Bee Blessed Update

At Bee Blessed we are always overwhelmed by the generosity and beauty of our blogger members' block donations, not to mention the wonderful fabrics you send our way for using, too.  As we had a number of quilts come to completion and move on to be donated at the end of 2012, we thought you might like to hear a little bit about some of them since you wonderful folks have played a major part in blessing the lives of others by supporting us in this venture.

This quilt was made from all the amazing converging corners blocks that were pieced for us last summer.  Although it can be hard to picture a converging corners quilt when you work just one block yourself, I hope you will agree that this quilt makes quite a funky statement.  Can you see your block here or maybe just catch one edge of it draped over the back of the table?  When one of our regular and dedicated members had to have a spell in hospital, we decided to cheer her up by sending her our thoughts and best wishes for her recuperation in the form of this quilt.

Your Very Square Like Me blocks have been pieced into this beautiful, cheerful quilt which was passed on to a young widowed mother of 6 who is doing an amazing job struggling with the demands of her life.  So sorry that the pic is fuzzy, I wish you could see it in its true glory.  Here's just part of the response we received from the quilt's recipient -

Believe me, you can't imagine how precious it is for me!  It is beautiful and not just because how it does look but how and why it was made!  Thank you so much to think about me, about us! Please, pass my thanks and greetings to all the "Girls" who made it for us!!! 

Several of the quilts (the next three photos) that have been finished up in the past three months or so have been gifted to older folks who are suffering from the confusion and often loneliness of dementia illnesses or early on-set alzheimers.

Whilst there is a sadness in the stories of the folks who have received these quilts, there has also been something very touching in the responses to all three of them.  The Amy Butler quilt above was gifted to a lady who often cannot recall the names of the relatives and loved ones who visit and care for her.  Yet, on the visit after she had been given the quilt the lady's face lit up and she associated her visitor with the quilt - " Yes, you brought me that quilt".  This small recognition in a world of confusion is a tiny light and brought some pleasure to her visiting family too.

The lady recipient of this blue/aqua/lemon scrappy D9P was extremely touched that a group of others would think of her and was very keen that all of the other residents of her nursing home should know that Bee Blessed had made her a gift of a quilt.  Do you see how your efforts are making people feel remembered during times that are difficult for them?

























The Swoon quilt was also gifted to an elderly lady who lives alone and suffers from confusion/dementia.  Passed on by one of our Bee members, this was what she had to say about the response to the gifted quilt -

She loved the colours and thought the whole thing was really beautiful....  

she’s even planning to have it out in the garden next year ‘when it gets a bit

drafty’!    It made her day just getting a gift like that out of the blue and so

 unexpected she said.   The Bee Blessed card she’s popped up on her mantelpiece.

 As I left she shouted over the hedge to tell you all how much she appreciated it.

The light in this photograph does not do the warmth and richness of the colours of this autumnal rail fence quilt justice.  I promise you that it is much prettier than you might think.  There were many nods of appreciation of this quilt once finished, even from those of us whose fabric choices would normally be much more modern.  Destined for an elderly couple who have opened and dedicated their lives to helping and supporting others in their times of need, Bee Blessed made a gift of this quilt to the couple at a time when their own life is getting a little harder.  Once again, this couple have treasured the thoughtfulness of receiving something that many people have had a part in making for them.

If we have learned anything from the experience of hosting and co-ordinating Bee Blessed this past 18mths it is that the gift of a quilt seems to resonate somewhere deep in folks that we cannot really comprehend.  After all, as we knew from the outset, a quilt doesn't change things or make the difficult situations go away but somehow, every quilt we have made together as a Bee has touched someone's life.  And that, my dear fellow Bees, is what it's all about.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for sharing the journey with us!

I hope you will continue to join with us having fun in contributing a wee block or two when you can to create these quilts of brightness.

If you haven't joined us before, you can find more info on Bee Blessed here or here.

Don't forget our flickr group too. Keep a wee eye here for many of the other lovely finished quilts as they are uploaded.