+ Her Barefoot Heart
Usually Nancy (my disabled sister-in-law) draws,
and I stitch her drawings,
but this time we laid the crayons down
and played with bits from my scrap bag.
Nancy placed the bits of fabric on fusible sheets,
and I took it from there
stitching in the car . . .
and under Adonis . . .
and under Mr. God (dog, in reverse) . . .
and under Dante.
It’s obviously a hit with the felines,
and Nancy seems to like it, too.
Kimberly Brock, author of The River Witch
and a real dynamo creative kind of gal,
invited me to yesterday’s gathering
of The Tinderbox Writing Group,
and guess what we did – that’s right!
We made blocks for The 70273 Project.
MariAnn Stefanelli, a kickass editor
and founder of The Writer’s High Retreat,
put a tear at the bottom of one of her X’s.
Kimberly Brock found it hard to smile
when holding her block.
She made her two red X’s from scraps
that she cobbled together in a
deliberately clumsy way,
saying this is how the doctors’
hearts – at least some of them –
must have felt:
shaky, uneasy, reluctant.
Surely, she said, some of the doctors
went along with the program,
fearing what might happen to their families
if they didn’t.
Karen Filos made a vertical block.
And those flyers in her lap?
She’s got ideas of places she can post those!
Janice Foy, who is surely wearing green this week
the perfect color to go with her beautiful Irish accent,
made two blocks.
Samantha Kendig left space between her
two red X’s, space where a third red X
could have gone . . . but didn’t.
I can’t wait to tell you more about the narrative clay
Pam Arena creates, and I will, too, cause she has an exhibit
opening next month, and I will be there!
I can’t wait to see her flowers that express
her love for her mother
and her grief following her mother’s death.
Yesterday she took her hands out of the clay
to make a block for The 70273 Project,
and I couldn’t be happier about that.
These women are amazingly creative,
their stories enthralled and inspired me.
And as if all that isn’g enough,
they all have people they’re going to contact
to let them know about The 70273 Project.
What a grand way to kick off a week.
And as if all that isn’t enough,
when The Engineer fetched me afterwards,
he came bearing gifts.
“It’s the biggest 4-leaf clover I’ve ever found for you.”
He’s a keeper, that one.
~~~~~~~
Want me to come to your block making group?
Let me know – we might just be able to make that happen.
Want to keep up with goings-on?
It’s free and easy to subscribe.
Want to become a part of The 70273 Project?
Maybe you want to start by liking our Facebook page
then making some blocks.
Blocks made by Barbara Atwell
Week 4. Can you believe it?
We’re still at 41 countries, and we’ve had many more people from those countries become a part of The 70273 Project.
I have 76 blocks in my hand, and I don’t know how many people are in the 31 Blocks in 31 Days Event, so at the beginning of next month when the mail starts coming in, we should see a significant climb on our goal graph.
The 70273 Project Facebook page is currently at 339 likes, so if everybody would invite 1-3 friends every day (or just go through your Facebook friends list and invite everybody at once), that number will climb at a nice clip.
Four women have raised their hand to quilt, when we get to that point.
Three women have raised their hands to piece tops together.
We continue to grow in participants, in blocks, in worldwide enthusiasm.
I spend tomorrow morning with Kimberly Brock, author of The River Witch, and her Tinderbox Writers Workshop. We’ll talk about The 70273 Project, and I’m taking everything we need to make some blocks.
I reworked the “elevator speech” for The 70273 Project last week: The 70273 Project commemorates the 70273 physically and mentally disabled people murdered by the German Nazis and celebrates the physically and mentally challenge people who live among us today.
Oh, and I had another idea: I think that when the quilts are all finished, we need to hold The 70273 Project Bon Voyage Gathering. We’ll huddle up at the same time in the same place to have the first look at the quilts, meet each other, take a lot of photos, and spend some quiet time to remember the souls we commemorate and celebrate the souls we know and love today.
