A presentation of our quilting program was made at the August CCCF Prison Advisory Committee meeting. Instructors described the program and a panel of four students told the committee what the program meant to them. Tom Swearingen, co-chair of the Advisory Committee and a cowboy poet, wrote a poem about our program. He was touched by the work our students do and wrote this poem to celebrate their efforts.
For the Coffee Creek Inmate Quilters
So, you say you want to be a giver, not a taker any more
And you’re committed to spend the time to tackle that big chore.
You’re working through the changes that you know you need to make
To get yourself together, no more hearts you want to break.
Including yours, because you know the trail that you’ve been on
Is one that leads to nowhere, except all kinds of wrong.
Why, it’s the one that brought you to the place you are right now
But you know there is a better path, and you’ll get on to it somehow.
Oh, it won’t be easy, it’s no quick short cut
It’s going to take full effort of your brains, your heart, your gut.
And support from good people that will help you make it through
And show you how to navigate the troubles you’ll come to.
But get on that good new road, and your future will unroll
You‘ll see the bright horizon even from the darkest hole.
You start by picking pieces of your life up off the floor
And putting them back together, but better than before.
Kind of like a quilter taking scraps and spools of thread
And creating a thing of beauty to grace a child’s bed.
Or making a treasure of memories for an old man’s final days
Stitching quits, giving comfort, in so many lives and ways.
Those little squares of yellow, they came from a worn out skirt
And that patch of blue that makes the sky, is from an old work shirt.
But it’s no matter where those scraps are from, or what they’ve all been through
It’s how they’re stitched together now, to make something clean and new.
So, you want to be a giver, not a taker any more
Grab some thread, and pick those pieces off the floor.
-Tom Swearingen
Quilts made by CCQ students and instructors will be displayed May 18 – 19 at the Champoeg State Heritage Area visitor center. The exhibit is part of the Friends of Historic Champoeg’s annual quilt show. The theme of this year’s show is “crazy quilts.” The crazy quilt pictured in our April 28th post (below) will be on display and offered for sale at the show. Quilt show hours are 10 am to 4 pm both days. Directions to the park can be found on Google Maps.