+ Her Barefoot Heart
I'm just your basic complicated simple red dirt girl who feels most beautiful when wearing skirts that caper and earrings that dangle. Entering into my Second Life (my tenured phase, I call it), I tell, write, stitch, and perform stories about this time of life when the mythological (and downsized) empty nest is now filled with aging pets, aging parents, a retired husband, and the knowledge that you're living on the finite side of infinity.
Block #3771 Made by Margaret Williams
These X’s are made from the seams of a sweatshirt worn by my best friend’s father. He died a few years ago, and I was making a quilt for her mama from his clothing. Mr. Evans was a huge World War II history buff, and he would’ve loved this project.
Do your blocks have a story? Please share.
~~~~~~~
Coxhoe Quilters’ stall for The 70273 Project at Durham Cathedral. Photo by Chrissy Fitzgerald
Dear Jeanne,
As you know, Coxhoe quilt group worked with schoolchildren on Friday 27th January, Holocaust Memorial day, as part of a series of workshops. Three sessions later in the morning and we had a huge pile of blocks made. I must admit I was a little apprehensive about how it would go, and wondered if it was too big an ask to invite the pupils to sew blocks, rather than simply draw with fabric pens, which would have been quicker and easier.
Photo by Chrissy Fitzgerald
How wrong I was. The pupils listened to the excellent talk given by the museum’s fantastic, helpful education team and then when invited to start sewing, simply picked up the materials without hesitation and got stuck in willingly. Seeing the look of concentration on their faces – it was obvious that most of them were unfamiliar with basic techniques – brought a huge lump to my throat,and as another member of our quilt group mentioned, “goosebumps”. The stitches were huge, knots and the technique of threading needles were struggled with, and those who stitched with the squares in their laps were in imminent danger of stitching their clothing along with the blocks.
The material puckered, and I mentioned afterwards to the group that we could “straighten it out”. No, the answer came – leave it as it is: it is their work and we can work the feature into the quilting and piecing afterwards. How right they were; short of securing anything about to fall off, the quality of the work has a beauty to it beyond the finest workmanship.
It was a lesson to me in a number of ways: setting out to help teach on the day, I ended up learning more than I taught from these children. The way they willingly assisted, even though it was clearly out of their comfort zone: the persistance and diligence as they sended the scale and importance of what they were doing: and the value of standing back – except when asked to assist – and allowing the pupils to explore and create without “jumping in” the whole time and correcting. The unique visual impact that was the result of their creations, and is waiting to come together as quilts, is something the group is very excited and honoured to participate in.
The effort put in by everyone on the day to make this a success was overwhelming, and I feel honoured to be working with so many good, lovely, generous people.
As I contemplated the day’s victory over my control freak tendancies, I had a random memory from childhood: running up to my (Irish) mother and auntie, with two knitting needles stuck into what I now realise was just a huge tangle of wool. “LOOK!” I bellowed, “I’m KNITTING!”. My mother and auntie paused in their gossiping session and calmly regarded my, um, attempts. Auntie Pauline switched on her trademark full-beam twinkly smile and delivered her verdict.
Good girl yerself, she said.
I hope to make blocks with many other people this year, and will be taking a hint from that memory; the blocks will be their own creations, and I will help, but will be embracing the full spectrum of the beauty of creative work from all, and simply enjoying the moment.
With very best wishes from the UK,
Chrissy
~~~~~~~
Dear Chrissy,
The best teachers learn from their students. Thank you for sharing this day with us and for all you and the other Coxhoe Quilters are doing there. May we all be willing to let our child self come out to play more often.
Thank you,
Jeanne
~~~~~~~
Children of all ages are cordially invited to help commemorate these 70,273 souls by making blocks and participating in The 70273 Project.
Remember how I’ve always said that I want quilts of all sizes so we can fit into any venue that will have us? Remember how I’ve always said I want our displays to be a feast for the senses?
Remember how I’ve always said I want viewers to feel the full impact when viewing The 70273 Project quilts?
