More Sacred Work

 A couple of posts ago, I showed a quilt made for a friend whose husband had died this summer.  She gave me a dozen of his shirts.  This weekend, I made a quilt for each of the two daughters.

 

One is just beginning her life at college, and the other is entering high school.  Each quilt is 48 x 60".

Each quilt has six pockets.  I found that a 6.5" square works well for these.  They can store momentos from their father...

Or just put their hand in, knowing this pocket was worn right over his heart.  

 

From the shirt backs, I made the back of the quilt for the mother.  

The shirts went to good use.  There are almost no usable bits left.

Sacred Work

A friend and colleague had a tragedy this summer.  Her husband died suddenly in a freak accident.  I asked if I could make her a quilt from her husband's shirts, and she was glad to let me.

She gave me a dozen of his shirts.  A few other colleagues came to help.  All were new to me and new to quilt-making.  I wanted to cry most of the weekend.  It felt like very important, sacred work. 

Here's what we made.  Pretty good for mostly new quilt makers! 

 I'll make the quilt back from the shirt backs, arranging them something like this.

From the scraps, I'll make quilts for her two teenage daughters as Christmas gifts.  

Aren't you glad to have a skill that can provide such comfort?  I'm feeling very fortunate today.