Quilters Across The U.S. Answer Call To Help Sew Up Unfinished Project

[eleny]

Bits from the NPR article...

"Whenever Shannon Downey comes across an unfinished craft project at an estate sale, she feels compelled to buy and finish it.

... earlier this fall, Downey stumbled across an unfinished quilt of the United States at an estate sale on Chicago's North Side. She immediately knew this project was different.

... she knew she couldn't do this project alone, so she put a call out on Instagram.

She needed nearly 100 women to embroider each state hexagon and the stars. The response was overwhelming.

The project was started by Rita Smith, a 99-year-old woman who died earlier this year.

In the middle of the hexagons, the women put Rita's completed map of the United States that Downey had also purchased at the estate sale.

In the coming weeks , a professional quilter will put the filling and back on the quilt. Afterwards, people across the country will have a chance to see the quilt themselves. On Dec. 21, it will be displayed in Chicago at a local gallery called Women Made, before moving on to the National Quilting Museum in Paducah, Ky., in March."



https://www.npr.org/2019/12/09/786395095/quilters-across-the-u-s-answer-call-to-help-sew-up-unfinished-project?fbclid=IwAR3VrHXtNl5Y2wbA_sd9vE0fOrPnhBeqzXyG07c3DckWtIk88wqHzUEsIWc

[procon]

1. That was a huge project for one person,

especially a 99 year old woman to undertake. My SIL is an avid quilter and has seriously mad skills when it comes to any type of sewing. She also keeps an eye out for quilts at flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales. She makes gorgeous quilts by hand, belongs to several quilting circles, judges quilt shows, teaches classes and even sells a few. Quilts this large and detailed would be a group project that might take years to complete.

Just doing the embroidery for each state would be extremely time consuming and require a skilled needle worker who knew all the complex stitches. Cutting the piece work for all the shapes, stitching them together, adding the back piece and filler, and then sewing the quilting stitch pattern to bind everything together... WOW!

All those mad quilting ladies did a wonderful job in completing this beautiful project.

[efhmc]

2. People really are amazing and can do good. Under this admin, we sometimes forget that.

[procon]

3. Sorry, I can't see any connection with Trump's politics

and quilting. Maybe I missed something.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. I really want to visit the Quilting Museum

It is not far from my home in KY. Hopefully the next time I am there my sister and I can go.
One of my friends from college is a quilter and we hope to meet up for this trip if it ever happens.

My mother, great grandmother and her mother were all quilters. I have a gorgeous quilt she made for my daughter when she was born, and a double wedding ring quilt made by my great great grandmother. We also have a quilt my husband inherited from his grandmother which was made by her mother's quilting circle. Each of the participants embroidered her name on the quilt.