A Middling Quilt for The 70273 Project made by Margaret Williams
Well now, thanks to an idea seed planted by Lynn Krawczyk, I’m opening up a new way to make not just blocks, but quilts for The 70273 Project. It’s a whole new category of quilts called Middlings, and I asked a few elves to stitch up some to give you some ideas.
A Middling Quilt for The 70273 Project Made by Margaret Williams (GA/USA)
Most guidelines remain in place: background is white or slightly off white, pairs of red X’s, no letters, numbers, words, names, or writing of any other sort to distract from the red X’s, but then . . . Middlings. Here’s what you need to know about making Middlings:
~ Middlings are sent to me as finished quilts.
~ The finished size of a Middling is approximately 18″ x 22″ (46cm x 56cm) (fat quarter size).
~ The base must be white or slightly off white.
~ The binding is white.
~ Creativity is allowed in that you can create shapes but please, no words, letters, or numbers other than “70273” – and that one number can only be used on Middlings. Individual blocks can have only two red X’s.
~ The two red X’s must be presented as obvious pairs, not as an endless string of red X’s because each pair represents a person commemorated, and that’s what we’re about.
~ The Provenance Form must be completed, signed, and sent as usual – one for each person who helped create the quilt. The mailing address is on the form.
~ You must tell me on the Provenance Form how many people you’ve commemorated so I don’t have to stop and count.
A Middling Quilt for The 70273 Project made by Margaret Williams (GA/USA)
And are you ready for this? You can also commemorate many more people because as long as the red X’s are presented as easily recognizable pairs, you can commemorate as many people as desired in one Middling quilt. In the quilt above, there are 119 pairs of red X’s which means that Margaret made 119 blocks which means that she commemorated 119 people. Yes, that’s right: each pair of red X’s counts as one block. I’m not kidding.
A Middling Quilt for The 70273 Project Made by Margaret Williams (GA/USA)
Guidelines for Middlings:
~ Background fabric must be white or slightly off white (representing the medical records, the only information assessing physicians used to make their life and death decisions).
~ Red X’s must be presented as easily recognizable pairs because each pair of red X’s represents one person.
~ Using easily identifiable pairs of red X’s, you can make shapes, but no letters, names, words to distract from the double X’s.
~ The only number that can be used is “70273”.
~ An amended Provenance Form includes a space for you to tell me how many pairs of red X’s are on your Middling. We’re gonna’ operate on the honor system, and I’m sure you can figure out why.
~ Finished size of Middlings is about 18″ x 22″ (46cm x 56cm).
~ Bindings or facings (finished edges) must be white.
~ Backing fabric must be white (quilting cotton or bleached muslin is okay).
~ Middlings must come to me completely finished and ready to hang.
~ Middlings need a 4″ hanging sleeve attached to the top of the back.
~ There must be an official 70273 project label on the back of the quilt. When you’ve completed your Middling, contact me, and I’ll create the label for you and send it digitally. You’ll simply print and stitch.
Important note: We are still making blocks and piecing them together to make Big Quilts. This does not replace blocks, it simply provides another option for those who are interested.
A few more Middlings in progress to send you looking for your sketch book:
A Middling for The 70273 Project Being Made by Maria Conway (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
A Middling in the making by Gisele Therezien (Channel Islands, UK)
Gisele writes: Prepping my Middlings background from a vintage doily & the edge of an old embroidered sheet donated by Mum which originally was part of her wedding trousseau 59 years ago, also have some vintage red lace which may fit in nicely. So we see that when it comes to stories and layers of meaning, size doesn’t matter.
Over the next several months, I’ll be revealing at least 3 more ways to make quilts for The 70273 Project over the next several months, so be sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out.
Your homework:
Tell others about The 70273 Project.
Subscribe.
Start sketching!
~~~~~~~
UPDATE 2/2/2017:
Good clarification questions, asked and answered:
Q: Is it ok to have cream color in the background?