Thank y’all for being a part of The 70273 Project.
And on we grow . . .
More blocks created by Kitty Sorgen
The bad news: Today we’re having a pop quiz on The 70273 Project. Even if you’re already making blocks, even if you’ve already sent blocks, even if you’re already scheduled to speak to a group – however involved you are with this project, you need to take this test. It’s really important to the success of this project.
The good news: You get to check your own paper.
Q: True or False: This is a project with only a few rules/guidelines.
A: True, and here are the few Very Important guidelines.
~ White – just white, though it can be white-on-white fabric, but nothing else – blocks of fabric cut in one of 3 sizes: 3.5×6.5″ or 6.5 x 9.5″ or 9.5 x 12.5″
~ Two – and only two, no more and no less – red X’s laid down on the white fabric
~ Download, print, complete, and use a safety pin to attach the Provenance Form to the blocks, then mail.
~ Email photos (at least 300 dpi resolution, please) and a short bio or a story about why you’ve become a part of this project.
Q: Why does the base have to be white?
A: The white (and it can be white on white prints, it just can’t have anything else on it) represents the paper – the medical records – of the physically and mentally disabled people. The German Nazi doctors were not required to ever so much as lay eyes on the people, just to read their medical records. This is significant.
Q: Why two red X’s?
A: When two of the three German Nazi doctors placed a red X at the bottom of any medical record, the disabled person was rounded up and murdered, often within a few hours. The two red X’s represent the death sentence. This, too, is significant.
Q: I want to stitch more than two red X’s – maybe lay down one big red X then fill the white block with lots of smaller red X’s. Is that okay? It’d be so much cuter, really.
A: Well, um, no. The white needs to remain white – just white – and each white block needs to bear two red X’s. That’s all.
Q: Why?
A: Because when the idea initially came to whisper in my ear, this is the image it brought to show me: 70,273 white blocks with 2 red X’s. The visual impact of 70,273 quilt blocks made of a white base with 2 red X’s is nothing short of powerful – powerful, I tell you – because each block commemorates one of the 70,273 disabled people who were murdered.
Q: How can I be creative with such limitations?
A: Actually, creativity blossoms within boundaries. Get as creative as you want with the two red X’s – that’s wonderful, actually, because no two blocks will be exactly the same, just as no two of these murdered people were exactly the same. And while the two red X’s vary, the white background remains the same – just white – and that’s significant, too, because these people were not seen as human beings, just a piece of paper bearing their name. You might want to click right this way to get some kindling by looking over the shoulder of some very creative folks to see how they’re making their two red X’s.
Q: I’m gonna’ stitch the name of a student or a friend or a family member who has physical or mental disabilities. M’kay?
A: Well, remember: we want to maximize the visual impact of an unadorned white base with 2 red X’s. Stitching names, initials, words, numbers or any other kind of text, to use a theatre phrase, pulls focus. I really don’t want people getting distracted by trying to read what the stitching says. Susan Graham and I did hatch a way to include the names of loved ones and remain true to the initial vision. Susan taught special needs children, and several of them claimed a spot on her heart, and she wanted to honor them somehow, so she cut the white base, laid down the two red X’s, then, using a fabric marker, wrote the student’s name behind the red X so that it’s a permanent part of the block but not visible from the front.
There’s also a place on the Provenance Form to tell me that you made the block in honor or in memory of someone. You can give their name, and if you want me to send them a note alerting them to your block, you can give me their address. Provided you don’t request that they remain anonymous, these names will be mentioned on the quilt blocks that will forever accompany each quilt, and to the extend possible, they will be mentioned in exhibit literature that will accompany the quilts. If anonymity isn’t request, they will also be celebrated on the blog.
Me, I’m availing myself of all those options to celebrate my disabled sister-in-love Nancy.
Q: Look, I’m just gonna’ send you a block and you can cut it down to the size you want. How ’bout that?
