Diary of a Quilter, so sad...

Get your kleenex folks, this quilt and story are sure to make you cry. We don't want to give share any of the story, you  just need to read it yourself.  This is from Amy from the quilting diaries, an amazing blog you will want to check out for tons of inspiration!  Thank you Amy, this is a truly beautiful quilt for a beautiful baby boy.

This past November I received a phone call that shook me.  My dear friend, Sarah, had suffered a stroke while delivering her first baby and was in intensive care.  As I talked with my husband and other friends across the globe who knew Sarah, I really felt like she would pull through.  For one thing, she’s Irish.   She’s a fighter and she knows how to work hard for what she wants.

I met Sarah 14 years ago.  We were both in England, volunteers for our church at the time and were assigned to be partners/companions for 3 months.  We shared so much during that time that she became like my sister.  A year and a half ago my husband and I went back to England to visit.  We went to dinner with Sarah and her darling new husband.  Being with her again after all those years, it felt like no time had passed.  We just picked up where we left off.  I’ll always be grateful for that happy reunion.

About a week after that first phone call telling me about Sarah’s condition, I received another.  And this time the news was worse.  My sweet friend, a brand new mother with a beautiful healthy baby boy, had passed away.

I felt grief and, being half a world away, I felt helpless.  I needed something to do, when I really couldn’t do anything.  So I started a quilt.  I had planned to make a baby quilt when I first heard about her baby.  And so in wanting this baby to somehow feel close to his amazing mother, I decided on Irish flags to honor her heritage.

It was so cathartic for my heart to put my head and hands to work.  The creative process for this quilt was a blessing to me.  And I am so happy with the finished result. My machine-quilting skills are next to non-existent, and knowing of my sad story, a sweet friend, Gloria, offered to quilt it for me.  One more act of love going into this quilt!

And here is the gorgeous, wee man himself.  I wish I could wrap my own arms around this little lad and tell him stories of his valiant mother, but I can’t - he's too far away.  I hope that this quilt will be a surrogate for me and for Sarah.  For me: an act of love honoring a dear friend; and a symbol of the mother he will not know in this life, but whose influence I hope he always feels.

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