A Meaningful Gift Beyond Meals

ADINA BAILEY

The other day as I was straightening the family room closet, a blue crochet blanket caught my eye. My neighbor had brought it to me a few years ago when she heard of my dad's cancer diagnosis. A group of women from her church made them and prayed for the unknown recipients. The blanket enveloped my dad early on when he was in the hospital. When I look at it now, I love knowing it was wrapped around him and he was reminded how much he was loved by my family and neighbors.

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the company Quiltlove. This ingenious company allows groups to make quilt squares in the comfort of their homes and Quiltlove pieces them together to create a quilt for the lucky recipient. The quilt squares are designed using markers and paper (supplies that everyone already has on hand) and an image is sent to the company. The designs are printed on fabric and you can see the beautiful result. The quilt above was created as a teacher gift. The organizer had the students draw their self portraits to reflect the Zoom "gallery view" their teacher sees on her screen during distance learning.

I have fallen in love with this concept and am looking for a way to use it myself. It's an especially useful gift as family, friends, neighbors, and students are more spread out due to COVID-19. Each participant in the quilt contributes the cost of a square which makes it an affordable, and super meaningful gift.

I can see many applications for how friends and family could give some quilt love:

make a quilt for a friend going through chemo or a long-term illness (write encouraging messages on the squares)
make a quilt for a loved one who is recently widowed or grieving a loss (use the squares to write or draw memories)
make a thank you gift for a teacher and have students design squares
encourage new parents by writing messages to them or the child
say goodbye to a neighbor or give the quilt as a retirement gift
brighten the day of grandparents by secretly having children and grandchildren create squares

Many of you are meal providers and already understand the benefit of actively caring for others. Quiltlove makes it easy to do something beyond taking meals. When I saw my dad's blanket, I was immediately reminded of how meaningful these types of gifts are to the recipients and those who love them.

I'd love to hear your ideas for how you would use givequiltlove.com!

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