Yesterday my lovely friend, Norma Aitken, and I drove up to Euroa to deliver 2 beautifully made quilts and a sewing care package for a quilter who has lost everything. When we heard that she didn't even have a needle and thread we could imagine how much that would impact on us in similar circumstances. We both find hand stitching or knitting, or really any hand work, can be very calming and soothing when times are tough. Even if she doesn't feel up to it now, perhaps the soothing rhythm of stitching will help her to recover.
Norma is the Gift Quilt Co-ordinator for Waverley Patchworkers and she put together a lovely pack of hand stitching items, needles, threads, scissors, a sewing kit, Rotary cutter, small cutting board, some templates, hand made tote bag, small rechargeable light, cross stitch kit of Australian wildflowers and so on. Thanks to our past experiences we've learnt a lot about what can help with recovery and added notepaper kit, a small lap blanket, lovely Australian themed cup and the 2 quilts. Lex Collins heard we were going to Euroa and contributed a lovely hexagon kit and a lot of sewing supplies, paper piecing papers, templates etc.
We didn't want to intrude so we prearranged to leave the items with a local business and then supported the local Op Shop by purchasing some cotton shirts to make into future quilts. After lunch at a local Cafe we drove back through Merton, Yarck and Yea to get an idea of the extent of the devastation caused by the fires. We've visited lots of areas after bushfires and again we were surprised not by how many homes were lost, but how many they managed to save. These communities will recover but it will take time, support and a lot of stamina.
We wouldn't normally deliver quilts this early for natural disasters but we knew that this quilter has secured rental accommodation for 12 months, which is very fortunate, but with none of her treasures or the means to do some handwork, the days can be long.
Hopefully our small gifts will uplift her spirits. The beautiful quilts were made by Waverley Patchworker's members, Annie Andrews and Margaret Grinton, and we gave 2 so that the Quilter's daughter would also receive one.
It was a big day and I'm very grateful to Norma for doing all the driving as well as making up such a thoughtful care package. I hope these few photos give you some idea of the impact of the fires and we came home even more focused on the Quilt Drive to help these communities in recovery.
We'll be working with local quilting groups where possible and Oz Comfort Quilts is very lucky to be able to collaborate with Norma Aitken and Waverley Patchworkers to provide quilts for these communities. A lot of homes have been lost across the State and hundreds of quilts and special blankets will be required to ensure that people receive a gift of comfort as they reach the recovery stage. I'm anticipating gifting a quilt to the children affected, whether they lost their homes or not, as they have all be traumatised by the impact on their communities.
Many thanks everyone for your generous and ongoing support.
Hugs, Jan Mac xx
No comments:
Post a Comment