A Day with the Thimbles
by Elizabeth Wahn Goletti
It’s 11 am on a chilly Friday in February, and AWAR’s Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild (NT) is holding its weekly meeting at Susan Fiorentino’s home in EUR, a suburb of Rome, Italy. And for the first time, I’m attending—not to sew, heaven help me, but to write an article for the AWAR Forum.
When NT
member Vivian Weaver and I show up together, Pat Wolf and Susan, the
coordinators, and also a new Thimble named Rosey Gillespie are already chatting
amiably over tea in Susan’s livingroom-sized kitchen. The first thing that
strikes me is the atmosphere, the hum of cheerful voices, a whiff of something
sweet and tangy, and the kitchen itself is so warm and homey, tastefully
personalized with an enviable array of handmade decorations. Then comes the tea,
Lady Grey, which is incredibly delicious as are the freshly baked, fruit-filled,
crostata pies, one an Ischia fig sweet prepared with homemade preserves
and the other a French cherry preserve with cognac. It looks as if, for the
Thimbles, it’s a typical meeting, but for me nothing about it seems ordinary.
Within minutes, three more Thimbles arrive: Jeanne Albertucci, who is American, and Maria Conti and Patrizia Rossini, who are both Italian—the third Italian member, Mary Grazia Topai is skiing this week. Patrizia comes in carrying a quilted designer tote-bag in gorgeous shades of green—and I’ve already wised up enough not to ask who the “designer” was.
The news that neither Mia Rowan nor Beth Sanders will be able to come this morning sets off murmurs of disappointment, so we’re now eight in all (counting me). Susan tells me that’s more or less the usual attendance for any given Friday, but members tend to show up when they can. NT is in its eighth season, and there are forty-eight members who consider themselves Thimbles, including those who have moved back to the USA, like Dianne Maggio who wrote to me to say:
“At one of the AWAR
meetings, I learned about NT, and since I had done a little quilting and sewing,
I thought I’d try it. What a blessing it turned out to be! I made friends there
who helped me with everything from language difficulties to where to buy Girl
Scout cookies. These women became my Italian family, and I’m very grateful for
them all. I’ve been back to Italy four times since we moved away in 2003—and we
plan our trips so that I can attend the Nimble Thimble meetings!”
“There are no dropouts,” laughs Susan. “Even when people leave town, they keep in touch via our mail list (nimblethimble@awar.org) with updates on the latest fabrics and techniques. Our members living in America are so kind and supportive. They inquire about our needs and keep us stocked with supplies that can be found only in the USA. So they keep us stitching! When (former AWAR President) Tina Tyler came to Rome last year, she brought us freezer paper.”
Freezer paper? It turns out that nothing works as well as American freezer paper for fashioning crisp corners and edges on hand-stitched appliqué. The Thimbles have picked up a lot of insider secrets and know-how to be able to confidently submit their first siggies. (A “siggie” is not a smoke, as I soon learn, it’s the term used for a patchwork square, and a network of quilting enthusiasts mail their siggies to one other all over the globe.) My quilting vocabulary is growing as quickly as my sense of appreciation.
AWAR’s
Thimbles aim at perfectionism, and their loving care is reflected in the high
quality of the materials selected, the originality of their designs, and the
attention to detail manifest in their work. I’m quite impressed to see how
professional they’ve become. As they pitch in to help each other and experiment
with increasingly sophisticated techniques, their infectious sense of sharing
contributes to their growing mastery—women helping women. Their talents have
progressively blossomed since the day that Ivana Schiano sparked the idea.
The Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild began in 1998, when Ivana attended a FAWCO Conference in Athens and was charmed by the FAWCO Foundation Friendship Quilt on display. More so than that, she was caught up by the spirit of the quilters. With her boundless enthusiasm, Ivana immediately recruited Susan Fiorentino, Pat Wolf, and Maria Conti who formed the Guild to aid FAWCO and to raise money for AWAR charities.
