Cambridge, MA -- August 2005 -- In North Cambridge, nine women from different backgrounds came together to collaborate in the making of a quilt that reflects their spiritual journeys and faith dialogues. The one thing the women share in common is their faith community, the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Cambridge, where the fruit of their dialogue is displayed. This project is part of a greater creative venture, the Boston-based Faith Quilts Project. These quilts will hang in churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues all over Boston.

After 9/11 Boston artist Clara Wainwright was struck by how faith can divide and kill or reconcile and heal. With this in mind Wainwright founded the Faith Quilts Project, an artistic endeavor that provides an opportunity for people of different religious perspectives to express their faith visually through the creation of collaborative quilts.  

"Working on this quilt was an opportunity for us to illustrate and share our personal experiences of God,” said Ruth Redington, facilitator of the Vineyard Faith Quilt.

Deidre Tao, a local painter who co-facilitated the program with Redington maintains that the greatest lesson was learning the power of a group artistic process -- collaborating with other women on an art piece whose skill levels and cultural backgrounds were different from her own. " I walked away from the experience having learned that it was not my artistic ability that I brought to the process, but my story,” maintains Tao.

The women had four to six brainstorming meetings before they started making the quilt. At one point after they had started the piece, they reached an impasse. It was at this point that Wainwright advised that the women let go of any preconceived notions and just start cutting the fabric. The women followed her advice and from that point on, the quilt unfolded in new and unexpected ways.

"Working in a group forces you to relinquish control in the quilt-making process but it also allows you to find your place and voice,” said Kibibi Rwayitare who initially felt intimidated about participating because she felt she had nothing to bring to the table artistically.

The central motif consists of a participant's late father's plaid work-shirt, which symbolizes God the Father's loving arms outstretched to all of humanity through Jesus, his son. The women felt that the use of an everyday fabric like plaid would lend to the concept that God's love is accessible. Connected to this central piece are the women's eight personal testimonies of how God miraculously heals, forgives, transforms, and restores all who receive his grace and mercy. The quilt was aptly named "God's Signs and Wonders."

"Since its inception, the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Cambridge has been committed to encouraging artists and artistic exploration," said Christopher Greco, the worship and arts pastor. "Facilitating a project like the Faith Quilts Project is a perfect fit with our hope to serve as a reconciliatory bridge in our community in that it allows participants to share their different faith stories.”

The quilt is currently on display in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Cambridge sanctuary, located at 170 Rindge Avenue, North Cambridge. The quilt will be one of more than fifty-five quilts that will be exhibited at the Faith Quilts Project month-long culminating celebration, "Faith, the Arts and Community” in April 2006 at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama. The hope is to create a context for dialogue across lines of religious and cultural identity through these collaborative works.

The Faith Quilts Project gathers people of faith to visually express deeply held beliefs through the creation of collaborative quilts. The project offers an opportunity for the larger community to learn about the richness of Boston's faith traditions and to engage in dialogue across lines of religious and cultural identity.