Quilt #24 :: Sew It Forward Jake

Many moons ago, I shared about two special quilts made for my dad and stepmom after their home was destroyed by fire. 

These quilts came about as I was feeling helpless living 1,000 miles away. I had been quilting for a year, so I decided to make them a quilt. I posted about it on Facebook and, because quilters are generous souls, I had several of my new quilting friends ask if they could help. 

I created a group called Sew It Forward. I knew that I wanted to make the quilt in Christmas colors because my dad is one of Santa's doppelgangers and could use something to keep warm during the Minnesota winters.

Santa Dad with one week old D.

Quilters from around the world offered to send blocks so that I could make a quilt more quickly. We decided on an easy rail fence block in Christmas colors. Within days, my mailbox started filling up with squishy mail.

It soon became clear that I would have enough blocks for not one, but two quilts. One each for my dad and stepmom, Carole. 

As bad luck would have it, my stepbrother Jake was going through a rough time in January 2014, so he was staying at the farmhouse with dad and Carole. When I shared this information on the Sew It Forward page, it was quickly decided that we would make another quilt in blues and grays for Jake. 

It didn't take long before I had to ask quilters to stop sending me blocks. I had enough for three queen size quilts! I worked quickly to put them all together. A longarmer offered to quilt them for me, so I wanted to get them down to her as soon as possible before the fundraiser event in Minnesota in May.

I sent a HUGE box down to the longarmer and waited. At the same time, my Gramma Ann passed away. We were trying to figure out how to be in Arizona for Gramma's memorial and Minnesota for the fundraiser in the same week. Did I mention that we lived in Ohio? And the quilts were in Texas? Craziness. (We eventually sorted it all out in what we affectionately called our Death and Destruction tour).

I wasn't hearing anything from the longarmer. Just silence. I couldn't call, text, message, or otherwise reach her. My heart sank as I thought about someone misleading me and stealing the quilts created from the generosity of all those quilters. Finally, her daughter posted that she had had a stroke. I quickly wished her well and asked her to send the quilts back so I could finish them myself. She was, as I was after my brain injury, stubborn, and wanted to still try to finish them. She finished Dad's, had done some light quilting on Carole's, and had started Jake's after the stroke and had made some mistakes that needed to be ripped out. It took some convincing, but she finally agreed to send the quilts back. Because of all the time it took to convince her, and because we had to drive to Arizona before driving back up to Minnesota, we had her ship them to my sister's house. And of course, the package got lost. 

We were able to track the package down at midnight before the fundraiser. I was able to finish Carole's quilt on my little machine. It wasn't as nice as I had hoped, but it would have to do. Jake's quilt, on the other hand, was a different story.

She had started to rip out the stitches, but didn't finish in my rush to have the quilts back.

Ripping out stitches after quilting is hard, detailed work. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been after a stroke, particularly with the time pressure she faced.

There were holes all over the backing. My heart sank as I realized that I would have to remove and replace the backing and batting. Neither was cheap and the time required was daunting. In any other case, I would have just scrapped the whole thing. Jake didn't know I was making this for me. But, it wasn't just make work. The blocks came from around the world and it didn't feel right not to finish it.

I spent many, many, many hours during the fall of 2014 ripping out the quilting of Jakes queen size quilt. On the plus side, I had many hours of TV viewing with Niels. We started with War and Remembrance.

I ripped out stitches on road trips.

I got overwhelmed. I thought I'd never finish. But D was watching. It was a great opportunity to show him how to do the hard things. And he encouraged me in his own way.

So I kept on, and finally, I was done.

I took a breather to celebrate the new year, then got to work on finishing it. (Gah! Look at my sweet baby!)

And so, 18 months after the fire destroyed my childhood home, Jake finally received his quilt. 

I realize quilters are a special breed, and those who do not quilt do not understand the time and energy and money that go into creating quilt. And that's okay. I don't make quilts for just anybody, and to anyone for whom I make a quilt, I am saying, in my own way, "I love you and want you to have something tangible that shows you that even though we might not talk or see each other often, I am thinking of you."  I love to give my quilts away and I believe that once a quilt is given, it is up to the receiver to decide what to do with it. It may be stuffed in a closet, given away, made to be the dog's bed, whatever. I just hope that the receiver feels the love with which it was made. 

With Jacob's quilt, it wasn't just my love that made it, but that of 16 quilts from ten states and three countries. So my heart burst with joy when Jake posted this. There is not much better than knowing a quilt you made is appreciated

As I write this, it's October of 2018 and I have to share what has happened with the little Facebook group I started. 

After the first three quilts, members of the group asked if they could make more quilts, for other families affected by fire. I knew I didn't have the brain power to coordinate that, so I decided that anyone who wanted to head up a quilt could use the group to collect quilts. In this way, we did ten more projects. And then things slowed down.

Until about a year ago, when one of the quilters, Tina Burlington, messaged me and asked if she could have my permission to be an admin for the group. I grateful said yes. She messaged again and asked if she could start coordinating projects. Again I said yes. Sew It Forward is now up to 500 quilters and Tina has made quilts for approximately a bazillion people. Seriously, I am in awe of her. 

Sew It Forward is now her baby, but is kind enough to keep me on as an admin. If you are a quilter, I hope you join the group and find some time to make a few blocks for the current project. It makes my heart so happy to know that my little idea lives on, that quilts are being made, and that those affected by fire are being shown love and support after loss.

Here's a link to a recent article about the good work Tina is doing.

