August 8, 2019

 

Sometimes good things take time to come together

Karen admires one of the quilts Bridget made from her daughter's hospital gowns. See several more quilts and event photos below.

Sometimes good things take a little time to come together.  Here's a story connecting our Blanket Angels…

One of our Blanket Angels, Bridget, turned 90 years old in July.  This amazing woman has been making quilts for us for some time.  Bridget was asked to make quilts from some very special fabric that was given to us a couple years ago by a mother who cared for her daughter with severe medical issues. 
 
A little more than sixteen years ago Kerri was a college student, in the ROTC program, and engaged to be married. She became ill, which resulted in brain damage that made her completely dependent on others.  Her family took her home to care for her.  The doctors told her mother, Karen, that seeing holiday reminders would possibly help stimulate Kerri's brain. 
 
Kerri's Grandma, also wanting to be able to help, started making hospital gowns out of colorful fabrics for her. They were pretty and cheerful, and they matched the holidays throughout the year. There were gowns for July 4th, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, so many holidays and so many prints with vibrant colors! 
 
After 13 years of caring for her daughter, Karen and her family lost Kerri. Karen then went to work finding charities and others in need who could use Kerri’s medical equipment and supplies and, yes, the hundreds of gowns that were possibly worn for just a week as Kerri lay in her bed or sat in a chair.  Karen contacted My Very Own Blanket with the thought that making quilts out of these fabrics for children in foster care would have pleased Kerri. So she gathered up the gowns and donated them. There were over 400 gowns.
 
Bridget made several quilts out of those gowns. We saved a few for this special day when Bridget came in for us to celebrate her birthday at the blanket workshop. As a special surprise we invited Karen to also come in to see the blankets and meet Bridget.  As you can imagine, there were tears when Karen saw the quilts and met the amazing woman who made them. Bridget went around to the quilts and explained a little about her thought process for designing each quilt. As Bridget explained everything, Karen was touching the fabric and remembering each piece that Kerri wore.
 
What a special birthday celebration it was!  Happy birthday, Bridget!  And thank you Karen for sharing a little piece of Kerri with us…to pass on to children in foster care, providing them with a handmade blanket to bring them Love, Comfort & Hope.  

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