If not now, when?

Hand embroidered Hebrew letters that spell out the phrase, "If not now, when" arranged in a circle.  The background is machine quilted translation to English. 

Completed March 19, 2017
Size 13" x 13"




This quilt was made for the final challenge in Project Quilting season 8 - Time is up!  and is my response to the urgency I feel for participating in our political processes.  We are seeing some deplorable policies and words by the current administration, and I believe the time to act is NOW.

The full quote, by Hillel, a 1st century C.E Jewish sage, is  “If I am not for myself, who is? And when I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”   

The first part, I understand to mean that we each have the right and responsibility to stand up for ourselves.  The second part, however, reminds us that we should not be selfish in our responsibilities;  we exist in communities.  And finally,  the time imperative.  Now.  Act now.

Using an arrangement I found online (by a company called Hebrew-Tattoos)  I drew the letters of the last phrase in a circle, which I felt also responded to the theme of time, in that its like a clock face.  Luckily, we had a snow day, so I had a full day mid-week to work on this project!  Here is my window/light box I use for tracing. 

Notice the snowy weather outside

I selected a course weave fabric, in a parchment color, to give a sense of the ancient text.  Then, after tracing the letters to fabric (adjusting some spacing I didn't like in my drawing) I selected 4 different dark reds that looked good on the parchment background.

Each letter is small chain stitch outlined then filled with decorative stitching.  The letters are about 2.5" tall.

Finally, I machine quilted closely around each letter, then background quilted the translation "if not now, when?" multiple times across the back  (this step nearly made me miss the deadline, as my machine stalled multiple times, reminding me that NOW is the time to get this baby serviced!)

Because the machine was being so balky, I hand bound this quilt.  Yes, I sewed the binding onto the front AND the back, by hand. 

Act NOW.  If you feel you need to stand up for yourself, do it.  If you feel you need to stand up for your neighbors, community, fellow citizens; do it.  And do it NOW.  The "time is up" for assuming that we are in the status quo, that things will progress more or less as they have in the past.  The administration inaugurated in January 2017 is showing their true and selfish colors.  They don't care about you or your neighbors.  Stand up.  now.