A: I’m begging you to cut blocks to one of the three sizes – 3.5×6.5: or 6.5×9.5″ or 9.5×12.5″ – before sending. Imagine one woman coordinating this on project top of an already full life. Blocks come in, and I catalogue them in the database, feature them on the blog, keep the facebook page humming, respond to the numerous emails and comments and tweets that come in throughout the day, find ways to get the word out, and look ahead to other things that will need tending. Then think of one woman doing all that PLUS cutting 70,273 blocks to size. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask of me when you think that you’re just one person sending a few blocks that need cutting, but remember that there are actually going to be 70,273 blocks, and imagine doing everything that has to be done and cutting that many blocks to size.
Q: How ’bout I put one red X on each of my blocks and you can stitch them together?
A: I refer you to the above answer and beg you to think how much time it might take to stitch 70,273 blocks together. Remember, there 70,273 of you and one of me. That’s the kind of math that can break a person’s back;)
Q: Why do you want us to mail you our basic info and email you the photo and bio?
A: It already takes several minutes to enter all the basic information into the computer for each block. Imagine, if you will, me scanning 70,273 photos and retyping 70,273 bios. Then there’s the whole handwriting thing to consider.
Q: Why do I have to use a safety pin? Why can’t I just staple my Provenance Form to my block?
A: I ask for the safety pin for several reasons. For one, a safety pin is much quicker and easier to remove than a staple. (Let’s review: one minute times 70,273 equals a lot of time.) Then there’s the fact that I have to find safety pins to replace each staple.
Q: Why are there only three sizes?
A: One: visual impact. Two: It’s the way The Idea wants it. Three: These sizes will fit together nicely to make quilt tops.
Q: How many quilts will there be?
A: It’s hard to say at this point because we don’t know how many blocks of each size we will have, so we don’t have all the info we need to do the math. But The Engineer (my husband) calculates we’ll wind up with at least 700 quilts.
Q: Are you going to quilt them all yourself?
A: Bahahahahaha, no. Pretty soon, I’m gonna’ be asking folks to raise their hand if their their quilt guild are willing to do the quilting. And know this: it’s never too soon to raise your hand for that. Just sayin’.
Q: What will you do with the quilts?
A: The quilts will be sent around and to the far corners of the world to commemorate the 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people who were murdered and to celebrate the countless numbers of physically and mentally challenged people who live among us today.
Q: There’s a lot going on with this good project. Do you post the same thing everywhere? How can I keep up?
A: My brain now jiggles more than it juggles, so no, I don’t post the same thing everywhere cause I can’t remember what I posted where. To keep up, you might want to like the Facebook page, send me a friend request on Facebook, follow The 70273 Project pinterest board, subscribe to the blog, follow me on twitter and/or look for #The70273Project or #70273.
Q: Why do you always put a link to the introductory post somewhere in each blog post about The 70273 Project? I’m kinda’ tired of reading it, myself.
A: I do it because (a) my son tells me I need to and (b) new people are stopping by all the time, and because they’re kinda’ starting in the middle, I like to let them know what we’re doing here. As for re-reading it, try this: let your cursor hover over the words The 70273 Project when you can tell there’s a link there, and if you see a link with the word “introducing” in it, you’ve already read the post. Better?
Q: What if I have another question or an idea?
A: You just holler.
Thank y’all for being a part of this project, for following the guidelines, and for helping spread the word. And pretty please keep those blocks and stories coming.
In the midst of block for The 70273 Project, a box lands
with a return address from Mary Ellington.
It is filled not with blocks,
but with baby dresses
and baby bonnets
and a special occasion baby’s bib.
There are two adult garments
that motivate me to stick to my diet and exercise
so that i can wear them as dusters one day soon.
“i know you’ll do something magical with them,”
her note says.
i have no image in mind yet,
but the tender clothes
already whisper to me
and oh the stories
their vulnerable lace
and tender tucks
and age-old stains
long to tell.
