Vidui, the spiritual center of the Yom Kippur liturgy, is a confessional prayer at the boundary of personal and communal responsibility. It is an alphabetical inventory of misdeeds, recited in the first-person plural: We have sinned. We have transgressed. We have stolen. It describes a brokenhearted world, desperate for atonement. These words have become so essential to Jewish spiritual life that they are the basis for last rites.

Start/End each encounter with namaste, along with Añjali Mudrā, the gesture of folding hands. 🙏🏾🙏🏾 Do not say anything to beggars and people selling on the street, including no thank you. It is best to simply ignore them. Any acknowledgment, positive or negative, encourages them. India is our host. We are the guests. Find the culture in the history.

Jaipur is the capital of India’s Rajasthan state. It evokes a sense of royalty, stemming from its pink trademark building color. Staying in a restored hotel near the opulent royal residence City Palace, we met a guide who took us through the palace, shopping, and then to the evening Temple celebration. The next day, we met another guide and his trusty Tuk-Tuk driver who took us to a…

Alters & shrines adorned with flowers, incense, and other offerings are everywhere. It's like the impromptu memorials we create along the roadside for loved ones, but much more elaborate, permanent, and in this case, dedicated to deities. This one in our hotel, honors Krishna, the embodiment of divine love & joy, destroyer of all pain & sins. Krishna is the main hero in the epic, Bhagavad Gita.

I experienced the perfect Kolkata destination wedding site for you- RAAJKUTIR, KOLKATA, run by SeleQtions hotels, is a magical oasis inspired by the traditions of Bengal’s heritage. Never imagining it could be built on an old garbage dump, but it was, we felt the exquisite blend of timeless elegance and luxury transformed into opulence and charm. A true oasis, with rooms off a beautiful courtyard, a Michelin style restaurant, a bar, a coffee shop, spa, swimming pool and a banquet facility expertly equipped for your event.

Every quilt maker knows that the secret to a successful quilt is contrast. Indians brings that concept into an incredibly rich physical reality. As a case in point, the two cities we have visited so far; Delhi appears modern and sophisticated, more like a Europe (not exactly, but...), while Kolkata feels like an old world bizarre from another time and place.

I decided to take a break from working on my next one-person exhibition and make a random art quilt. I pieced some of my old quilting fabric favorites into multiple triangle- pieced sections. For contrast, I added triangle sections from light colored men's shirts. To stitch in the spirit of Indian technique of Kantha and/or the Japanese technique of Sashiko, both of which I admire, I quilted more than 400 meters of dmc pearl cotton onto a backing of leftover pieces of kantha quilts purchased from ETSY.

Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life that was on view at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from September 1, 2024, through May 26, 2025. The exhibit follows the timeline of my quilting experiences through my connections to community, art, feminism, and renewal. The story, while personal and specific, became the repository for larger concepts of folk history, cultural reflection, and personal identification.

It started with a rejection. AAP had a call for Pittsburgh related art. I made what I thought was the perfect piece: A Steele Town Angel. It was denied entry into the exhibit. The rejection fueled me- a common problem for Quilters is not being accepted in the art world and so the solution was to enter the quilt into a competition where it would be appreciated.

**In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** ## Join 50501 in partnership with local Indivisible groups and other grassroots organizations for Pittsburgh's NO KINGS Protest. NO KINGS is a na...

If you are interested in seeing the pulse of contemporary quilt making, there is no better place than The Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio, the host of the preeminent Quilt National. There is no bigger honor than to be included among these ahead of the curve Artists. QN25: Gabriel: A Mantle for our Steel Town Angel; 55W X 56L X 6D; 

Allow me to introduce Traci Arieli, a certified end-of-life doula. I met her through an article I wrote for Hadassah Magazine. (The article is on page 38 in the link.) We spoke through her podcast, Comforting Closure - Conversations with a Death Doula, Stitching Stories in this episode, Quilting as Life Review with Louise Silk In this episode of…

Memory Quilt; 75 X88; Machine Pieced & Hand Quilted Hailey’s Bags, Witness Quilt Contributions, Wisdom Patches, Steve’s Jeans, Work Shirt & Tee, Eli’s Napkin Fabric, Wedding Tie, & Basketball Uniform, Annie’s Wedding Dress, Tee-Shirt Quilt Remnants, Black Clothing Remnants, Panche Ikat Shirt, Alexander Henry 9-Patch, Nana’s Needlepoint & Cocktail Napkins, Izzy’s Big Tees, Dan’s Roots SweatShirt, A Patchwork Life Silks

Creating The Witness Quilt hinged on my unwavering faith in the creative process. I would not see the quilt in its totality until six months into the exhibition. My studio wall did not accommodate its massive size. Time limitations required both the veiled kittel under-layer and the concealing add-on patchworks to be built simultaneously. A creation without visual confirmation would be required.

