{"id":279,"date":"2012-12-22T00:09:36","date_gmt":"2012-12-22T05:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/50.87.217.193\/blog\/piecing-for-peace-sandy-hook-memorial-quilt-project"},"modified":"2015-03-07T00:09:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-07T00:09:22","slug":"piecing-for-peace-sandy-hook-memorial-quilt-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/piecing-for-peace-sandy-hook-memorial-quilt-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Piecing for Peace – Sandy Hook Memorial Quilt Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GraduationGroup1W\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Many thanks to everyone who wrote in to give us their ideas about a Sandy Hook Elementary Memorial Quilt project.<\/p>\n

There are as many different ideas as there are people interested in helping!<\/p>\n

Recognizing that we can't be all things to all people, we have set up a Facebook page <\/a>so we can network, with a suggested set of guidelines for this project.
\nWe already have a longarm quilter looking for a quilt group who can make a quilt top, for her to finish.<\/p>\n

I am posting links on this Facebook page <\/a>for fundraisers to help the victims, if you wish to donate money to the families.<\/a> You don't have to be a member of Facebook to view this page!<\/p>\n

I do not want to set up another comfort quilt drive sending masses of bed quilts to Newtown.
\nThese people did not lose their possessions like the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
\nOur quilt relief effort for hurricane victims on the east coast must continue <\/a>because these are tens of thousands of people who have lost their homes and possessions and need to keep warm for the winter.
\nMany sincere thanks to all of you who are donating to this disaster relief effort.<\/a><\/p>\n

The families of Sandy Hook Elementary now are inundated with media,
\nmemorials of candles and stuffed animals, curious onlookers and traffic
\ngridlock, donated packages and pillowcases.<\/p>\n

As someone who has experienced losing a child, I can tell you that none of this is what those families need.
\nThey need time, and a quiet space to grieve.
\nWe can't just rush in and fix it for them, no matter how sincerely we wish to help.<\/p>\n

You've written in that the quilts *should* include photos of the
\nchildren, and also that the should *not* have photos of the children.
\nI think each quilt group should decide this for themselves.<\/p>\n

A few have written that they don't think the names should be on the
\nmemorial quilt, lest it remind the family of what happened.
\nSeeing the names is actually a comfort for those viewing a memorial.
\nThink of the AIDS quilt, the 9\/11 quilt, the Vietnam Memorial Wall…
\nhave you ever seen someone tracing the name of their lost loved one on a
\n memorial? Remembering the name, the life, of those lost is a comfort
\nto the families.
\nThis list of Sandy Hook names <\/a>is already posted on our Facebook project page – "Piecing for Peace".<\/a><\/p>\n

You've suggested handprints, hearts, doves and butterflies as themes and motifs.
\nYes!<\/p>\n

You've suggested including things that have meaning to the person who was lost.
\nA favorite color, hobby, etc.
\nThis information is easily found searching online.
\nWe have seen many articles with bios on each of the 26 lost <\/a>at Sandy Hook Elementary.<\/p>\n

We are going to pursue our connections in the Newtown area, and we are
\nalso receiving messages from customers and friends in the community who
\nwish to connect us to school and community leaders.
\nAs time unfolds, and you all move towards completing these group
\nmemorial quilts, we will have a plan to present the quilts in Newtown.
\nWe are open to anyone in the community there who wishes to work with us
\nlong term.<\/p>\n

Remember, we are looking for quality, not quantity.
\nTake your time and make every stitch a prayer, a hug, full of love and healing.
\nEach group quilt represents a community that has come together to unconditionally support the Sandy Hook Elementary community.<\/p>\n

Possible dates for memorial quilt presentations are the end of this
\nschool year (May 2013), the start of the next school year (Sept 2013)
\nand the one year anniversary.
\n(Dec 14, 2013) We may well give quilts on all 3 of these dates.<\/p>\n

I'd like to suggest that you come together as groups, have one person do
\n one very special block for each of the Sandy Hook Elementary victims,
\nand then they will be joined together in a memorial quilt that can be
\npresented to teachers, families at Sandy Hook, community centers such as
\n the churches in Newtown, and also for the first responders.<\/p>\n

As you organize into groups or round robins, and you all choose a name
\nfrom Sandy Hook Elementary to do a block, lets all take a deep breath
\nand know that there is NO rush on this, because this community, and
\nthese families, will need tons of love and support for YEARS to come.
\nTake your time and make each block a MASTERPIECE of love, honoring the
\nlife lost.<\/p>\n

Art quilters are welcome to create blocks and contribute to this effort.
\nUse any and all creative techniques: piecing, applique, embroidery,
\npainting, photo transfer…it is a great opportunity to express your
\ngreatest fiber art talents! As your group chooses a size for each block,
\n think about 26 blocks, plus one large panel (the size of 4 blocks) that
\n could have the school name, the event date, and a message of hope and
\nhealing.
\nThis adds up to a quilt of 30 block size ( 26 blocks plus 4xblock
\npanel).
\nYou'll see what I mean when I post a few layout ideas.
\nThis means the quilt could be 5 rows across by 6 rows down, for
\ninstance.<\/p>\n

I will work on a couple quilt design layout ideas for you this weekend.
\nI've been a little tied up with Mason graduating from college, Sam down
\nwith a 103 degree fever, holidays and a trip next week, not to mention
\nkitties taking turns at the vet.
\nI posted photos from graduation on my photo page<\/a> and Facebook.
\nWe are very proud of Mason and his accomplishments!<\/p>\n

Whether you are finishing Hanukkah, or preparing for Christmas or
\nKwanzaa…we wish you a blessed holiday season with your loved ones.
\nHere in Boulder we are expecting a White Christmas!<\/p>\nShare Post:<\/strong>
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Many thanks to everyone who wrote in to give us their ideas about a Sandy Hook Elementary Memorial Quilt project. There are as many different ideas as there are people interested in helping! Recognizing that we can't be all things … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity","category-creativity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}