Monday, October 21, 2013

Comfort in Quilts

Today was the monthly meeting for the Comfort Quilt group in town. There were about 14 of us, and we worked from about 9 am to almost 1 pm. I understand that they donate hundreds of comfort quilts over the year to children and adults in crisis in our town and county. Its a way for quilters to give of their talents and resources.

I think I share my light with people I love in many ways. Sometimes my circle is drawn in tight when I feel wounded, or lost and isolated. Its very difficult to give of myself when my core is adrift like a lifeboat lost on a very big ocean. Then I am grabbing for the sides of the boat and trying hard not to throw up from stress.

Someone at the meeting told me that the police here in town keep quilts in sturdy plastic bags in their squad car trunks for those times that they either pick up runaway kids or need to take them from abusive environments. Sometimes the kid or person is not clothed for the weather. I also heard that more quilts are needed for boys and men because either the donated fabric is more feminine or the quilters like making the more feminine looks. 

Stories sent my mind spinning.



I sorted through the boxes and found a baseball print that could go to either a boy or a man, pulled other fabrics and got started on making the pattern. I ran out of that blue stripe and found another brown-red stripe. 

Women there have preferences in what they want to make. With this first one, my preference will be making quilts for vulnerable males caught in a crisis when their lives make them feel lost, alone, isolated and needing something that the world has failed to give them.

There is comfort in having a quilt to cuddle under when the world seems harsh and unwelcoming. And its comforting to make the quilts as well: Comforting in creating something new from boxes of left-overs or giveaways.

Maybe this is what appeals to me. Maybe I am the left-over or a giveaway, and its up to me to make something lovely of my life, to make something resonate with the rest of the world needing comfort.



1 comment:

  1. That sounds like a great service. I really like the way it seems to bring comfort to the maker and receiver of those quilts :)

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