A: Yes, provided there’s some white and no other colors. Think of the creme/off white as an accent.
Q: Is it ok to have a textured background in cream or white i see that too?
A: Yes.
Q: i see that the middlings are finished with top quilting also
which requires batting. Can we do that too and what thickness of batting?
A: Yes, use batting. Doesn’t matter what kind, though most folks are using the 80/20 mix. You can find a little more about that on the Information for Piecers and Quilters page. Batting can also be a piece of cotton flannel or a piece of muslin.
Q: Also what is the seam allowance for the larger size?
A: Just so long as the finished size is about 18″ x 22″ (46cm x 56cm), the seam allowance is up to you.
Q: Also i see a heart design out of the x’s which i love. So am i free to make any shape as long as it signifies pairs of x’s On white Or cream?
A: Yes! Isn’t that fun? You can use pairs of red X’s to make shapes, just remember that the red X’s must be stitched in pairs, so be sure to leave space between each pair like Margaret did, and no words, names, or letters. Only the number “70273” can be used.
Q: Can the red x’s just be on whole cloth or do they still need to be pieced?
A: The background of Middlings can be whole cloth or pieced, your preference, it just has to be about 18″ x 22″ (46cm x 56cm) when finished.
Q: How will you catalog these?
A: Each pair of red X’s = one block (so be sure to tell me on the Provenance Form how many pairs are on your Middling) and my database is set up so that one block = one entry. That is, I must enter each block (or in this case paris of red X’s) separately. Here’s how the Middling process will go:
Here are your prompts for February, and we have the creative one known as Pam Yates to thank for most of them! Feel free to share throughout social media land and post on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and your blogs using #The70273ProjectMonthlyMixer and #The70273Project. It’d be muchly appreciated if you’d tag me, too, so I don’t miss it. I’m @whollyjeanne on twitter and instagram, and Jeanne Hewell-Chambers on facebook. It’s a fun way to acquaint others with The 70273 Project, and to get acquainted with other folks ourselves. I can’t wait to see the world through your eyes.
Here’s the text in case the graphic is unreadable:
February 2017 Monthly Mixer
1. Your red thread stash
2. A piece of red fabric you adore
3. Your favorite piece of red clothing
4. A handmade item you love
5. A pair of shoes that make you feel confident
6. A blast from the past
7. Something that sparkles
8. A red button
9. Something that makes you glad to be alive
10.Your favorite piece of jewelry
11.A face you love
12.Something red with a white embellishment(s)
13.An old Valentine
14.Love
15.A new Valentine
16.Something that’s red and edible
17.Something white with red embellishment(s)
18.A photo of a childhood friend
19.Something that makes your heart turn somersaults
20.What you look like when with somebody you love
21.A heart
22.Lace
23.A love letter
24.A sewing tool you cherish
25.A pair of red earrings
26.Something red in nature
27.A selfie of your lips
28.Red or pink flowers . .
~~~~~~~
AND here it is in French, thanks to Nancy Carroll and Cecile . . .
70273 Interaction Mensuelle Fevrier 2017
1. Votre cachette de fil rouge
2. Un morceau de tissu que vous adorez
3. Votre pièce d’habillement rouge préféré
4. Quelque chose fait à main que vous adorez
5. Une paire de chaussures qui vous font vous sentir confiante
6. Quelque chose qui évoque le passé
7. Quelque chose qui étincelle
8. Un bouton rouge
9. Quelque chose qui vous rend heureuse d’être vivante
10. Votre bijou préféré
11. Un visage que vous adorez
12. Quelque chose de blanc avec embellit par du rouge
13. Une Valentine ancienne
14. L’amour
15. Une Valentine nouvelle
16. Quelque chose rouge et mangeable
17. Quelque chose de rouge embellit de blanc
18. Une photo d’une amie d’enfance
19. Quelque chose qui fait chavirer votre coeur
20. Votre visage lorsque vous êtes avec quelqu’un que vous adorez
21. Un coeur
22. La dentelle
23. Une lettre d’amour
24. Un outil de couture que vous aimez bien
25. Une paire de boucles d’oreilles rouges
26. Quelque chose de rouge au naturel
27. Un selfie de vos lèvres
28. Des fleures rouges ou roses
~~~~~~~
Other places to gather around The 70273 Project water cooler:
Shop with Amazon Smile and support The 70273 Project.
