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Monday, February 25, 2019

Helping A Friend Make A Memorial Quilt


I had a friend contact me saying she needed some help for her friend. This woman and I have been friends since she moved to our town about ten years ago. They were living in a camper at the KOA until they could find a home to purchase and had made an offer on one near my home.

We invited them to dinner and to hang out many times as the camper was rough for her four boys. Since then, we have helped each other with weddings, farewell for missions, and other things. She helped me last summer move all the bins and totes of my girls stuff, so we could get all the yard sale stuff out. 

We even took a road trip last year, as we both have family living in the same area in another state. I believe that we were meant to be friends as our kids are all similar ages as well. She also has an older daughter the age of Princess Two, and they were roommates for awhile years ago. 

My friend said that her good friend died many years ago, and when she helped her best friend and her mother clean out their home last year, she found a box of t-shirts belonging to the sister who had passed away. 

She knew I made T-shirt quilts, and hoped that I would be willing to take the shirts and show her how to make them into a quilt. I wasn't feeling all that well, as we have had lots of storms, but she has been so generous with me helping me in so many ways, that I really did want to help her even thought I wasn't doing well. 

On the first day, it was long as we laid the shirts out, started cutting, went to buy a back sheet, rearranged the shirts to make a longer twin sized quilt rather than a square picnic type of quilt, and then finished cutting all the squares and then sewing the more "odd" squares that needed a bit of help, like sewing down a collar, applying a shirt cut out onto another square etc. 

I didn't get to bed until SUPER early the next morning as I had been having a migraine starting early evening. I couldn't sleep due to the pain. I finally got to sleep about 7 a.m. and she came over about 3 p.m. waking me. I had a splitting headache and so I took some things and she had sewn all the squares into lines. I showed her how to measure up the lines and make sure they were exactly the same length and gave her the last square I was finishing the night before. She took them home to sew them all into the quilt top, and I took more drugs, and laid down hoping not to throw up as it was a super bad migraine. 

I couldn't sleep for the pain and nausea, but at least I held everything in. I hadn't eaten and still had a headache so took more drugs, drank more coke, and showed her how to lay out the backing, then the batting on top, and finally the quilt top. I showed her how I use the backing sheet to edge the quilt and how to cut it about 3 inches longer than the quilt top, so you can just fold the backing to the top edge of the quilt and then fold it once again at the edge of the quilt top, and it gives a nice boarder edge framing the front of the quilt. 

Once the edging was pinned, we tied the quilt squares while it was still laid out so she wouldn't have to come back after sewing the edge. I was having a hard time bending with my head still feeling pressure and we had everything done, but sewing the edging when she left around 10 p.m. I think. I was up all night taking several more doses of different pain medication and I hadn't eaten anything all day, so I ate something and finally got some sleep about 6 a.m. until church wake up at 8. 

I felt fairly good today but think I had lots of pain meds on board and just an hour or two ago, my head started hurting again. I think there is a whopper of a storm coming this week. I am glad I could help my friend and we could get this project finished for her so she can give the quilt to her friends family when she will be seeing them in a few months. She also learned how to make a quilt, so she can now help her mother make a quilt out of her step-fathers shirts for his 80th birthday coming up, and for her sons with their sports shirts. She is excited to do those thing now having learned this new talent. 

Yea for good friends and being able to serve each other! Have a Blessed and Friend filled Day! 

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