Fandango stars

This is going to be more a contemplative post, rather than the bubbly ones that I normally post, but for good reason. This post does include a finished quilt, though, so stay with me :)

To make a very long story short, a neighbor of mine recently lost her husband. The means of the passing I don't know, nor do I think I should, but the end result is that a woman, married a little more than a month, lost her husband and was left to raise two kids and pick up the pieces of her life by herself. Not only that, but her past is not an easy one and includes huge loss in it as well.

My heart was broken for her. I cannot even conceive the enormity of that loss, and to be honest, it scares me to dwell on it, because it could happen to anyone, at any time, and in such a life-altering way. It may sound weird, but I found that I had to work through my grief, too, and I searched for ways to help her. We don't really have much of a relationship to begin with, and understandably, she kept to herself.

What could I do to help her that wouldn't turn out to be awkward and weird, too? I thought and thought and one night, while I was snuggled under my couch-cuddle quilt, I thought, a quilt, that's what she needs, a quilt to snuggle on the couch with in case she didn't want to sleep in her bed.

What I had was my Fandango quilt that was partially quilted and was patiently waiting for some tender loving quilting. I spent about four hours one day and three more hours spread out over a couple more days finishing the quilting and binding and nervously packing it in gift bag for her. I put it on her doorstep, with a note tucked inside.

I don't know if it was well-received or not, and to be honest, I don't care if it was or not. It helped me to make something with my own hands to give to her with the offer of comfort if she wanted it, and part of me believes that is what quilting is all about: offering comfort from something made with time, love, and fabulous fabric :)

And so, I present, "Fandango Stars" (of course I took pictures before I delivered it!)

The top row and the bottom row are echo-quilted in the star toward the center of the star, while the middle two rows are echo-quilted from the star out toward the edges of the block. All the sashing and borders are quilted in the ditch.

I was a little sad to see it go, but that's balanced by the fact that it was made with love for someone in need.