There is a program this Thursday at The Heinz History Center where the request was for me to speak about "art, history, and activism from a Jewish perspective". This request put me into a panic- what do I have to say about art, history and activism in my work????? I turned to my husband, as I often do, for a little guidance, He is a big fan of AI.

Sarah and I work together as SilkDenim. You can see our product line on ETSY. We also share a birthday. This is a portrait I made for her to celebrate our latest one: In addition to what we share, we each follow our independent interests. Sarah is a feldenkrais practitioner and an active member of the RustBelt FiberShed.

For many years I have been documenting my life, first with journals, then with the text, The Quilting Path, with self-published books from The Quilting Path to The Container Blog and finally (for now) A Patchwork Life. Here is the list and links to see them: The Container Blog was a project I did with poet, Jude Volmer…

The Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives will celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim with a one-night only, participatory experience that blends hand-crafted art and tradition. Purim commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire. This is a joyous occasion that is often celebrated with storytelling, gifts, and festive meals. Join artist Olivia Devorah as they delve into the history of the holiday from the biblical book of Esther and view traditional texts in a new light, taking inspiration from “The Witness Quilt.”

Screenshot To celebrate the UNMAKING of THE WITNESS QUILT, I offer the ritual of the RED STRING. The Red String offers protection. Red attracts and impedes negative forces, converting the darkness of judgement into the mercy of light. This creates a forcefield that diverts the evil eye. In the traditional Buddhist practice a Lama ties a knot in the cord, blows a mantra into it, and makes a blessing.

Witness עֵד2023-24. 1200+ individual detachable patches.Overall:178”W X 101”L. Panels: Right_Front7/Back_Left1 19”WX71”L; Right_Front6/Back_Left2 22”WX78”L; Right_Front5/Back_Left3 22”WX 87”L; Middle_Front4a&b and Back4 52”X 101”L; Left_Front3/Back_Right5 22”WX87”L; Left_Front2/Back_Right6 22”W X78”L ; Left_Front1/Back_Right7 19”WX71”L. Under Layer: Materials: Crème colored linens, clothing, embroidery floss, yarn, old quilts. Technique: individually hand embroidered BubbeWisdoms or phrases ofa contemporary version of Viddui prayer finished with buttonhole stitch.

My cousin Gerrie Shapiro was recently featured on page 42 of Whirl Magazine. You may know her as a dog trainer and/or as an artist; for me, she is the keeper of our heritage. She had in her possession my great-grandfather's wallet; now housed in the Jewish Archives Shapiro Brother Papers. Found in the wallet, was a paper written when he was fifty years old, that states the names and birthdates of each of his children.

Relatives were here for the holidays and the quilt our niece choose to snuggle under was a SILKDENIM version of the classic 8-pointed stars made from men's shirts and denim: A Patchwork Life at the Heinz History Center includes my first 8-pointed star, shown here as a poster, the installation view, and two of my children using it: And, just for fun, a little gallery of some of the many 8-pointed stars I've made:

One of my greatest inspirations is Sheila Hicks. She is the artist who best uses fibers as her medium of artistic expression. Here is a her portrait for an exhibition currently being shown in Germany. Like most people, I find it challenging to select and then view portraits of myself. In the past, whenever it is possible, I use one of my fiber portraits: …

A Patchwork Life continues at the Heinz History Center through April 6, 2025. I am often there working in the miniature studio. Come and visit! Gut Yontif is our programming series celebrating the Jewish Holidays. The next installment of our Gut Yontif! series is Dec. 28 with a fiery Chanukah celebration from Rosabel Rosalind, then on Thursday, Feb. 13 with an intimate Tu B’shvat seder from Lydia Rosenberg, and finally on Wednesday, March 12 with an all-embracing Purim party from Olivia Devorah Tucker. This is where to Register.