Editor's Report

Quilts Recall Woman Who Wove Them

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The Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center in Ossining is holding a quilt exhibit and sale in a few weeks that you may want to mark on your calendar right now. As you might expect, the quilts are only part of the story.

Many of the quilts that will be displayed for sale in the center’s chapel were the inspiration of one woman, Nancy Murphy. But they were brought to completion by the work of many, all stitching together to finish the project that will serve as a fund-raiser. Proceeds benefit Mariandale Outreach Programs on behalf of the poor, marginalized, homeless and formerly incarcerated, especially women.

Nancy Murphy was a master quilter who taught the art and skill to others. She was an active member of the Northern Star Quilters’ Guild. This week, her husband Mike Murphy remembered that the guild served as a “support group” for his wife after she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. He still sounded grateful for the three years Nancy lived after her diagnosis until her death at age 53 in 2001.

“When she was initially diagnosed, we didn’t think she had much time,” he said. “It gave my sons and I time to say anything we wanted to say. For that we are grateful.”

With his boys now grown and living on their own, Mike decided last year to move from the family house into a condo. Going through storage boxes in the attic, he found containers brimming with Nancy’s unfinished works, ranging from quilts and needlepoints to appliqués and embroidery.

Murphy, a parishioner of St. Augustine’s, Ossining, had heard about a group of quilters who met at Mariandale, a sponsored ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Hope. He called to see if he could donate his late wife’s unfinished works and supplies. He spoke with Sister Donna Brunell, O.P., who directs Hands for Hope, a retreat ministry involving quilters along with other artists and crafters.

Sister Donna recruited Carole Burton, a Mariandale quilter and friend of Nancy Murphy’s, to sort through the projects and figure out how to complete as many as possible. The task was not without its challenges, sheer volume for one, nor rewards.

“It’s emotional,” Ms. Burton said. “I’m touching fabrics and threads Nancy has worked on. It brings back beautiful memories of her and the work she did.

“I’m touched that I’ve been asked to cooperate on this project,” she said.

Starting last fall, the quilting crew at Mariandale, about a half dozen strong, has worked on the project for an entire day each month. With the exhibit and sale scheduled to take place Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, from 1 to 5 p.m., and Wednesday, June 12, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center, Sister Donna said the group is hoping to complete about 30 of Nancy’s quilts. They are now in the home stretch, with a quilting marathon set this weekend.

Carole Burton is working on a quilt for which her friend had cut pieces but hadn’t sewn together. As she works, in the group or at home by herself, she can’t help but remember Nancy’s bubbly personality and appreciate her talented workmanship, which shows in her intricate stitching and in the work’s beautiful colors and designs.

“She was a very beautiful person, inwardly and outwardly,” Ms. Burton said. “ She was very helpful.”

Mike Murphy was bowled over last weekend when he saw a publicity poster for the upcoming show hanging in a local store.

“It stopped me cold,” he told me. “I took a picture of it. I sent it off to my sons with a quick note.” Their boys, Jon and Phill, are in their 30s now. Jon lives in Istanbul, with his wife and a child, and Phill, who is married too, lives in San Francisco.

He also sent a shot off to his brother-in-law in Oregon, where Nancy was from. He made it into a Mother’s Day poster for Nancy’s mom.

“I see my wife’s legacy living on 12 years after her death,” Mike Murphy said.