~~~
Thank you, Mary, for honoring me
with these special, delicate items,
for trusting me
to hear, transcribe, and share
their stories.
Maybe you want to hear their stories
and watch as their personal histories unfold?
And maybe you want to keep your finger on the pulse
of The 70273 Project?
Here’s one way to do just that.
Maybe I should have thought of it, and maybe I would have thought of it had I not launched three weeks after the idea struck. Initially The 70273 Project was a way to commemorate the lives of the 70,273 disabled people who were murdered at the hands of German Nazis in the early 1940s, and in the first two weeks it expanded into raising awareness of the disabled people who walk among us today, focusing not on their less than traits and abilities, but on how much they enrich and enhance our lives. So many people are stitching blocks and telling me stories about loved ones or friends who have disabilities. May it never stop – I can’t tell you how much I cherish those stories.
Susan Graham told me of students she taught once upon a year, the memories of their specialness – not special needs ’cause, shoot, we all have those – but the way they took over a piece of her heart and still lay claim to it many years later. She wanted to put their names on her blocks, and together we figured out a way to make her former students a part of the project without compromising my vision of the quilts with no names, no words to get in the way of commemorating the 70,273 souls.
How? She made the blocks, then, using a red fabric marker, she wrote their names – one name per block and first name only – behind one of the X’s where it’s there but doesn’t show.
Another idea, should you long to make a loved one a lasting part of this project, is to stitch the names down on the white base, then lay down the two red X’s over it so that it’s completely covered. If you’ve other ideas, do tell. All I ask is that the name not be visible from the front.
And that you keep making blocks.
And sharing those stories.
And spreading the word and finding ways to get more people involved.
~~~~~~~
Ways to stay in the know (I don’t post the same things everywhere.):
The 70273 Project Facebook page
Today, in plain sight of the demanding to do list, I shove everything aside and sit writing letters to my unborn grandchild in a beautiful journal my friend Tari bought for me when I took it off the shelf and told her of my plan. I won’t know this grandchild like I wish I would, you see, and she or he won’t know me, either. Geographical distance separates us – undoubtedly not as much geography as lies between some of my friends and their grandchildren – but today I take no solace in comparisons, and the scolding voice that admonishes me I ought to be ashamed of myself for such frivolity in light of all that needs to be done and warns me with a wagging finger that such honesty could bring consequential riffs in an already extensive geographical divide, is asked in no uncertain terms to go hurl itself off the top of the waterfall.
Today my heart breaks into a thousand shards at the thought of it all, and that is just the way it is.
I pen these letters in what most surely will be Book One in hopes that One Day, when the child is old enough to think his own thoughts and wise enough to ask her own questions, she/he will take this book to a quiet spot – perhaps on a boulder in the middle of a particular waterfall – and get to know me more deeply and will feel my caring, love, and unwavering support, maybe even glean some wisdom, in my inked words.
The time draws near when I need to assume my grandmotherly moniker. Now “Grandmother” is a fine name – and I count myself lucky to have known some mighty fine women who went by that name. But me, I long for something different. Am I being difficult? Is it because my mother, who honored her promise to her mother-in-law to name her firstborn after the mother-in-law’s son who was killed as a teenager, chose to spell “Gene” (my uncle’s name), J-e-a-n-n-e? Is it because I’m a writer? Do I put too much stock into names? Maybe, and I don’t give a rat’s ass why, I only know that I want special names for us.
My friend Jane Cunningham, who hails from New Zealand, sent me the most beautiful scarf made of yak wool, and it came to me in a mailer bearing the word “Kaitiaki”, the Maori word for protector or guardian. “Tiaki”, the mailer explains, means “care.” I’ve kept the envelope for I don’t know how many months because that word spoke to me, and though my Southern tongue will most definitely mangle the pronunciation, it’s a word that tapped its foot and cleared its throat by way of saying “Heed.” Might this be The Name?
