Tuesday, July 3, 2012

IMOB (Read on to learn what it stands for!)

Hello everyone - it's so fun to be a guest blogger on this fabulous blog!!  Thank you, Sarah, for the invitation - I want to brag on the generosity of a whole group of fabulous quilters!

I want to tell you a fabulous story about a woman named Bev...  Bev Bennett, from Alaska.  Normally I don't share people's last names on the web for protection of their privacy, but in this case, it will be ok - don't worry....  Mixed into the story will  be photos - photos of quilts, of course!!  Like this one: 

Bev Bennett was a member of the Sunshine Yahoo Quilt Guild, an online quilt guild founded by another great woman, Terry of the Northeast.  The Guild donates quilts to Rotary International - the quilts go with doctors on medical missions to very poor countries, where they donate surgeries to children who have facial disfigurements, like cleft palette.  When each child awakens from surgery, they are wrapped in a beautiful quilt... like this little child in India.............. and they get to go home all snuggled in the quilt.

Bev loved quilting for this project, and during the long, dark Alaska winters, she would take tops mailed from other members and quilt them on her domestic sewing machine at an amazing rate - she was a fabulously prolific quilter...turning out fabulous quilts ready to go into the donation box to some distant land.

You've noticed by now that I am using past tense... about a year ago, Bev, who usually posted regularly to the list, suddenly fell silent - and after a few anxious days where we worried about her, we learned that she had passed on.  (to counteract that sad note, let's look at another quilt)


Well - enter a friend of Bev's from the Sunshine Guild...after talking to her family, this great friend, Linda, went to Bev's house, and packed her stash into boxes which she mailed across the country to 'friends of Bev' who took those scraps and made many, many charity quilts. 

Another friend of Bev declared the nine-patch the 'official Bev block', and invited people to send in 9patches to her - she received 1,200 blocks!!!!!  Good work, Gail!
More than a year later, we are still assembling 9 patch quilts, and packing them for shipping... here's a photo I entitled "A Basket o' Bev"...
and here's a small group of quilts all out for some fresh air on my back porch! 

This post is a testament - to Bev, first of all - thank you, Quilting Angel.  But it is also a testament to all the 'helpers' - her friends Linda and Gail, and everyone who is still sewing with her stash and scraps!! 

I bet Bev never imagined that 'her' quilts would still be coming to life a year after her passing...

How many quilts were made in IMOB (in memory of Bev)?  Many, many, many.  We don't know - we just didn't count - and , anyway, they aren't over yet - there's still more 9-patches in that enormous stack of blocks. 

I hope she knows.................good work, Bev, and friends of Bev!

Submitted with a warm heart,

Kate

(aka the Quilting Professor, http://quiltingprofessor.blogspot.com





12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful story, Kate! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  2. What a beautiful tribute to Bev. She was a true giver from the heart. The awesome part is she continues to give after her passing. Thank for sharing this story of love.

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  3. Wow! beautiful story! Thanks for sharing and inspiring us all. :) - April @ Little Mama Hen

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  4. The quilts are wonderful. The story is wonderful. Thank you for touching my heart and sharing.

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  5. Thanks for telling our great story of Bev! Just a couple of corrections. Time flies... Bev died in 2010, two years ago. Hard to believe, but true. Also, Sunshine was not started by Terry. The quilts going to Rotary (Wrap a Smile) is Terry's invention. Sunshine was started many years ago by a woman whose name escapes me at the moment. I will be posting some Sunshine quilts here soon, too!

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    1. No, it can't be two years! But you are right. Thanks for writing with those corrections,

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  6. What a wonderful story, what a great lady Bev was...I would love to donate some 9 patch blocks if you are still collecting them. Please email me and let me know...

    Julianne

    heygiz00@gmail.com

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    1. Oh wow, yes of course, I will email you. Thanks for your generosity!

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  7. This is a lovely story and truely exemplifies what this blog seems to be about. Since this doesn't appear to be a time sensitive project I could make some 9 patches periodically. Please send me the details and a place to send them to, and thanks for this posting.

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  8. So sorry to hear about her passing but what an inspiring story.

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  9. What a fabulous story and I am delighted to read you still have ladies donating and making quilts.

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  10. What an amazing legacy! Most of us can only hope our quilts will bring comfort and pleasure for years; what a gift to her family and friends that she is still remembered and honored!

    LaDonna

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