Kossacks have been so kind as to support the making of some message quilts for members undergoing severe illness. There have been four so far – and I thought you all would like to see some pics.
This checkerboard quilt was made for othniel. Othniel had been hospitalized a second time for an infection in his leg that had led to a deep abscess, requiring surgery. He was re-hospitalized recently for other problems that were even more severe. Thankfully, he is home now and the worst fears are over. The quilt with its messages from dear friends has been a great support to him – and we are all so glad for his wisdom and humor has lifted us here on Daily Kos and on Street Prophets where othniel now writes on the front page (and where I write as Rain).
That’s me, posing with the quilt just before I mailed it to othniel.
The next quilt was a biggy – it bears one hundred eighty messages of support for exmearden – so many it had to be queen size.
It arrived in time to accompany exmearden to the hospital for her second round of chemo. Because exmearden is being treated for a rare cancer of the heart and because so many of the supportive messages were about sending her energy, the backing I chose represents many colored bursts of light in the shape of hearts. (I also stamped hearts on many of the message blocks for her.)
We collected a surplus of money for producing exmearden’s quilt and it was her desire that it be put toward a quilt for MsSpentyouth who is dealing with a brain tumor and insurance and resource issues – in spite of working two jobs. This is her quilt – and notice that the corner blocks are made from the same fabric that backs exmearden’s quilt.
One of her jobs is in an art house movie theater – so the inner fabrics are about movies. The red one has images of projectors and film reels and the light one is a photorealistic print of popcorn. This quilt was machine quilted rather than tied and has mismatched, colorful buttons in the center of the message four-patches. The backing is a beautiful violet to indigo floral print – I chose these colors for the chakra associated with the area where MsSpentyouth’s illness is located – and also because I thought it would go fabulously with her red hair! The quilt was received today and this is what MsSpentyouth wrote to me:
Oh, wow!! Oh, wow!!!!! This is so gorgeous!! It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I love the movies-and-popcorn theme and the purple-flower backing and the amazing calligraphy of the words of support and the BUTTONS!! I loooooooooove the buttons!!! My grandmother, who lived through the Great Depression, reused and recycled so many things, including all the buttons off her girdles and dresses and coats. She gave me jars and jars and jars of them over the years, and after she had a series of small strokes, she helped me select some of her favorite buttons when I came to her nursing home and made jewelry for her friends and our relatives.
I'm just so touched that you were able to weave so many things into that quilt that are so personal to me. How amazing you are!!
Thank you and Ann a billion times over. I really love this!! I just can't believe you got this done so quickly, and it's so beautiful and has so many little surprises every time I look at it.
And it arrived JUST as fall is coming to this part of North Carolina. In fact, I hadn't even turned on the heat yet, but will have to tonight. (But not for a few hours, while I have this quilt to tide me over until the temperature dips a little lower!)
What an act of love. If I didn't have so much to say, I'd be speechless! Just thank you ... really ... it's so incredible.
The fourth quilt to date is for moe99 who is fighting lung cancer. I finished it today – and it is a bit different from the others. My intuition told me to go with a free-form arrangement of her messages and colors ranging from green to blue to violet. I put in dolphins – for dolphins have amazing lungs – and some otters for the same reason. This is what it looks like – and notice the four corner blocks are a violet print – the same fabric that was used to back MsSpentyouth’s quilt.
It shipped Priority Mail this afternoon. She’ll have her quilt before she starts her treatment – and all your love and support will be with it.
Moe’s backing fabric features feathers (representing the flow of air) in shades of blue and violet. Guess what the four corners of the next quilt will be?
I have a balance to put toward another quilt if you would like me (with the help of my sister, Ann) to continue. I have figured a cost at $4 per message with a forty-four message minimum – to pay for the materials and a little bit of our time. I would be so pleased to do another – this really makes my heart sing and I know the community support with these messages has been a wonderful thing for our valued members who have been facing a hard path. By doing this, we let them know that they are not alone – and they can wrap themselves up warmly in our support and love. A community message quilt beats a stack of greeting cards (which cannot be cuddled or snuggled or cried into so warmly) but runs about the same cost per message.
Would you like to keep going?
Donation buttons
For Mrs. Caudle (ovarian cancer)
For Kitsap River (awaiting a kidney transplant)
For BFSkinner (severe lupus)