3rd Grade Stitchery

PAGE 10

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All the stitching kept their mind off the illness and sadness around them.


By getting together to do the stitching, the people near the Keiskamma River could feel love. They were probably missing the love of the ones who had died.

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We think that they needed the stitching to express their feelings. They were sharing their story and giving it up to God.

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The altarpiece gave their story to us as well.

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We want to share some close-ups of the stitching we saw.
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The wire beading above the large photos in the center panel represent the plant world and the symbols of the four evangelists.
One hundred and thirty people, mostly women, stitched over seven months to complete the Keiskamma Altarpiece. They stitched the names of the people in their community who died over the seven months that they were stitching.
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....a glorious panel showing the Keiskamma River, which gives the name of the altarpiece.

We learned a lot about the community life of the people who live in this hamlet.
This kind of neighborly composition reminds us of the work of Grandma Moses. We learned about her work earlier this year.