Lillis Taylor teaches how to make felt baby blocks in her Stitching Workshop at the University of Alabama in Birmingham’s (UAB) Women & Infant Center as part of UAB’s Institute for Arts in Medicine Program. (photos by Bob Farley)
Wherever Lillis Taylor goes, whoever she meets, and whatever she touches, the places, the people, and the fabric of life are taken in, gathered and connected as one. Together, bit by bit, words and stories woven, with Lillis, a word is spoken, a friendship is made, conversation is inevitable and ideas are born. One thing leads to another, the same as a quilt grows block by block and thread by thread, with each piece collected, stitched and sewn, the quilt grows to fulfill the need of warmth and comfort. With ideas and projects, it is the same. The more people, the more ideas, and each added to the collective, come the opportunities to collaborate on something new. And so it is how Lillis became involved with the University of Alabama in Birmingham’s (UAB) Institute for Arts in Medicine.
Lillis lends encouraging words and fun conversation to Alecia and Rodney as they stitch their felt block. Fathers seem to enjoy the workshop as much as the mothers do.
Lillis is a wonder woman. Textile artist, quilter, and executive director of Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, she was already a teaching artist with ArtPlay (the education and outreach program of UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center) when Kimberly Kirklin, Director of ArtPlay and Director of Programming for Arts in Medicine at UAB Medicine, and a wonder woman in her own right, asked Lillis to join the new program at the hospital, and Lillis jumped at the chance.
“As an artist, it seems very intuitive to me that a healing experience would include some sort of creative endeavor,” says Lillis. The Arts in Medicine program employs artists-in-residence who rotate through hospital units a few times each week. With six artists, and with activities ranging from dance and movement to theatre, creative writing and story telling, visual arts and crafts, and textiles, sessions are available to all patients and their families. The program strives to help reduce stress, inspire creativity and imagination, encourage patients and families to overcome fear and anxiety, and to provide a comfortable environment for speedy recovery.
Lillis helps Hope and Savannah to separate and unravel the embroidery floss. What parents learn to make in the workshop can be taken back to the rooms where they can continue to finish the block or make more. Hope had the idea of making a mobile with the blocks she has made during her baby’s stay in the hospital.
I caught up recently with Lillis at UAB’s Women & Infant Center during a Stitching Workshop for mothers of babies in Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) and Continuing Care (CC). During the class, participants made felt baby blocks. Sandra Milstead, RN, Family Nurse Liaison, works with the staff and families. “It feels good to talk and laugh. These classes bring a sense of normalcy in the day. It is stressful for families under these circumstances,” she says. “We create a relaxed atmosphere, and while the mothers and fathers are working on their projects, they might think of medical questions to ask. I am here to answer any questions, and if I don’t know the answer, I will go and find out for them.”
Shemese holds down the layers of felt while Kristofer is determined to cut all six squares out at once. Kristofer joked that his wife, Hope, never helps him do anything. Kristofer provided lots of laughs during the class.
The atmosphere was relaxed. Lillis has a comfortable ease about her, always smiling, encouraging and positive. She is a good teacher, but more importantly, she is a good facilitator. Lillis makes it possible for mothers to make something meaningful, something they will be able to give to their child. She says this about working with mothers in High-Risk Obstetrics, “As artists working within the hospital environment, we like to think of ourselves as alleviators of boredom, anxiety and fear — boredom from sitting in a hospital bed without friends and family, anxiety from being taken away from the daily duties and responsibilities of her life on the outside, and fear from the fact that her pregnancy is somehow in danger. But give her an art class that she can look forward to once a week, and she will start to see the weeks pass in relation to the projects she is working on rather than the television shows she has watched. Or, teach her to embroider or sew and she can take these projects back to her room. She now has entertainment and a purpose that is connected to the life growing inside of her.” The same goes for the new parents in the felt block session. They leave behind their worries and fear for a little while, experience social interactions with other parents during difficult times, and they make something tangible to give to their baby. And they’ll later be able to tell the story to their child.
Kristofer threads a needle with embroidery floss. Participants were given choices of colors in thread and felt.
During the felt block session, first, there are uncertainties and questions about sewing if they have never sewn before — how to thread a needle, how much thread, how to stitch — then, work flows, people talk, they laugh, and a sense of normalcy and fun befalls.
Brittany had already completed several projects, so she spent her time making hexes from five-inch circles that were cut from donated scrubs. She went through a stack of 25 circles during the two-hour workshop.
There are other workshops that Lillis teaches at the Women & Infant Center. The longer the baby is in the hospital, the more projects the mother is able to complete, and unfortunately, Brittany had a bagful of projects in progress. Brittany had completed several embroidery squares. She had already made a pillow, and she had also made a felt block before, so in this session, she worked on making hexies. “It is relaxing, I like to make them,” says Brittany. “You don’t realize how time passes when you do it.” During the two-hour class, Brittany made 25 hexies. From a stack of five-inch circles, one by one, she would fold them in half, and in half again. She put the needle through the point of the quarter-fold, and opened the circle up. By grabbing the outside edge at one of the crease marks with the needle, pulling it through to tack at the center, that would make a fold. At the end of the next fold, she would grab the point with the needle, and pull it to the center again. With each fold, she would go to the outside point and bring it to the center, until the hexie was completed.
Hexes are made from five-inch circles that are sort of pinwheeled and stitched one fold at a time until the hexegon is complete. And just like tile, the hexes can be configured in small or large mosaics. 3,276 hexes will be made from donated scrubs from staff of all ten floors of the Center for the upcoming community quilt project.
Lillis assured Brittany that she is the most productive hexie maker and that she will contribute greatly to a community quilt for the hospital. The community hexie quilt came about from a conversation Lillis had with Sandra Milstead and Kimberly Kirklin. “The beauty of being open to collaboration, is that ideas blossom from unexpected places,” says Lillis. The hospital had just changed over to color-coded scrubs. Now each department has their own color, but before the change to the new system, there were several years-worth of uniforms. Sandra brought up a good question, “What can we do with that many scrubs?” Lillis says of the evolution of the project, “One conversation led to another, ideas started to bloom, and the next thing I know, we’re planning a 10-foot x 5-foot community quilt to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the WIC building.”
Lillis Taylor and Sandra Milstead stand by the cart they use for their RNICU/CCN Stitching Workshop. Sandra, RN, Family Nurse Liaison, works to provide a relaxed atmosphere for families during the workshops, and is there to answer any medical questions that may come up. Also instrumental in acquiring donated items for the workshops, she’ll be a key player in the making of the community quilt. Both Lillis and Sandra whole-heartedly believe in the importance of the Arts in Medicine Program.
Sandra is excited about getting others involved and can’t wait to spread the word, “A part of you can be in the quilt,” she’ll tell her coworkers. The quilt for the hospital will be made from the donated scrubs of nurses, doctors, and staff of all ten floors of the Women & Infant Center. They need 3,276 hexies to complete the quilt. That is a lot of scrubs!
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