RIP Dorothy

As you know, when I am home, I volunteer at the hospital twice a week delivering newspapers and chatting with the patients.

One of the patients I met last year was Dorothy, always cheery and full of smiles, despite having multiple health problems.  Over time, she was unable to get out of bed, and in the fall on a whim, I asked her if she would like to learn to quilt. 

She said she would give it a try, so I made a plastic template and cut a bunch of fabric and took them to her.  She drew around the template on each piece of fabric in record time.  Then I taught her to sew the blocks together; one floral to one coloured square. Don't worry, I made a sewing kit for her with bright orange flower top pins, so if she lost one, she knew what she or a nurse was looking for.

The next step was sewing 2 twos together.  Once she was finished that, I took them home to my design board, laid them out and labelled them; block 1 left, block 1 right, block 2 left, block 2 right, etc.    This way it was easier to see what went where as she had limited room on her bed to spread anything out.  Then the 4's became 8's back to the drawing board, the 8's became 16's, etc. 

Oh, was she proud of her quilt top and we were so proud of her!   I took the top home, added some borders and quilted it.  But in the meantime, she thought she would like to make another quilt for her 2 year old grandson, Danny, for Christmas.

Kim and I found some Curious George fabric with bright colours.   I cut out complimentary fabrics and brought them in to her while I finished the first quilt.  This one she did all on her own, with a little help from her friend Corinne.  I was surprised she was proceeding without instruction.  But I thought she just wanted to do it on her own. 

I took this top home to finish, only to get a call from her good friend Corinne that Dorothy wanted to see the finished quilt that night.  I was working on the binding so called Kim to help and got the quilt to Dorothy that night.  Seems her organs were starting to shut down and she just wanted to see the finished quilt.

Dorothy gave her grandson the quilt for his second birthday and then passed away on December 12th.  Her first quilt, shown below, is going to her daughter.

Rest in peace Dorothy.  You taught me a lot and brought me tremendous joy.  Love from your friend, Barb