Thursday, November 28, 2019

Grateful



Happy Thanksgiving! Today I am grateful for the photographer who captured some of my quilts hard at work in Guatemala. What a special treat to see them comforting patients before and after surgery!

As you know, one of the charities that I donate to is Wrap-A-Smile, which provides quilts to Rotary-sponsored medical missions. The quilts are used on the operating table during surgery to keep the patients warm. The quilt wraps them up afterwards, too, and goes home with them. Most of the people receiving the free surgery are children, so I focus on making bright, happy quilts for them. In September 2019, Rotaplast had a mission in Guatemala City. And at least three of my quilts were there!



The two little I-spy quilts in the photo at the top of this post were made in fall of 2018. They traveled together to Guatemala. The blue one on was backed with a big dinosaur print that was given to me by Sean's aunt Graciella. If you click through to this photo, you can see those distinctive dinos folded up behind the doctor's back as he listens to the little boy's heart.



The pink quilt also has a unique backing: hot pink/magenta with bright jungle animals.



Recognize it? I sure did! This was the first photo I saw with one of my pieces and I admit there was shouting, and clapping, and even some happy tears. This patient looks to be a bit older than most and is probably a bit more worried, pre-surgery. I hope the procedure was successful and the recovery speedy!



As you can see, documenting the backs of the quilts here on Ye Olde Quilt Blogge can be vital to identifying them later. So I got really lucky on this next piece. The top was finished last fall, like the others, but I never took any photos of the finished quilt with its backing and binding.



It was made of crumb blocks alternating with these cute animal panels and sashed with a tiny black and white polka dot. Each animal is surrounded by an oval "frame."



And here it is, folded up under the shoulders of this child, post surgery. What a wonderful destiny for a funny little quilt! I hope it continues to bring you comfort, small person!

If you're interested in learning more about Rotaplast, you can read about their
current mission on their blog. Each mission is a little different, but the essence is the same. The quilts are a small part of a very organized process of bringing high quality surgical care to under-served populations.


I leave you with this photo from Guatemala, which is not of my quilt. But I love the smile on this cute girl! It captures what I hope for each of my donation quilts, that they will make a child happy. I'm so lucky to have the time and resources to spend hours doing a hobby that I love. And I'm grateful to the huge network of volunteers who bring these vital medical missions to distant countries. It feels good to be a small part of this important work!

24 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for a wonderful post! What a treat to be able to view someone enjoying your hand work. Think of the ripples these quilts are making around the world. It is heart warming and very moving. I love this legacy.

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  2. What a perfect post for Thanksgiving Day --

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  3. How wonderful to see some of the recipients with your quilts.... makes it all worth while to see the smiles and know the comfort.... keep on stitching there...
    Hugz

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  4. That is so exciting to see your quilts being loved and those patients being comforted by them. What a thankful surprise for you!

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  5. Louis, That has got to be a super feeling that your quilts are giving some comfort to the children during and after surgery. To see the quilts in use is super exciting too!Congrats, what a great thing to see.

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  6. I am so happy for you Louise that you got to see your quilts in action. It is so rewarding to make and donate quilts to comfort someone.

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  7. What fun to see your quilts giving comfort, and you are right - that smile on that young girl's face is priceless. What a wonderful way to share your love of quilting, Louise!

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  8. So rewarding to see your quilts in use and know they're appreciated. Happy Thanksgiving

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  9. Thank you for the link to Wrap a smile. My husband is a Rotarian and he's never heard of this program. I will definitely get involved. And thank you for all you do.
    Pat

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  10. What a great post, Louise! I love your quilts for Wrap a Smile, and what a thrill to see them being used, too. That design with the framed 4 patches looks like a good one to send off to kids. What size did you make those blocks?

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  11. How special to see your colorful quilt in use for such a good cause. Your post has inspired me to make at least one quilt next year for Wrap a Smile. Thanks for sharing and the motivation.

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  12. Cheers on seeing your quilts in action!

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  13. Another wonderful post. How special to see your quilts in use. I bet that really encourages you to continue making great quilts. Happy day after Thanksgiving.

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  14. So glad you got to see how much your beautiful quilts mean to those kids.

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  15. It's wonderful to be able to see your quilts in action. Most of the time when we donate quilts, we have no idea of their final destination. I haven't made quilts for WAS for a long time, but I did see one of the quilts I made for them in a photograph years ago and it was a "heart swelling" moment.

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  16. Good on you, Louise! I love that you can identify some of your quilts “in the wild” serving others. I love charity quilting, too, although my focus is closer to home with Quilts for Kids. But it’s all good, ya know? xo

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  17. Oh Louise how wonderful to be able to see some of your quilts giving such comfort to children having surgery, this can be such a frightening time for them. The look of pure delight on the little girl's face in your last photo is heart-warming,

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  18. Well THIS is what adds so very much-needed love and positivity to our hurting, angry world. I am so happy you got these photos, and that you shared them because of all the quilts I've donated (not anywhere near the myriad you have) I've never seen any post-donation photos, wait, just one of my friends' grandson L's quilt after his home burned down last year. I clicked on the doctor photo and I'm off to investigate Rotaplast. Thank you also for thanking the volunteers who GET the quilts TO the places they're needed. :-) Another often unacknowledged part of the process.

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  19. I love seeing that your colorful backs are as delightful for the patients as the fronts of your always-exuberant quilts. How neat that you were able to spot them at work on the website. I find it really interesting how the quilts are actually used--not only to cover patients for comfort, but to support them. You are grateful for the photographer, but the whole quilt community is grateful for your never-flagging response to the need for quilts everywhere.

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  20. It's wonderful to see your cheerful quilts hard at work!

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  21. Uh! I'm so inspired by this post. All those smiles and quilts just made me smile!! Love the idea of eye spys for this mission. THANKS for sharing!!!

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  22. How cool to see your quilts "in action" doing what you intended them to do!

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