Well it's been a little over 2 months since my last post. I haven't been just sitting around either, well not all the time. If you have been reading my blog, you'll remember my telling you about making a memory quilt for Lucy and a memory Pillow for Gretchen. On Ben's birthday, Jan 5th we found out another Fur baby had passed and an others cancer had come back. So in a rush to get them done I started two more quilts.
Amber was 5 years old when she passed from something as silly as swallowing a rock from the back yard. This caused a problem with her bowels bad enough to need surgery. Poor thing didn't come out of the anesthesia. She was such a pretty silly girl, I just felt I needed to do another. So I started selecting pictures and deciding which pattern to use.
At the same time we also found out another fur baby who had whipped his cancer for a couple years, had it come back. He was not expected to make it to another Christmas. So I was busy picking two sets of pictures. There was no real deadline but at the same time I was making my gift one of the other ladies who does mosaics was making her gift. I thought if I could get mine done in time, I could send it to her and she could send them together. What's amazing about her is that she is the one who lost Gretchen not all that long ago, so in still getting over her grief, she is helping someone else get over theirs. The hardest part of making these quilts is to figure out when you have enough pictures and the right sizes to make them. I was almost finished with all the pictures and had the black frames done when she posted a tribute to Amber and the picture just had to be in the quilt too.. I pulled out my flannel wall, put the pictures all up and after sitting back and looking at several layouts, finally worked out the rows.
Well, I worked like crazy getting Amber's quilt done and shipped it off to North Carolina. Amber's quilt and mosaic were sent to Germany. Veronika received her gift on Friday and was so touched. She knew the mosaic was coming but not the quilt so she was doubly surprised when she opened the box.
As soon as I shipped Amber's quilt off, I started on Zooies.
For some reason this one held a special place in my heart. I think because this time the fur baby was fighting to stay alive. Because they had gone though so much in the past with his cancer, I wanted to get it to her before he passed. With each update from his mom, getting it done quickly was important.
I was wanting to get my quilt to them so they would have memory of Zooie wrapped up in it after he was gone.
My gift was received the middle of February. Here is a picture taken by Karla of Zooie wrapped in his gift. Zooie passed away on March 3rd having lost his battle with cancer. Karla said she has wrapped up in Zooie's quilt whenever she misses him.
I'm so glad I was able to get his quilt to them before he pass. They were able to wrap him up and now have Zooie smell to comfort them too.
I have enjoyed making my memory quits and will continue to make them when needed. The funny thing about them is, is that I haven't met any of these families and since they are spread all over the states and now in Germany, I probably never will. But the out pouring of love and support the Flickr site has will do me just fine. I've made some terrific friends on the Flickr site.
