeles, and I thought, ‘Wow! We could use the fair as an opportunity to start a chapter here in the Peninsula,” said Weinman. “As people came to the fair and saw our quilt growing, we could have them sign up for the new chapter of the Pomegranate Guild.”
Stern formerly lived back East, where her Pomegranate Guild chapter met monthly, hosted speakers, visited museums, took lessons and shared information. She now lives in Mountain View and will be staffing the booth at the street fair, and helping to create the collage quilts.
Bernhardt, a Palo Alto resident who will also be hosting the quilting booth for the street fair, is involved in a number of quilting activities. She serves as a trustee of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the oldest organization of its kind in the United States, and is a member of Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists in Mountain View. As one of the launchers of the prospective Pomegranate Guild chapter, she hopes that the guild will “give us an opportunity to do craft in a Jewish context.”
The booth will be stocked with plain, 8-by-8-inch muslin squares. Those who feel artistic and wish to participate can create a patch right on the spot, using the stamps, fabric pens and puff paints provided. Once the square is completed, it will be incorporated into one of the five quilts. All the squares will be displayed on the back wall of the booth throughout the fair.
In addition to Weinman, Stern and Bernhardt, a number of artisans will be volunteering at the booth, including those who made Torah covers for Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City.
After the fair, the first project of the prospective Pomegranate Society chapter will be stitching the quilt together. Once the quilts are finished, “we plan to take them all around the Peninsula to any Jewish organization or institution that wants to display them.” Weinman said. “When the new Jewish community center is built, that will become their permanent home.”
The name of the Pomegranate Society comes from a fruit that’s rich in symbolism. A native of Asia, the pomegranate is one of the seven biblical species associated with the land of Israel as well as a symbol of fertility. It’s also used in the observance of Rosh Chodesh, the new moon celebration. In addition, pomegranates are a popular decoration on Torah rimonim (metallic finials).
Rabbi Michael Feshbach gives an explanation of the pomegranate’s significance at www.jewish.com/askarabbi According to the Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, he writes, the fruit is “associated with love and passion, fire and intimacy.” It “adorned the capitals of the Temple’s columns as well as the robes of the High Priest’s (on the hem)” and was used on ancient coins and on those produced in Israel today.
According to the Midrash, he writes, it has 613 seeds — corresponding to the number of commandments in the Torah. In addition, the fruit has a crown-like top, which associates it with Rosh Hashanah, and signifies “beauty, fertility, joy, love, mitzvot, passion, priesthood, remembrance, sensuality, study, Torah.”
For those who are engaged in needlework, the pomegranate offers another connection, to Judaism and to its artistic heritage.