Maybe I spend time on this because it is the one thing I have some say over. A child’s personal history begins with the memories and stories of their grandparents. This child will not know independence and grow wings by walking to see me the way my young children walked to see their grandparents. And this child may not sit at the table with the roots of multi-generations telling stories and kidding each other, or have a treasure trove of stories about great great aunts who hid cheeseballs in pecan trees, or great granddaddies who saw a teddybear advertised in the Western Auto weekly flyer and insisted on going right then to buy one with his great grandchild, or know what it’s like to ride on a tractor for hours on end with his granddaddy, or go see her grandmother after school and be paraded around the office as the obvious apple of her grandmother’s eye, or have any other number of opportunities to give him or her paternal roots that run so deep . . . but she or he will have a book of letters, and we will share special names.
So many of you – I’m thinking about you, Pam Yates, Ann Grasso, Tanya Weising-Pike – are talking up The 70273 Project to your quilt guilds, your church groups, your hobby clubs, art and history teachers, special ed classes – spreading the word and even providing the materials for folks to make blocks on the spot. Cass Hale is hosting a block-making party, open house style. Laurie Dunn and Pam Yates are getting their entire families involved. Others (think Lori East and Hilke Kurzke) are having me over for a guest blog post or, like Terri Belford, are interviewing me for a podcast. Then there’s Kimberly Brock who’s invited me to chat at her Tinderbox Writers’ Workshop one day next week.
I know there are many others I don’t know about, so please let me know cause I want to give you and your block makers some love here on the blog and in other e-spots like Facebook and Twitter if you’re buzzing around out in the community on behalf of The 70273 Project, will ya’?
This is a project with only a few rules, but the few rules are there for a reason and quite really VERY important, so since y’all are stepping out, I thought it might be helpful if I put together a shiny new When You Speak to Groups Handbook When You Speak to Groups Handbook so you don’t have to worry about missing the few key points when you’re standing up in front of a group. We’ll talk about it here in this post, but there’s even more info in the Handbook, so do be sure to download, print, and pack it.
~ There are flyers available to download and print.
~ You can download and print info cards on paper that’s perforated for business card printing.
~ The When You Speak to Groups Handbook
~ Maybe you want to print out some photos of blocks or take blocks that you’ve made.
~ If you’re providing materials for the audience members to make blocks, you want to take:
* Provenance Forms – enough for each Maker
* White fabric, precut into the three block sizes
* Red scraps of fabric, ribbon, yarn, etc.
* Red thread and needles
* Glue (see sidebar – if you click and purchase from our site, it doesn’t cost you any more and we get a few pennies in the coffer to cover expenses)
* Wax paper for pouring some glue out because sometimes the bottles are hard to squeeze
* Toothpicks for spreading the glue
* Writing pens
* Wax paper or a vinyl tablecloth to protect working surfaces
* Paper towels (for cleaning up messes)
* Your camera
* Safety pins
* Scissors
* The Handout that’s included in the Handbook giving the following info about where folks can keep up with what’s happening:
In anticipation of the new year, Jeanne Hewell-Chambers cleared her space – her physical, mental, emotional, and digital space – making way for something new, for possibility. After much pondering, journaling, and meditation, she knew what you want her 2016 to look like. She knew what she would do: she would lose weight, finish books, make 3 quilts for personal use. She made her plans and was prepared to stick to them. She felt in control of your life for the first time in I don’t know how long, and it felt good. Real good.
Then one night in mid-January, she sat stitch Nancy’s drawings (Jeanne stitches the drawings of her mentally disabled sister-in-love, Nancy) while watching a documentary on World War II with her husband and their daughter, and just like that – within a space of 4-7 minutes – out went the best laid plans, the slate was cleared, her life changed . . .
Between January 1940 and August 1941, some 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were murdered by the Nazis. The Nazi doctors never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating, they only read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours.