These founding Thimbles rapidly drew in new and enthusiastic members, who latched onto the spirit of “friendship quilts.” I soon discover that as an AWAR Activity (see: www.awar.org/quilt/quiltguild.html) the Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild’s mandate includes projects to benefit AWAR’s Community Services Committee and the FAWCO Foundation (see: www.fawco.org). Since it’s incipience eight years ago, combined with FAWCO, NT’s stitched and quilted projects have raised more than $28,600 to benefit others, particularly needy women and children in developing countries, along with scholarships for FAWCO/AWAR members and their children.
Despite its
charitable profile, Pat tells that NT is as much, or more, about friendship than
it is about craftsmanship. But, ah, the craftsmanship! The excellence of NT
quilts has earned international acclaim, even though you’d be hard-pressed to
deduce that from the laid-back tone of today’s conversation.
Maria says, “I was a real beginner. Most of us knew nothing at all about quilt-making when we started, but we taught ourselves and each other. Beginners join all the time, and everybody fits in. We all learn, and we all have fun.”
Pat explains that NT is open to all AWAR members and also, space permitting, to non-AWAR members. There are no NT membership dues or costs to participate in NT meetings in Susan's home.
This is my first day,”
smiles Rosey, who recently discovered NT over the internet. “When I first called
Susan, it was so good to hear a friendly voice speaking in English. She
made me feel so welcome. She even offered to pick me up if I needed a ride.”
As people help themselves to another cup of Lady Grey tea and enjoy the good company, nobody seems overly concerned about working, which suits me just fine. I thumb through a loose-leaf photo album to view pictures of the wonderful quilts that the Thimbles have created and exhibited in Rome at the American Academy, Villa Taverna, residence of the US Ambassador to Italy, and the Camera dei Deputati, Italy’s equivalent to Washington, D.C.’s Capitol building, as well as in Houston, Texas, at The International Quilt Festival and Quilt Italia, Italy's national quilt association with its annual exhibition on the Island of Elba. NT quilts have been accepted as eligible contestants for the most prestigious worldwide competitions.
The quilters
themselves, a pretty amazing group of women, made a guest appearance on the
popular Rai-I show, “Uno Mattina,”
a morning magazine style TV program, similar to "Good
Morning America," and hosted by Antonella Clerici.
The program
was rebroadcast and viewed all over the world, where it caught the attention of
FAWCO friends as far away as China who phoned congratulations to the Thimbles. A
video made of the televised show was shown along with the quilt itself at the
subsequent FAWCO Conference in London. The impact
of the quilters had become a real attention getter, and FAWCO attendees were
duly impressed by how strongly the stitching connection was binding the fabric
of friendship.
Observing
Susan’s quilting crew, I begin wonder what the ladies sitting near me have in
common—certainly not politics or lifestyles. They are totally individualistic in
their tastes, viewpoints, and personalities, but their interchanges are so
relaxed that they appear to found a common niche. The expression “seamless
harmony” pops into my mind. Perhaps they’re all fabric lovers or cat lovers, I
think, as I notice the picture of a delightfully gamin quilt they put together
called “Cats in the Coliseum.”
While I pause to admire “Autumn on the Via Veneto,” the quilt they donated last year as a fundraising item for AWAR’s silent auction, I hear snatches of conversation.
“…and she bought her new Toyota for 99 Euros at the supermarket,” says one member.
“No kidding? But I’m so attached to my Bernina,” answers another, “even though I use only ten percent of the options.”
I turn to
Jeanne with a question mark on my face, and she informs me that Toyotas and
Berninas are, respectively, the economic and top-of-the-line brands of sewing
machines. A brief discussion ensues about the relative merits of
computer-powered sewing machines. And needles. They readily agree that a German
needle called a “Schmetz” is perfect for working on silk because it doesn’t
pierce the fabric or cause runs. It just slips through fabric as if it were
separating molecules. I try to nod in agreement—man, am I over my head! A bit
awed, I return the photo album to Susan.
