Taken from Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough by Louise Silk

Part of the Exhibition at Brew House Arts in the summer of 2026.

· Insight · Offerings · True Nature ·

ARCHANGEL OF ONENESS was created during the pandemic. I decided to craft a physical form of the divine attributes. My reference was the Tree of Life diagram of attributes that Kabbalists also visualize in relation to the human body.

The base is denim overalls. I began with color-coded French Knot embroideries for each of the divine attributes at its assigned body placement, and adding adornments from my notion collections to complete the design.

Available as a written text:  Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough 

Part of the Exhibition at Brew House Arts in the summer of 2026.

The show’s title, too, offers a Jewish lesson. Dayenu (“it would have been enough” — a familiar song from the Passover Seder) reminds us to practice gratitude and to realize how fragile our own presence in the world is. Just to breathe another day would be enough, but as the prayer describes, life offers us so much more than that. I saw the show as the sun blazed blood orange over a smog-laden sky. But to be inside four walls and be together in community with Silk and her work — it was enough. Emma Riva for the PJC

Join me every Wednesday from 2-7pm in the gallery where I will share information about the exhibition and my practice.

On August 13 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, my daughter Sarah and I will discuss the text created for Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough, We will expand the context, background, process, and spirit for each quilt in the exhibition.

On August 27 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, in celebration of Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough, and Tu B’Av, the Jewish holiday of love, Brew House Arts partners with 412Step for an evening of dancing, celebration, and art. Dayenu will be on view in the gallery, attendees are invited to participate in a potluck and bring a dish to share with one another. No partner or previous dance experience is necessary. Come dance with us! 

Taken from Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough by Louise Silk

Part of the Exhibition at Brew House Arts in the summer of 2026.

·Contemplating· Discerning· If Not Now, When? ·

A story about the awe and mystery of presence is when Moses encounters the burning bush. He speaks the words, Hineni/ Here I am, a pure, spontaneous, response rendering him posed to receive whatever is about to unfold. How might we be totally present and receptive to The Divinity in our own situations of wonderment?

In 1994, I created The Spiritual Tent For Women, a private space for female spiritual expression. In the enclosure were aids: candles, paper and pencil, music, pillows, encouraging self-reflection. In time, I made the tent less exclusive, encouraging access to spirit, regardless of gender. 

When I became a Bubbe, I made a tent for children, giving kinder/ children their own spirit access. In the same spirit, designers at The Heinz History Center for Louise Silk: A Patchwork Life included a sheltered space as a demonstration of this idea.

During challenging times, people crave places that are accepting and conducive to self-reflection, compassion, and intrinsic connections. SPIRIT PLACE is a space to discover connections to something greater than oneself. Take a moment to contemplate possibilities for healing individually and together as a society. Begin with yourself as the object of your practice and then span out to others.

The Soft Rocks are fashioned from fragments of previous tee-shirt angel quilts filled with tiny scraps. The rug is deconstructed denim pockets.

Taken from Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough by Louise Silk

Part of the Exhibition at Brew House Arts in the summer of 2026.

· Unknown Arising · Wisdom & Understanding · Continual Transformation ·

In the Tree of Life, chokmah, is the singular pinpoint arising from something unknown, a novel creation. My most poignant chokmah moments occur waking up in morning with an uncluttered mind, allowing space for clear insight. When nothing seems to be coming into focus, sleeping on it, helps achieving my chokmah moment of clarity.

Triangles are basic patchwork forms made from squares cut on the diagonal. The Flying Geese patchwork pattern enhances the triangle’s ability to create movement, the symbol of action and growth. 

Blue denim is a universal clothing material. Its seams & density work against its success as a traditional quilting material, but victorious SilkDenim experiences have helped me discover & utilize its unrealized potential.

The red/pink, remnants from making Pussy Hats was an early response to Trumpism. The red color offers protection against the evil eye. The ancient idea is that the evil is attracted to red, in this case pink, diverting it, freeing the space for good to prevail. Materials, color, pattern, all comes together in this quilt, a powerful visual statement of possibility.

FLYING GEESE 2022. 75”H X 70”W. Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Denim.

As my mom used to say,”mitn derinen“, Steve and I have been completely absorbed in an unforgettable TV series called The French Village. We came to the series via Sarah Longwell of Bulwark fame. Part of the beauty of watching the series is that Sarah and her colleague, Benjamin Wittes do a pod cast that follows the whole series, episode by episode, making for a much richer, in-depth understanding of the people, the village, and the time (WWII) in which it occurred.

Everything about this series is worth your time. It is a longitudinal study of characters during the Nazi occupation in a small town in France. The show first aired in France in 2009 and ran through 2017. To convince you that it is worthy of your time, watch this interview with Richard Sammel who plays Heinrich Müller

It’s hard for me to sit and watch television without doing something with my hands. In this case, it has to be something very simple because the whole seven seasons are subtitled. My activity of choice is to deconstruct jeans as shown here or simple stitching.

Taken from Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough by Louise Silk

·Quilt Metaphor · Universal Form · Life Creation·

WITNESS. עֵד. 2026.

WITNESS is my case study of process. Originally conceived as the ending for Dayenu, it became the centerpiece of The Heinz History Center Exhibition. To make it work required multiple accommodations and adaptions. Its final iteration, here, brings me to the heart of a transitory state with never-ending variations and unlimited possibilities.

Every quilt in Dayenu / It Would Have Been Enough is a testament to taking a risk and reaching into the unknown. My creative process made these Dayenu art works possible through practices like these:

• Identifying through personal experience.
• Allowing space for deep feelings.
• Revealing the bigger picture, larger connection.
• Being open to change. 
• Seeking practical solutions.
• Identifying seeds of regeneration.
• Taking the time to simply be. 
• Dayenu.

THE WITNESS QUILT. עֵד. 2023-24. Full View with BubbeWisdoms at The History Center.

THE WITNESS QUILT עֵד. 2023-24. Full Unveiled View at The History Center.

When the world was struck by COVID-19 in 2020, I began a ten-year completion process that began producing fourteen flags, a kimono, a quilt, and a book that visually pieced together my historical process. The textiles I gathered were the leftover silks on hand. Most, my parents brought me from travels, difficult to use, but significant in memories. The idea to use flags came from creating Tibetan flags for our garden and a flag installation on the High Line in NYC. These are the A Patchwork Work Life flags:

The process was successful; encouraging me to try again for the Dayenu Exhibit. These flags are a little more eclectic, using more remnants and repurposing small works, continuing to center the mind on the values and concepts inherent in BubbeWisdom.

My exhibit Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough includes fourteen art pieces, 28 flags, eighteen Leftover Quilts, and two texts, totally over 70 individual objects. This is the third blog entry of three introducing The Leftovers.

A safe practice for quilting is to have more than enough yardage on hand to implement each project. There is always a question of what to do with the extras after the original project is completed. For Dayenu, I wanted to use every bit of the fabric. My solution was to fashion additional quilts until all unused fabrics were depleted. The Leftovers is the 15^th piece for the exhibition; an assemblage of those quilts.

My exhibit Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough includes fourteen art pieces, 28 flags, eighteen Leftover Quilts, and two texts, totally over 70 individual objects. This is the second blog entry of three introducing The Leftovers.

A safe practice for quilting is to have more than enough yardage on hand to implement each project. There is always a question of what to do with the extras after the original project is completed. For Dayenu, I wanted to use every bit of the fabric. My solution was to fashion additional quilts until all unused fabrics were depleted. The Leftovers is the 15^th piece for the exhibition; an assemblage of those quilts.