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Quilters
Featured in the March 01, 2001 Exhibit

Linda Borer is a Senior Administrative Assistant for theYale Medical Group. Her grandmother taught her to sew at the early age of eight by making Barbie clothes. She continued to use her talents in many creative ways as her children grew up by sewing clothes, costumes and enjoying other crafts. Her enjoyment of antiques and working with fabrics inspire her creativity.

Helen Collibee is a transcriptionist for the Yale School of Medicine Orthopaedic Department. She was taught the art of sewing and quilting by her grandmother. As the mother of four children (from college to kindergarten ages) she says she needs a few minutes to herself. Sewing, quilting and a cup of tea are her “down time” activities.

Jamisen Farley is a transcriptionist for the Yale School of Medicine Orthopaedic Department. She is a self-taught quilter who enjoys working with color and design. Her interest in quilting began when she was 15 years old and completed her first quilt.

Mary Fichandler has been a pre-school teacher at St. Thomas’s Day School in New Haven for eighteen years. She has been sewing since she was a young girl and quilting for the last twenty years. Mary particularly enjoys making quilts for new members of her family. She has taught sewing to children in after-school programs in the New Haven Public Schools as well as at St. Thomas’s. Mary’s husband Bruce is a Physician Assistant in the Section of Plastic Surgery.

Lisa Geiselhart, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery in Organ Transplantation and Immunology, is an avid quilter who loves the patterns and colors of fabric and the wonderful feeling of the finished quilt, which is so much more than the sum of its pieces. As a scientist, she finds the creative outlet of quilting vital to her sense of balance as a person. Quilting relieves stress and allows her to utilize the creative side of her brain.

Lauretta E. Grau is an Associate Research Scientist at the School of Public Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. Loretta learned to quilt 20 years ago while living in West Africa. She enjoys hand piecing and applique although she has completed many traditional machine pieced projects. She likes to use strong colors in works of her own design.

Barbara Judisch, Business Service Coordinator for the Mammography Department at YNHH, began quilting in 1974. Not able to find any “how to” books or classes at that time, she taught herself to quilt by trial and error and admits to making many mistakes in her first quilt! As much as she enjoys the creative aspects of color and pattern selection, her favorite part of the process is the hand quilting. Her favorite projects are baby quilts and wall hangings.

Jean La Camera began quilting during the Bicentennial and has seldom put down her needle since. She has taught “Beginning Quilting” and has most recently worked on the Orchestra New England Quilt and the Maurice Sendak “Where the Wild Things Are” quilt for the New Haven Public Library Children’s room. She tries to make a quilt-top each month for the New Haven Aids Hospice. Jean is a member of the Board of Managers of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Auxiliary.

Elenore Miller is Senior Administrative Assistant to Dr. Lawrence S. Cohen, Special Advisor to the Dean of the Medical School. Quilting has been her passion for the last eighteen years. Ellie has taught quilting for the Bethany Park and Recreation Department as well as at several quilt retreats. She also served as the quilting judge at the Goshen Fair for the past five years.

Lorraine F. Roseman is Director of Operations for the Yale Physicians Building and creator of “Art Place.” Her interest in quilting was inspired by the masterpieces shown in our first exhibit. A novice to this art, her hope is to learn and share in the wonderful experiences of the Art Place Quilters @ Yale

Angelika Schriever is Registrar of the Ph.D. Program in the Comparative Literature Department. Through quilting she carries on a long family tradition of fine needle work, and her daughter Barbara is now learning to quilt as well. Angelika expresses her creativity with color, design, and texture. She especially enjoys making quilts as gifts and for fund-raisers and auctions for charities.

‘Rene Sherman says of quilting, “Curiosity turned to interest and interest became obsession.” Over morning coffee, after work, and on weekends she is either cutting, piecing, scanning pattern books, or sketching out patterns. Quilting pleases her, pleases her cats and she believes even the dog enjoys seeing a new pile of fabric come into the house.

Judy Siccama has taught high school and adult education classes over the past 30 years. Now she quilts full time, teaching workshops in quilting guilds, libraries and fabric stores around New England and the world including Hawaii!

Linda Silk has worked at the Yale School of Medicine for over 15 years and is currently with the Section of Vascular Surgery. Linda began quilting more than 20 years ago and has made and designed many quilts, large and small, and countless quilted projects. Her love of quilting began with her interest in the history of quilting and her desire to carry on this beautiful tradition.

Bernie Szawerda began quilting as a hobby in 1981. Today she teaches quilting to students who range in age from 5 to 87 years old, conducts seminars at craft and sewing establishments, gives talks on the history of quilting and runs her own longarm machine quilting business. She has donated several of her quilts to charitable foundations such as the Meriden-Wallingford Relay for Life Walk-a-Thon and has raised several thousands of dollars for cancer research. Bernadine machine quilted “The Fabric of Our Lives” for the Art Place Quilters @ Yale.

Barbara Tracy is the Recruitment Coordinator at Yale Law School Career Development Office. She has been an avid quilter for ten years. Barb is passionate about the entire quilting process, from choosing fabric to attaching binding on a finished quilt. She spends many happy hours in her quilt studio at home. Incorporating her love of color and pattern in her work, Barb hopes that each piece will please viewers in its design, color and craftsmanship.

The word QUILT is defined as two layers of fabric with a batting sandwiched between them and stitching sewn through all the layers to hold them together and create a design. Just like any group of people with a passion, quilters all over the world are “sisters under the skin” with a passion for every aspect of quilting. Most quilters would rather quilt than anything else in their lives. Last fall, the Art Place Quilters @ Yale was created to pool their talents and apply their passion into a community quilt which they call “The Fabric of Our Lives”. This quilt which incorporates each individual’s concept of community, will permanently adorn the walls of YPB for the enjoyment of all visitors.

Tony Fusco is a poet and writer who lives in West Haven. He is also a free lance photographer and writer for local newspapers, cartoonist, pen and ink and multi-media artist. Tony created the Yale Physicians Building Art Place website and the documentary Art Place: The Quilters @ Yale which was broadcast by Citizen’s Television. Tony works at the Yale Medical Group in Medical Billing Compliance.

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