QUILT Project -- What's New

Please note that all downloadable files are now supplied in Microsoft Word (.doc) format rather than Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) this is intended to make the QUILT Project website more accessible to non-visual browsers. You will now need Microsoft Word in order to read downloadable files.

The Quilting Bee: An Analogy

A quilt is an article of beauty, warmth and comfort. It is made by joining bits of cloth with a variety of colors, patterns and shapes. By making strong seams with unifying thread, the separate sections create one functional whole. It is the nature and strength of the seams, which bind the different pieces together, that create the quilt from the individual strips of cloth.

In New Hampshire, we have a myriad of systems striving to support and provide services to our children with disabilities and their families.As cloth in the quilt has a multitude of qualities, so our systems have varied mandates, definitions, standards and perspectives. Rather than bemoaning the fact that we do not have single or seamless system, I urge us to celebrate our differences.

As in a quilting bee, we can work together, stitching the seams that bind us together, making us more than we are alone. Relish opportunities to come together, to learn about each other, and to share resources. When as individuals we become overwhelmed by the magnitude of our tasks, holding only our section cloth, reach out to each other and imagine the quilt as a whole, warming and comforting us and those we serve.

The Quilting Bee: An Analogy by Ruth Littlefield