Just One Quilt: Sara’s Story

Sara has an infectious laugh and editing this interview kept making me smile. We filmed last weekend at the Thread House Summer Retreat run by the lovely Jo Avery and Karen Lewis.

Like many, Sara gravitated from paper craft to quilting and finds the less disposable nature of sewing both rewarding and meaningful. What began as a hobby with an old friend, soon found a true purpose through the Siblings Together project.

I sewed up quilts for the charity with at the Leeds Modern Quilt Guild a few years back, and it is a very happy memory of time with friends, quilting for a common purpose.

In a nutshell, quilts are made using spare fabric by makers around the world and sent to the summer holiday camps where siblings separated in the care system are brought together for a break. On leaving, each child is gifted a quilt to keep, a physical memory of this special time and an object handmade just for them.

The Siblings Together website shares a beautiful poem, which describes just how much the act of giving Sara describes in the film can mean to a young person:

If you’re feeling lonely

And you don’t know what to do,

Wrap this quilt around you,

And love will come shining through.

You may not always be together,

But forever in your hearts

Is a love so strong, unbreakable,

It cannot come apart.

And every stitch is sewn with love,

With colours to brighten your day,

The pattern chosen carefully,

To remind you of your stay.

So take your quilt and treasure it,

Let it be your joy and pride,

Remember all the special times

With your sibling by your side.

I also love the fact Sara has a pact with her Quilty friends to empty the contents of her craft room in case of sudden death – knowing her husband could be quite alarmed by the contents. Apparently she doesn’t mind him checking out her knicker drawer, but her sewing space is strictly off-limits!

I hope the film inspires you to think of ways your sewing could help other people, and please do go and read lots more about Siblings Together via the link here.