Linked to:
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Link Party Tuesday @ Clever Chameleon
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion on the River
Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts
Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Scrap Happy Saturday @ So Scrappy
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
To Do Tuesday @ Stitch All The Things
What I Made Monday @ Pretty Piney

Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIP Linky Party @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIPs on Wednesday @ Esther's Blog

Quilts # 22 & 23 :: Sew It Forward

Hi readers! Remember us? It's been a little quiet around here. We have returned from three back-to-back trips...all in April! The last trip included a little hike from Ohio to Arizona (for my gramma's funeral on Monday, then on to Vegas (for Niels' work conference, which ended on Wednesday), and then quickly to Minnesota for my family's benefit on Saturday), and then finally back home to Ohio. Did I mention we traveled all this way by car...with a five year old? We covered 5,400 miles in just under two weeks in what we tongue-in-cheek dubbed our "Death & Destruction" tour.

Five months ago, my dad and stepmom's home burned to the ground.

 The last stop on our tour was a celebration of life benefit for my family in Minnesota.

A little secret I've been sitting on since shortly after the fire is that I created a new Facebook group called Sew It Forward. It started when I asked some quilter friends for an easy quilt pattern so I could make a quick quilt for for my dad and stepmom. After sharing the reason for the quilt, I had many quilters offer to help and our little group was born.

I decided on a rail fence pattern in red, white, and green using the directions from Quilter's Cache. My dad plays Santa and while a new Santa suit was quickly donated, I wanted him to have a warm Christmasy quilt to keep him warm during outdoor events in Minnesota.

Within a few days, our mailbox started filling up. 

Some quilters even sent cards and Christmas decorations. 

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my new quilter friends. I received blocks from nearly every state in the US and province in Canada, as well as blocks from the Netherlands, UK, Australia, and New Zealand!Soon I had so many blocks that I decided to make a second quilt for my bonus mom, Carole. 

Jan from Massachusetts offer to make a special block for Dad's quilt, with a golfing Santa. (Dad runs a driving range in the spring and summer). 

Linda from Nova Scotia made a block with a black cat, in memory of Zoey, who was lost in the fire.

One of my favorite blocks came from our son's pre-K teacher, Miss Anne, who is a new quilter. She recruiter her mom to help her make a block for Dad's quilt. 

I ended up having enough blocks to make two queen size Christmas quilts! It was while I was working on these quilts that I had the inspiration to make a display wall over my craft room closet. 

Once the quilts were pieced and the backs prepped, I sent them all to Liz in Texas, who graciously offered to quilt them for me on her longarm. (As you can see, there's actually a third quilt, a blue and gray one for my bonus brother, who was living with Dad and Carole at the time of the fire. More on that quilt at a later time). 

Liz went to work as the benefit day approached. Unfortunately, shortly before the big day, Liz suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. It was a little stressful for all of us as we left on our trip with the fate of the quilts unknown. 

Liz's quilting friends in Texas stepped up and were able to finish quilting and binding the quilts. The quilts arrived in Minnesota the morning of the benefit. Whew! All I had to do was attached the labels.

In my hurried state, I forgot to take a picture of dad's label on his quilt. 

Once the labels were on, we drove to my childhood home to see the damage myself. Even though I knew what to expect, it still hit hard when I drove up to the farm and saw that the house really was gone. 

It's been a very long, very cold winter in Minnesota so Dad and Carole are just now able to look through the rubble to see if anything can be salvaged.

Unfortunately, anything that was reduced to ash was still destroyed. I was so sad to see fragments of Carole's Delft collection.

But, my family is optimistic. Their theme through all of this has been beauty from ashes. 

I was encouraged to see beauty coming through the ashes surround the rubble that remained of my childhood home.

 It was super windy so we had a hard time getting photos of the quilts.

 When Dad showed up, our son was excited to give him the quilt.

It was fun to see my 71-year-old dad play with our 5-year-old son.

I hadn't seen my dad for over a year. I wish we were meeting for a happier occasion.

After reminiscing with Dad a bit, we headed to the civic center to help set up. The queen size quilts were hoisted onto these super tall frames.

I love the tulip quilting Liz used on Carole's quilt.

In addition to a silent auction, bake sale, walking tacos, children's games, a photo booth, and a musician, once the benefit got started, there was even an appearance by Santa!

The benefit was a huge thank you to the community, including the valiant fire fighters who battled the blaze in the bitter -50 windchill. The department was there with their truck and many children were happy to explore it.

We are so grateful to all the folks who attended and helped with the benefit. It's hard to live so far from family. I am very thankful that my dad and bonus mom are being shown such love and support.

Dad and Carole are planning to rebuild on the footprint of their old house, as they run two businesses from the property. The century farmhouse will be replaced with a home more suitable for a man in his seventies so it will take a little time to finalize the floorplan and start building. Santa is hoping for a new house for Christmas. 

If you'd like to help, to stay up-to-date with their progress, join the Facebook page Help Elmer and Carole Abbas Get Back on Their Feet or visit the Abbas Home website. 

The Sew It Forward group is continuing to provide quilts to families who have lost their homes to fire, if you'd like to join this incredible group of quilters, please visit the Sew It Forward Facebook page. 

Linked to:
Awesome Things Tuesday linky party * Creative Collection Link Party * Creativity Unleashed linky party * Fluster Buster's Creative Muster link party * Make it Pretty Monday linky party * Moonlight & Mason Jars linky party