From Red to Blue
Jack Conway is Kentucky’s Attorney General. He is running for the Senate now – and his opponent is Rand Paul. Read about Jack Conway’s campaign here – and if you are moved to support him as we are, please donate at this Act Blue page. But, hey, the quilt people must have something more going on, right? Correct!
From Red to Blue
Back in 2006, at the very first Yearly Kos convention (now known as Netroots Nation), we had a quilt available for signing – something that has since become a tradition and a symbol of progressive blogger community. That quilt is "From Red to Blue", a roman stripe patterned quilt designed by Aunt Arctic, pieced by Aunt Arctic, my sister and me, and hand quilted by me. This quilt really is an artifact of that first convention – and it contains some fabulous signatures. Most of them are listed here. Check it out – you’ll see Ambassador Joe Wilson, Sen. Harry Reid, Gen. Wesley Clark, Arianna Huffington, George Lakoff, and other familiar names.
This quilt is quite the autograph album! It is 62" square, contains all cotton fabric, a fine cotton batting, and was hand quilted by me with tiny stitches. There is a sleeve on the back to make it easy to hang on a wall.
By the by, on block 6-9 is one group name you might not know because I wrote for it and got it by mail -- but I was quite pleased to have a connection for this quilt with these ladies. I am talking about the Boise Peace Quilt Project, as written about by Col. Dan Smith on CounterPunch in May 2006. If you will recall, there was some intense saber rattling in the direction of Iran going on at the time. The Colonel wrote:
Fast forward 77 years to 1984 in Boise where a red, white, and blue "National Peace Quilt" with 50 panels--one for each state--is unveiled. Each panel contains a child's vision of what peace and security would "look like." The inscription on the quilt reads:
"REST beneath the warmth and weight of our hopes
for the future of our children,
DREAM a vision of the world at peace,
ACT to give the vision life."
Each U.S. Senator is challenged by the Boise ladies to take the quilt home and sleep under it for one night. In return, the names of those participating were embroidered on the quilt. Over the course of 1985-86, sixty-seven senators participated, recording in the "National Peace Quilt Log Book" their own personal vision of peace and how to achieve that goal.
This Mother's Day, May 14, marks the 20th anniversary of the collective dreams of peace recorded in a log book in Boise following (one hopes) a restful night. The Idaho Peace Coalition will send Mothers' Day Peace Entreaties to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--whose chairperson and ranking member took their turn resting an dreaming under the blanket 20 years ago--asking the committee to redouble their efforts to develop diplomatic solutions to will resolve the animosity between the United States and Iran.
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This quilt could be yours! From now until September 15, every day you donate $10 or more to this Act Blue page, you will receive a chance to win the quilt – one donation per day will be counted. OR, if you prefer not to donate, you can enter by writing an essay of 50 words or less on this subject: "What Jack Conway’s Run For the U.S. Senate Means to Me" -- and send it to communityquilts (at) yahoo.com. If we find your essay to be topical, we will give you an entry in the drawing, one essay per person per day. The drawing will take place the last day in September.
One last note: I could use some help posting daily diaries on this quilt drawing. If you would like to participate, please let me know in a comment below! It is a chance for some community creativity in a good cause.
Thank you! DONATE HERE!
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