On February 14, 2016, Jeanne launched The 70273 Project – a project dedicated to commemorating those 70,273 disabled, voiceless, powerless people who were so callously and casually murdered. How will they be commemorated? By gathering 70,273 blocks of white fabric (representing innocence and the paper the doctors read), each bearing two red X’s (representing one person) then stitching them into quilts that will travel the world.
Is she crazy? Maybe. But Jeanne’s Bones say she can’t not do this. She knows she can’t change history – can’t unring that bell – but she can – with your help – commemorate the lives of these 70,273 disabled people in this small way.
[Then tell a little bit about why and how you got involved.]
(NOTE: The Handbook contains this information in a bullet point format in case you’re one who prefers to work form an outline.)
THE BASICS
~ The base must be white fabric (representing the paper medical records), and on the base, two red X’s are placed (representing the death sentence).
~ Blocks must be one of these sizes: 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) or 6.5″ x 9.5″ (16.5 cm x 24.2 cm) or 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm).
~ Makers are free to unleash their creativity in creating the blocks – all I ask is that the blocks be a white base with two red X’s and be one of the sizes mentioned above.
~ Please don’t sign the blocks or place other names on the blocks – no visible writing or words . ‘Why? Because I want to keep the focus on the 70,273 souls we commemorate. The Makers’ names will appear on a label that is permanently attached to the back of the quilt, and a copy of the label will be printed on paper and exhibited near each quilt. Or the paper copies of the quilt labels might appear in notebooks that accompany the exhibit. There’s a place on the form to dedicate blocks in honor or in memory of someone in particular, and unless the maker wishes to remain anonymous, these names will be given alongside the maker’s name on labels and exhibition materials. Provided the forms are submitted and emails containing photos and bios are sent as requested, makers will also be recognized on the blog, on twitter, on facebook, and in any books that eventually come.
~ Send photos of individuals with their blocks, as well as groups as they make their blocks. (An important note about photos and names: Thank you for keeping me out of hot water by making sure you have permission to send me names and photos of block makers. If a block maker has a guardian, please have the guardian complete and sign the Provenance Form giving permission. If faces cannot be shown, perhaps you can snap and photos of hands and blocks.
AFTER MAKING BLOCKS
1. Download, print, complete, and use safety pints to attach The Provenance Form to the blocks. Each maker must submit a Provenance Form, and multiple blocks made by the same maker can be attached to the form. PLEASE remember this form ’cause if I get a bunch of blocks with no form, I’ll have no way of identifying who made what, and we’ll both be in the doghouse.
2. Mail blocks and page one of the form to the address given at the top of the page.
3. Email me the photos and bios (see form for details and bio kindling).
Here’s the downloadable version of the When Speaking to Groups Handbook.
Have I forgotten something? Please let me know.
Do you have experiences to share? Do tell, please.
There are all sorts of ways to stay in touch, and like I said, I don’t post the same things in all the places ’cause that would be boring, so be sure that:
~ we’re friends on Facebook
~ that you’ve liked the Facebook page
~ that you’re following the pinterest board
~ and subscribed to the blog
However you’re getting the word out, thank y’all. This is truly a grassroots effort – my favorite kind.
Life being what it is and all, we left town on day 8 of The 70273 Project to tend to family issues and stuff, and got back in town almost two weeks later, just before company arrived for a long weekend. It was all good and fun and necessary travel, it just means that I couldn’t devote as much time to promoting The 70273 Project as I would’ve liked. But never fear, cause y’all stepped right up and did it your own selves. Thank you for that. I’ll be spending time on Monday catching up with emails and FB message and comments, so thanks for your patience with my tardy responses, and thanks for bearing with me and understanding that there’s a life going out through, around, over, and under The 70273 Project. Here are the highlights of last week:
~ 72 blocks received (note: This is how many blocks I hold in my hand, not how many blocks have been . . . are being . . . made.)
~ 41 countries have made contact.
