The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Budding Talent: Therese May gets comfy on a quilt she designed and helped make, along with her fellow members of the Center for Spiritual Living.

Local artist Therese May and friends donate quilt for a church fundraiser

'Attic Window Rose' to be raffled off at Founders Day

By Mary Spicuzza

Some say the eyes are windows to the soul. But for local artist Therese May, each handmade quilt provides a glimpse into her creative spirit. And this year's Founder's Day celebration will provide an opportunity to win one of May's latest pieces, "Attic Window Rose," in a raffle to benefit the Center for Spiritual Living.

It's the basic joys that provided inspiration for May and her friends from the center: the living history of a grandmother's attic, a sense of peace derived from old-fashioned comfort. Their quilt celebrates comfort with its hand-dyed cotton squares appliquéed and painted with roses, all bordered by a cloth window-pane pattern. The project is also a living testimony to teamwork--after designing the piece, May invited all members of her church to join in embellishing the quilt with hundreds of buttons.

"People feel really good around old-fashioned things, and doing group projects like quilting bees. This was a great way to do what I love and get other people around me involved," May says.

"A lot of people, both men and women, got involved," center member Jann Campos says. "Many people dropped by just to sew on one button. It was really inspiring to see the quilt laid out across three tables with everyone working on it."

May says she's excited about the chance to help raise money for her church, the Center for Spiritual Living. Formerly known as the First Church of Religious Science, the center emphasizes personal growth and enlightenment. Based on the principle that changing thinking changes lives, it also offers classes in Science of Mind, a philosophy founded by Ernest Holmes.

May, a member of the center since 1983, has been making quilts since the mid-'60s. The artist works out of Willow Glen's Therese May Art Studio on Lincoln Avenue, but her quilts have developed an international following. Her work regularly shows across the country and throughout Europe, Japan and Brazil. May has received American Craft Awards, and National Quilt Awards, and she's won praise for her exhibits at numerous galleries, including the Smithsonian. May's quilts can also be found at the San Jose Convention Center, which commissioned her work in 1991 and again in 1992. May has taught art and quilting across the country, and will teach multi-media quilting at Ohlone College this fall.

The artist says it's the simple things that inspire her. "We get so into technology sometimes," May says. "While that's valuable, it just feels really grounded to do something with your hands."

The quilt will be on display at the center's booth on Founders Day, Sept. 20. The celebration takes place along Lincoln Avenue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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