Subscribe to the blog (where all information is shared).
Join the English-speaking Facebook group – our e-campfire – where you can talk to other members of The 70273 Project Tribe.
Join the French-speaking Facebook group – our other e-campfire – where you can chat with other members of The 70273 Project Tribe.
Like the Facebook page where you can check in for frequent updates.
Get folks to help celebrate your birthday by making blocks and/or donating bucks.
Follow the pinterest board for visual information.
Post using #the70273project on Instagram. (Please tag me, too, @whollyjeanne, so I don’t miss anything.)
Tell your friends what you want for your birthday.
And if you haven’t yet made some blocks, perhaps you’d like to put some cloth in your hands and join us.
Or maybe you’d like to gather friends and family, colleagues or students, club or guild members, etc. together and make a group quilt.
High School Sports Awards and Letters: We’ll never know whether she would’ve lettered or not because her parents refused to let her play basketball because she would’ve had to wear shorts.
High School Clubs and After School Activities: “We didn’t have clubs back then,” she tells me when I asked what she did in high school, “but I was the first editor of The Hi Times, our high school newspaper, and the man who was Editor of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution was my advertising manager.”
Post High School Education: She didn’t go to college ’cause having only enough money to send one child to college, it was my mother’s little brother who has the college degree.
Jobs: Though her best friend, Harriett Dean, tried and tried and tried, my mother steadfastly refused to take a higher paying job in Atlanta, choosing instead to spend her career in her hometown of Fayetteville, Georgia. As secretary for the Baptist Church, Mother held all the power as it was she who selected the hymns we sang every Sunday.
When the county got big enough to hire a second person, my mother left the employ of the Baptist Church to become Clerk of the County Commissioners. She cleared out a little space for herself in the courthouse, and using the file cabinet that somebody gave her and the desk she brought from home, she set about helping Mr. Jimmy White (the county Ordinary) separate the files, dividing them into 2 piles: County Ordinary and County Commissioners. “It was a nasty job,” Mother told me, “some of those files were covered in tobacco juice.” After a few years, Mama Opal Howell lured Mother to work beside her at the Fayette County Board of Education where, with the exception of the few years she took off to build the business infrastructure while Daddy build the golf course, she worked till her retirement.
Service to the Community: Trustees from the jail – prisoners who’d proven themselves trustworthy enough to go out into the town and empty trashcans at the Fayette County Board of Education – were regularly “adopted” by my mother and the other women who worked at the Fayette County Board of Education, Mama Helen Voyles and Mama Opal Howell. After counseling the men on how to stay out of trouble, the women sent the Trustees out into the world in a new suit, fearing that prison stripes would be detrimental to their success. And though they’d sometimes look out the office window to see a Trustee being returned to his jail cell, these women never gave up hope that the next Trustee they took under their wings would be rehabilitated for good.
These days, if you fall ill, my mother will see that your family is fed in your absence, and if you’re in the hospital, not only will she drive your spouse to be by your side and back home again every day, she’ll see that your family is well-fed until your release from the hospital or till you’re back on your feet in the kitchen, whichever comes first.
As an Ambassador for The 70273 Project, Mother works tirelessly making blocks and delivering materials to others so they can make blocks.
Every year for the past I don’t know how many decades, mother plans, organizes, and hosts the Class of 1945 high school class reunion. They come together for a luncheon at Mother’s house, and though attendance was down to 6 last year, Mother is already looking forward to this year’s reunion.