“I feel soooo at home here,” sighs Rosey, the newcomer. “This place is a basket of creativity.”
That’s an
understatement, if I’ve ever heard one. But even the most seasoned
quilters have
an air of the neophyte about them as if they were just beginning to discover an
exciting challenge. No wonder that newcomers find NT so user-friendly. After an
hour, even I begin to think that maybe I could make a Christmas wreath out of
calico…hmmm…like the one on Susan’s wall, which is so pretty, maybe I really
could….
The get-together—it feels a lot more like a get-together than a meeting per se—breaks into small groups to “talk shop,” as the Thimbles consult one another about their “trapunto” stitching, whatever that is, and I use the opportunity to single out individuals to ask about the membership itself. They tell me that even though attendance is fluid with slightly different compositions in attendance at any given time, Thimbles have a strong sense of identity.
They keep in
close contact, share information via e-mail, and also organize group excursions
to bazaars, country fairs, exhibitions, and off-the-beaten-track but nearby
places like Genzano, where Sonia’s Patchwork and Merceria is the main
attraction, and Farfa, where the townsfolk sell extraordinary, classic Italian,
antique-style fabrics. They sometimes take
courses to learn new techniques and trends such as those offered by Laura
Francione of Kreativa Kraft.
NT mini-excursions attract quilters from other
guilds, people interested in quilts, or even non-quilting friends who come
along to treat themselves to a lively get-together seasoned with gourmet fare.
One recent "Show 'n' Tell" was an NT luncheon held at The Sitar on Via Cavour,
an intriguing little restaurant with exotic Indian delicacies.
“Look at this,” says Vivian handing me a book titled Bella Bella Quilts written by Norah McMeeking. The book showcases Italian mosaics, and it’s filled with pictures of medallions and geometric patterns adorning the marble floors of Italian basilicas—intricately designed “patchwork” that the author translates into quilts, the beauty of marble recreated through fabric. But Susan explains that the art of quilted stitches dates back way beyond Medieval times, and examples can be found in the early Chinese dynasties.
“I love
fabrics,” says Jeanne. “I can’t keep myself from touching them, working with
them. I need to be creative. It keeps me sane.”
It’s now lunchtime, and Virginia Bean (which turns out to be the gourmet soup of the day) is on the menu plus a rich avocado salad, cheese, and California Diamond walnuts.
When everybody is satiated and lingering over coffee, Susan turns to the group and says, “Who’ll help me roll Arabella out on the floor?”
Now, I’m really flummoxed. I glance around the table—Susan, Pat, Maria, Patrizia, Jeanne, Rosey, Vivian, and me. No Arabella. And even if she were to show up, why would anybody want to roll her on the floor?
I soon
realize that “Arabella” is the name of their latest joint quilting project, a
gorgeous, blanket-sized work fashioned in rich hues ranging from pale pink to
maroon. Breathtaking. The Thimbles push back the furniture and roll Arabella
out flat, and then several get down on their hands and knees and begin to baste
it together by stitching the front, the batting, and the backing into one layer.
Others pull out their individual handiwork and start sewing. Now that the work
session is underway, I suddenly recall that it’s time for me to leave. They
graciously bid me farewell as I make my way back to my car, which isn’t a Toyota
of any sort. The Thimbles will remain until 4 pm enjoying each other’s company,
furthering their personal projects, and collaborating to put the finishing
touches on their beautiful Arabella.
So, I’ve enjoyed a lovely day, a truly feel-good experience, and an eye-opener, and I’m on my way while the Thimbles continue to stretch their talents, open their hearts, and produce wonders, pouring their creativity into their art every Friday. As they do what they love, they also embody the purpose cited in AWAR’s Constitution: to spread friendship among members—and far beyond.
~~~
Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild is one of numerous Activities of the American Women's Association of Rome (www.awar.org), Rome Italy.
For further information on Nimble Thimble, please contact the AWAR office office.09@awar.org or http://www.awar.org/quilt/quiltguild.html
Revised 11/07/08