Like we said at the beginning of the month our approach to Skirting the Issue is a little different than in years past. As the time drew near I kept reflecting on different events that happened during the year.
I told you about the accident I was involved in but there were loads of other events that led up to this shift. One of those was the organization of a city Quilt Show that I was in charge of. Here’s what happened:
During the holidays last year I became obsessed with the idea that my city needed to hold an annual Quilt Show. OBSESSED.
So I planned and organized one.
And it was a lot of work…like a lot. But it was worth every second of it.
Almost 100 quilts were displayed in the show. Modern, traditional, handpieced, paper pieced, appliqued etc. And all of them were different and all of them were beautiful.
But for every single quilt that I collected I was told a story of another quilt, or two, or three, that the quilter no longer had….quilts that had been made and donated to Quilts of Valor, to the hospital, or a local charity, or given to a neighbor, friend, or family member struggling through a hard time.
It reaffirmed the correctness of my image of quilters….that they are some of the kindness people on this planet.
Something else happened as I was collecting those quilts.
You see I needed a spot to drop of the quilts for the show. So every Friday night for a week I was parked in front of the local grocery story with a table, some quilts, and my laundry baskets.
And it was on one of these evenings that I met a sweet woman who made me rethink the direction of Skirting the Issue this year.
As I sat in the parking lot a woman came up to the table and asked if she could buy my quilts. I explained they weren’t for sale and that I was actually collecting quilts for a show. She then told me a story…a story all about the quilt she received from a stranger in the hospital just before her child passed away.
She told me how she keeps this quilt in her bedroom and how on bad days she holds in her lap. She explained how the quilt provides her with comfort and brings her peace.
She said she had never met someone who had donated those kinds of quilts to the hospital. I said I had never met anyone who had received them.
We stood there, two strangers, in front of a grocery story, tears flowing, exchanging stores. I didn’t catch her name but we parted with a hug. And I’ve thought a lot about that experience since that night.
I even included it in an episode of STITCHED our quilting podcast.
And as I have reflected on that evening and what I gleaned from the amazing women who participated in the quilt show I thought how great it would be to have Skirting the Issue this year be, well, a bit more relaxed…as in…make the quilts, sew the skirts….and then donate them to where ever your heart leads you.
You want to donate a quilt to your local police station…do it!
You want to donate a skirt to your local women and children’s crisis center…do it?
The hospital, a shelter, a foster care closet, an assisted living home, a rehab center, a teen crisis home, Quilts of Valor, a refugee family, a retirement center, or a victims group of any kind….it doesn’t matter where it goes. If your heart leads you to it…donate there!
And if you want to donate a quilt or a skirt or pillowcases but can’t find a place you can always mail them to us at:
PO BOX 753, Lehi, Utah 84043
And we will deliver them to a good home.
What you make with your hands, you give with your heart….and from someone who knows….those items do make a difference.
*NOTE* And please send us a photo of your item that you are going to donate so we can enter you to win one of our Skirting the Issue Prizes this year! You can send your photo to: simplesimonandco (at) gmail.com
Do you have size specifications on quilts that are donated to you?
Nope! Not at all!