I am button-busting proud that my mother devoted much of her working life to making the school system she is proud to call her alma mater a better place for all of us to learn, and that she spent all of her adult life working to make Fayette County the best place on earth to call Home.
~~~
These are some of the things I told the Fayette County High School Distinguished Alumni tonight when I nominated my mother, and it is with great pleasure that I tell you that in October, mother will be inducted into the Fayette County High School Hall of Fame.
If the Hong Kong flu hadn’t taken hold in the US,
If I hadn’t already spent my week in sick bay, wrestling the virus into the ground,
If they hadn’t closed the college because there was no more room to quarantine,
If I hadn’t been bored enough to go to the high school basketball game,
if my high school friend hadn’t been bored enough to go to the basketball game,
If we hadn’t gotten bored at the basketball game and decided to take our leave and head to Underground Atlanta,
If a would-be boyfriend hadn’t passed out gone to sleep early and rendering him unable to follow through on his promise to call my daddy if I wasn’t back by midnight,
If we’d had enough money between us for one drink and two straws,
If she hadn’t remembered this guy she met the weekend before who was wearing a brown, floppy-brimmed leather hat and worked in Muhlenbrink’s Saloon,
If I hadn’t been thirsty enough to shove aside my intense crowd anxiety and join her to push our way to the bar through the throngs of drunk people listening to Rosebud,
If the guy drawing beers hadn’t borrowed the brown, floppy-brimmed leather hat from the guy mixing drinks at the other end of the bar,
If she hadn’t argued with the cute-as-all-get-out beer-drawing guy when he said he’d never seen her before in his life,
If she had listened to me and we had left right then,
If he hadn’t asked us to go to a party at the bouncer’s apartment when the bar closed,
If she hadn’t said “Yes” so quickly and enthusiastically,
If we hadn’t taken her car, leaving me no choice but to go along,
If the Sweet Spirit of Surprise hadn’t put the roommate in the car with her and me in the car with the beer guy,
If he hadn’t been so cute and charming and caused all kinds of climate conditions to change with the kaleidoscope of butterfly wings he set to flapping wildly when he kissed me . . .
I never would’ve met the guy who has never – not even once – had to call on his engineer training to turn my life’s lights on.
44 year ago today, my life changed forever when I met and instantly fell head-over-heels in deep, unwavering love with The Engineer. Look at my long list called The Best Day Ever, and you’ll find January 27, 1973 at the very top.
Hosted by The 70273 Project Ambassador, Denniele Bohannon of Louanna Mary Quilt Design, there will be a block-making party for The 70273 Project in Harrisonville, Missouri on Saturday, 1/28/2017. Drop by Pearson Hall any time between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and make a few blocks.
Do you have to know you way around a needle and thread to make blocks? “Absolutely not,” says Denniele, “If you are a stitcher, bring your machine, white and red fabric, and join us. You might want to precut your background blocks, though you’re welcome to cut them when you arrive. If you are not a stitcher, we have blocks you can create without any sewing at all.”
Men, women, boys, and girls – people of all ages – are welcome to stop by and commemorate one (or more) of the 70,273 people who were murdered for being imperfect. And 70273 Ambassador, Lori East, from Carthage, Missouri, will be there, ready to stitch the blocks you make into a quilt top – maybe even more than one top – so you’ll enjoy instant gratification as you see your blocks join other blocks in paying tribute to people we’ll never know yet refuse to forget.
“70,273 blocks is a huge undertaking but how can we not participate? There are groups all around the world sewing, painting, drawing, embroidering blocks to commemorate each life lost. Harrisonville, Missouri, it is our turn to help.,” says organizer Denniele.
Thank you, residents of and visitors to Harrisonville, Missouri, for spending your Saturday morning standing seam-to-seam with others to pay tribute to people who might otherwise be forgotten. And thank you, Denniele, for organizing this and holding the space for this goodness to happen.
I want photos. Promise me photos.