~ Appeared in a guest blog post – thank you for having me, Lori East! And, as if all that’s not enough, she made The 70273 Project the cover photo on her Facebook page.
~ Beth Thrift shared The 70273 Project and my name with a magazine (Thank you, Beth!), and they want to interview me at the end of the month for an article that will appear in their May issue. More as it unfolds.
~ Added a block counter graphic to the blog sidebar.
~ People continue to subscribe to the blog, have you?
~ I created a Facebook page for The 70273 Project. Please “like” it and invite your Facebook friends to do the same.
~ Posted a directory for The 70273 Project in the sidebar to make it easier for people to find the most requested pages.
~ Created a database for Blocks and Their Makers and am figuring out an efficient cataloguing system.
~ I’ll be posting articles about the blocks and their makers – you’re just gonna’ be thrilled with these folks – their blocks and their stories..
~ I’d love to speak to your group – maybe take what we need to make some blocks – so let me know and I’ll see if I can’t make it happen.
~ Keep those blocks coming, please . . . and remember to download, print, complete, and attach The Provenance Form and email me a photo or 3 and your bio or story about why you’re involved. Why do I ask for photos and bios/stories to be emailed? Because it’s SO much easier and more efficient to copy and paste than for me to have to type everything out and take all the photos.
Well, I’ve just been notified that The Engineer’s stomach is growling, so you know what that means. Till next time, thank y’all for being a part of this crazy idea of mine and helping to commemorate these 70,273 people.
Let’s say you want to make blocks for The 70273 Project but your arthritic fingers don’t want to cooperate. What to do?
You glue.
Six days after launching, my mother (Mother), my other mother (Mama Helen), my brother (Jerry or, as I call him, J3) and my sister-in-love (Robin) had ourselves a block party. Now here’s the thing, though they were enthusiastically eager to make a block, arthritis made it awfully hard and quite painful for Mother and Mama Helen. So what to do? Again I say, glue.
I got to work and auditioned several glues, and found this glue and this glue and this glue work swell. (I’m not done auditioning glues, so keep an eye on the sidebar for additions) – the fabric remains flexible and it holds like nobody’s business. Which it will need to do seeing as how these quilts will be rolled, unrolled, shipped, hung, taken down, and, well, you get the picture. The two red X’s have to stay put.
The first important note: Mother and Mama Helen found the glue bottle hard to mash, so if that’s a problem for you and yours, you might want to pour some out on a piece of waxed paper and use a toothpick or popsicle stick to smear the glue to the back of the red fabric.
The second important note: If you click from the sidebar and purchase the item, The 70273 Project gets a few pennies in the coffer to help cover our costs. Thank you.
The third important note: I will be adding other items to our little Amazon shop, so check back. And hey, if you know of something we should add to our little storefront, please do let me know.
Back to making blocks . . .
Mother has decided that she’s gonna’ make 31 blocks in March, and she wants them all to be the small blocks to represent children who didn’t have a chance to grow up.
When she went to lay down the two red X’s, Robin, my sister-in-love, went quiet and said how good it felt to be a part of something bigger than herself.
This block party, by the way, is how we celebrated my birthday – a week late and there was a meal (cubed steak and mashed potatoes and a birthday cake with pink boiled icing just like my grandmother used to make me) that followed the block making activity.
Mother’s kitties, Lewis and Clark (warning: be real careful what you name baby kitties) joined in, too. And a good time was had by all.
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I am absolutely thrilled to be a guest blogger over at my friend Lori East’s e-nest today. Please do go by and wave at her, and take a few minutes while you’re there to enjoy her beautiful work and words. She’s a treasure, that one.
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The blocks are rolling in, and I’m cataloging them in my shiny new (well, 2 days old, but that’s new, right?) system. I’ll be posting them here, so subscribe (see below) cause you don’t want to miss a thing.
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Now remember to:
like our facebook page
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and please, please, please keep making those blocks.
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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