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It took our Breath Away!

In stitches ... Rishon ESRA members study Ofra Burda Eidelman’s quilts

Three days later and I can't get the images out of my head. On Wednesday January 11, 2017, a group of ten ESRA women were mesmerized, fascinated, stimulated, excited . . .

The words go on and on and there is no way to describe the wonderful exhibition of quilting given to us by Ofra Burda Eidelman at our monthly meeting in Rishon LeZion.

Ofra is a member of Kwinglish, an Association of Quilters. The group is made of English speakers from England, Australia, U.S. and South Africa, and they hold monthly meetings at Beth Protea retirement home in Herzliya.

Ofra pitched up with 14 items of quilting, all done by her. She brought with the first piece she ever did, which she said was "full of mistakes" but which we could not fault. Every piece of quilting had a story behind it.

She explained how she starts, how the story develops into the material and the results are amazing.

Some of them absolutely took our breath away. She uses material from her parents' and grandparents' clothing, so that the memories of past generations are with her all the time. 

In the quilt, Ofra and her father

When she was 17 years old she was a swimming teacher and she taught Israeli comedian Avi Kushner, who was then 10, to swim. One of her works was exhibited at Habima Theater when Avi was appearing there.

The work that brought tears to my eyes was taken from a photograph of her father, a doctor at Asaf HaRofeh Hospital in 1950, taking his young daughter, Ofra, to buy sweets at the kiosk in the hospital grounds.

Her father is wearing his white doctor's coat and little Ofra is wearing a dress which was fashioned from material from a blouse of her mother's, with the lace from a cushion of her grandmother's.

Another stunning work was a Chuppah she quilted for her son's wedding, completely in white material with a gold Magen David in the middle.

Each and every piece had an unforgettable story. I recommend that other ESRA branches invite Ofra to talk to them. 

 

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Thursday, 28 March 2024

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