Coxhoe Quilters and Quilt #33 of The 70273 Project
Good news, y’all: quilt #33 is completed! A 60-block beauty, this quilt was made entirely by the Coxhoe Quilters in Durham, UK. Writes Margaret Jackson:
Dear Jeanne:
Quilt #33 was made by a group of ladies who meet twice a month in Coxhoe Village Hall. We at Coxhoe Quilters first heard about The 70273 Project when it was mentioned by Chrissie Fitzgerald, one of our newest members. She put such a good case for it that we just had to get involved.
The Coxhoe Quilters
Both Eva Jackson and Karen Mitchell said they could donate white fabric for the blocks. This fabric was in the form of tablecloths which had been used by their Mothers and Grandmothers. Not only had they been used by these two families, but they had been loaned out to other families in the village for use in weddings, christenings funerals, and many other large gatherings over the years. (If they could only speak, they would have many wonderful tales to tell.)
We then set about raiding our own stashes and gathered a huge pile of red fabric – ribbons, trims, off cuts from various sewing projects, buttons, etc, and set about making our blocks. it was amazing to see how quickly our pile get and wonderful to see how imaginative we all could be.
Durham Cathedral
Galilee Chapel
I pieced and quilted our blocks together. Now that it is completed, it will be displayed in Durham Cathedral UK on January 27th (Holocaust Day) as we raise awareness of the suffering endured by the 70273 souls but also to encourage others to join the project.
Quilters who have blocks in Quilt #33 include:
Christine Fitzgerald (dedicated to Elizabeth Fitzgerald)
Ann Hewitt
Margaret Jackson
Dawn Kirk Walton
Karen Mitchell
4 Anonymous Makers
Norma Corner
Patricia Harvey
Lesley Shell
Janice Tilbury
Alison Wilson
Now that we have Quilt #33 completed, we’ve already started on our second quilt!
Love,
Margaret
~~~~~~
Dear Margaret,
Oh those tablecloths – more meaning added to The 70273 Project, and like you, Margaret, I do so wish I could hear the stories. I am absolutely delighted and deeply grateful to you and the other Coxhoe Quilters for the beautiful way you’ve commemorated 60 more souls. And Chrissie, thank you for joining the Coxhoe Quilters and telling them about The 70273 Project. Last but not least, thank all of you as you go forth to tell others in the community and get them involved, and for getting your families and friends involved via the tablecloths. So special, that.
~~~~~~~
Dear Reader,
Would you like to make your own quilt? It’s quite easy, you just:
1. Make the blocks.
2. Have each Maker complete and sign a Provenance Form.
3. Use a safety pin to attach blocks made by each Maker to their Provenance Form.
4. To identify the blocks, tag every block with the name of the Maker. You can write the Maker’s name on a piece of blue painter’s tape and attach the id tag to each block made by that particular Maker. Or write the Maker’s name on cloth or paper and pin it to the block.
5. Scan each Provenance Form and email a copy of each to me. Keep the original Provenance Forms with the quilt so that they both – the quilt and the forms – find their way into my eagerly awaiting arms.
6. When you’re ready to piece the quilt, contact me so I can assign you a quilt number. Please make sure this quilt number is made known to the Piecer and Quilter.
7. Deliver or mail the blocks and Provenance Forms to whoever is going to piece and quilt your quilt.
8. When the top is pieced, please create a quilt map – a sketch of the quilt block showing the placement of each block and the identity of the person who made each block. (I will give examples and explain in more detail in a post next week.)
9. Deliver the top to whoever is going to quilt it.
10. Send the following to me via email: scanned Provenance Forms of those who made blocks for this quilt / a list of the names of the Makers, the Piecer, and the Quilter / a high resolution photo of the complete quilt / high resolution closeups of the finished quilt / photos of the people working on the quilt / the quilt map / and a few paragraphs of the story of the quilt.
Isn’t this gratifying, y’all, commemorating these people? Thank you for being part of The 70273 Project.
This work by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.TheBarefootHeart.com.
© 2026 Jeanne Hewell-Chambers
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