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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Memory Quilt

I have been thinking about how to tell this story,
Do I tell you all the details?
Do I tell you names and dates?
Do I just show you the pictures, and let you know what I did?

I have decided to tell you the story without names, and not too many details.

This September Good Looking had a neighborhood reunion.
Like a high school reunion but with the kids he grew up with.
While we were there everyone was telling me how much they liked my quilt.
I had asked Good looking's facebook friends to vote for it,
and so they all knew me because of it.

Fast forward two weeks.
I was downstairs sewing, and the girls came downstairs
 to tell me that an army man was at the door.
It was one of his friends from the party.
He had googled our house
and was standing in my living room asking for a favor. 
You see I learned at the party that his son had died this summer.
He was just fifteen, he had died a month before his sixteenth birthday.
He was now in my house asking if I could make his wife a quilt
 out of his son's clothes for her Christmas present.
With out hesitation (which I think surprised him) I said yes.

Here is the finished quilt.


Like most teenage boys he liked his graphic tees, and super hero's.

His jeans, I tried to use the ones that were the most worn out.

He was a rugby player,
It just happened that the piece that was on his sleeve
ended up next to the one on his shirt.
I don't think that if I had planned it that way, it would have worked out. 

This is the shirt that he never got to wear,
it still had the tags on it.

My quilter put his name and his dates on it.

The inside boarder is his robe, and the outside his jeans.
That black square is his rugby shorts.
I bound the quilt with his flannel shirts.

Good Looking's friend insist that I put his rugby bag on the back,
and that it still be functional.
His son like most teenager's left his stuff everywhere, especially his dirty socks.
He wanted to keep the bag working, so he could keep a pair of dirty socks in this bag.

I feel so honored that I was the one with the opportunity
to keep the memories alive in such a special way.

I know it must have been so hard this Christmas, the first one with out
buying boy toys, video games, and making his favorite holiday treats.
He was their only son.

In their tragedy they were able to help three teenage boys grow to men,
with the donation of his heart, and kidney's.
Also this Christmas a father of seven was able to be at home
 with no more health worries, thanks to his liver.

I hope I did this story justice, and that you go squeeze your kids
and let them know that the world would not be the same with out them.

9 comments:

  1. Amazing work, and what a special gift for them.

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  2. What a beautiful story when tragedy can be turned into something positive for 3 other people and a beautiful gift.

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  3. Wow! What a beautiful quilt and story. (Got me all choked up...) Thank you for sharing both.

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  4. Robyn! That was beautiful. You did a great job on the quilt and the story behind it. What a beautiful tribute they will have from their son's life. Jenn

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  5. So touching Robyn. Wonderful to create something beautiful that holds so many memories they can treasure. going to hug the kids xx

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  6. You did a beautiful job of telling the story and making the wonderful quilt.
    Both are inspiring to me!

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  7. It is beautiful. Thank you for sharing him with us! I'm sure him parents will treasure this little piece of him forever. (but eww dirty socks) I had to say that to lighten myself up because I am crying like a baby!

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  8. found you by way of a pin in pinterest. I'm so glad! I've got two quilts to make using passed-on-loved ones' clothing & was really puzzled about it. The clothes are all different weights & types but it looks like you've made it work ok so I'll stop worrying & git 'er done!

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