Newtown Memorial Quilts

Two weeks ago I was in a mountain village in Guatemala,
visiting the indigenous Mayans in their simple homes, and admiring the
beautiful textiles and embroideries they create on their front porches
with simple handlooms.

The village shaman – a beautiful woman around my age – was our guide as we visited the Mayan ruins of Iximche.

Iximche was the capital of the Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until
its abandonment in 1524, and this archaeological site includes several
pyramid-temples, palaces and two Mesoamerican ballcourts.

(The photo above shows a huge tree growing on top of one of the pyramid ruins.)

As you may have suspected, the world is not coming to an end this Friday.
It is just the end of one huge cycle on the Mayan calendar, and the beginning of a new huge calendar.
Besides, it can't be the end of the world: our eldest son Mason is graduating from college on Friday!

I've spent the week thinking about how each day is a gift, and how life
really does whiz by too fast.
I distinctly remember complaining about how fast Mason was growing when
he was a preschooler, and then joking – "The next thing you know, he'll
be graduating from college! Haha!" – and now this day has come.

Saturday is also the 17th anniversary of the loss of our daughter Hanna, who inspired our charity program which has raised over $1 million for those in need.
On the day we lost her, even in the depths of my grief, I swore that somehow, something good would come of that loss.

So now we are all struggling with the great loss in Newtown, even as our quilt relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy are reaching a great volume.

As so many of you are making comfort quilts and bed quilts for those who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy, I also know many of you are yearning to honor the loss of the 26 in Newtown.

Here's my challenge.

Lets make beautiful memorial wall-hanging quilts for the families in Sandy Hook Elementary.

Here at eQuilter we are talking about making a group quilt for Newtown.

I propose that quilt guilds, church quilt groups, school art projects
and art quilt groups start to organize to make works of art that can
hang in the school, the classrooms, and the homes of those families…
to honor and remember the children and adults who were lost.
If we have enough, we'd like to get them out to the first responders
too, and the churches where the community has gathered to try to make
sense of this great loss.

One idea is a handprint and an embroidered name for each child or teacher, on each of the 26 blocks.

Each quilt will have 26 blocks – each with the name of one person – and also one central block with:
Sandy Hook Elementary School
December 14, 2012
* We Will Never Forget *

I will post a couple quilt design ideas for you.
I will use my
connections to have the finished quilts delivered directly to families
and staff at the school, and others directly affected by the event.

We have had many emails offering to send comfort quilts which I presume
are more like lap quilts or bed quilts, but I want to remind you that
that folks on the east coast, who are facing the winter after losing their homes and possessions to Hurricane Sandy, are still in dire need of quilts to keep them warm.

For Newtown I'd like to invite you to get together as groups, make very
special pieced – embellished – embroidered – memorial quilts with a
message of peace and hope that can hang on a wall to inspire and comfort on an emotional and spiritual level for years to come.

Give that some thought.
Write to us with your ideas.
We'll polish the details and post a page for this new project on the weekend in our next newsletter.

Thank you for your thoughtful and heartfelt comments, as we all contemplate what we can do to help support and heal the broken hearts in Newtown.