70273 exhibit Durham Cathedrall – Jeanne Hewell-Chambers’ Barefoot Heart

A quilt with a white background covered in pairs of red X’s hanging high in an ancient cathedral

Durham Cathedral

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s draped over church pews and chairs

Durham Cathedral

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s draped over church pews and chairs and on the floor

Durham Cathedral

Two white banners covered with pairs of red X’s hang in the front of an ancient cathedral

Rochester Cathedral

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s hang in an ancient cathedral

Rochester Cathedral

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s on display in an ancient cathedral

Rochester Cathedral

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s

Jersey Heritage Center and Museum, Channel Islands U.K.

White quilts covered with pairs of red X’s on display in a museum

Jersey Heritage Center and Museum, Channel Islands, U.K.

Every year Europeans mark Holocaust Remembrance Day at the end of January. The Engineer, Tari Vickery, and I are honored to be in attendance and participate in January 2018. Quilts of The 70273 Project were on display in Durham Cathedral, Rochester Cathedral, and the Jersey Heritage Center and Museum in the Channel Islands. It’s been two years, and I still can’t adequately express my feelings or tell you about the people, the quilts, the stories, the connections, the tears of laughter, sorrow, and of Knowing, the immense hospitality and warm welcome. I’m still processing . . . And smiling . . . And chortling . . . And whispering gratitude. What an honor it was to meet people I knew only in social media, to bear witness to their stories, to feel the power of the quilts they made.

A big, huge, ginormous bouquet of gratitude to The 70273 Project Ambassadors – Margaret Jackson, Mary Turner, and Christine FitzGerald in Durham; Lucy Horner in Rochester; and Kim Monins and Gisele Therezien in the Channel Islands – who spent countless hours scheduling, coordinating, and staging Block Drives and these massive exhibits. And more bouquets of gratitude to the patient, supportive spouses, siblings, children, pets, grandchildren, and friends like Sharon Howell, Bev Bunn, Wendy Dawes, Edina Geering, Beryl Connelly, Annie Labruyere, Sue Harris, and countless – and I do mean countless – others in the U.K. who went above and beyond to commemorate tens of thousands of those we memorialize and create exhibits and events that will not soon be forgotten by those of us in attendance.

In case you’re wondering, The Engineer, Tari, and I paid our own way to these exhibits – as we always do – and we’re very grateful to those who gave us a bed to sleep on, fed us, and ferried us hither and yon while we were there. Whenever we travel to an exhibit, each of us pays to take an extra large suitcase so we can bring home as many quilts as possible. We still have a few quilts in need of a ride home from Durham, however, so if you’d like to give them wings, please donate what you can and help us get them home to 70273 Project Heartquarters. When you donate through the Pay Pal Giving Fund, it only takes a few minutes to register and designate The 70273 Project – a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation – as the charity to receive your donation. There are no fees deducted when donating through The Pay Pal Giving Fund, which means The 70273 Project keeps your entire donation. Thank you in advance.

Be watching this space for what’s ahead for The 70273 Project. Subscribe to the blog, to the newsletter..

an ancient cathedral made of brown bricks

The Coxhoe Quilters who hail from Durham, U.K. have been commemorating people through The 70273 Project from the get-go. Their first quilt is #33 – that should tell you something. Many of the quilts made by the Coxhoe Quilters were displayed in Durham Cathedral in January 2018 as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Some of the quilts made by the Coxhoe Quilters have already been added to the block count, and as you can tell, it’s taken me a while to find the time to sift my way through the records to pull out what’s already been counted so there’s no duplication that leaves us short of our goal.

Here are the quilts made by the tireless and talented Coxhoe Quilters. Some have already been profiled in a blog post, all will be eventually.

9 women hold a quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 33
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
Anne Barre
Christine FitzGerald (dedicated to Elizabeth FitzGerald)
Ann Hewitt
Margaret Jackson
Dawn Kirk Walton
Karen Mitchell
Anonymous
Norma Corner
Patricia Harvey
Lesley Shell
Janice Tilbury
Alison Wilson

a white quilt covered in pairs of red X's

Quilt 39
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of Coxhoe Quilters (U.K.)

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 71
Pieced and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Quilted by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of Brighter Skies Group:
Elizabeth Budgeon
Savvy Christophides
Jane Coulter
Joyce Duncan
Chrissy FitzGerald
Margaret Grieves
Helen Grindley
Margaret jackson
C. Knight
Mary Turner
Shirley Oliver
V. Pearson
Linda Smalley
Ellen Smith
Anonymous

a large white quilt covered with pairs of red X's covers a sofa

Quilt 72
Pieced and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Quilted by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of the Brighter Skies/Leisure Time Crafting
Jacqueline Ellis
A. Turner
Ann Hewitt
V. Pearson
Mary Turner
Jean Rees
Ellen Smith
Carol Chisholm
Brian Clarke
Margaret jackson
Margaret Grieves
Jane Coulter
Kieran Ryan
Emmajayne Sanders
Jan Tilbury
Joyce Duncan
Ellis Rowe
M. Burns
N. Collins
Heather Ryan
C. Knight
W. Crac
R. Mindiff
Lesley Snell
Savvy Christophides
Anonymous

a large white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 79
Pieced and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Quilted by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
Ann Hewitt
Barbara Harland
Chrissy FitzGerald
Ellen Smith
Emmajayne Sanders
Glenda Connor
Jan Tilbury
Jane Coulter
Janet Emery
Jane Hedley
Katie Wilson-Clement
Lesley Snell
Lorna Presly
Margaret Jackson
Marjorie Powell
Mary Turner
Pamela McRobert-Watkins
Pat Wiffin
S. Barker
Shirley Oliver
Suzanne Hopper
V. Pearson
Wendy Gibson

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 122
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson, (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
Students at Deaf Hill Primary School
Assisted by Janet Watson of Age
Volunteers with the Intergenerational Project (U.K.)

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 123
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by students of Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College (U.K.)

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 124
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by students at King James College (U.K.)

a long white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 125
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by three generations of Margaret Jackson’s family:
Steven Wiley
Sharmai Wiley
Cnheylee Wiley
Demi-lea Wiley
Alisha Wiley
Margaret Jackson

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 126
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by students at Hermitage Academy (U.K.)

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 148
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by Members of Coxhoe Beaver Scout Group

a white quilt with pairs of red X's

Quilt 149
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by Eva Jackson of Coxhoe Durham, U.K.

a small white quilt covered with many pairs of red X's

Quilt 150
Made by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)

Quilt 163
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of the Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles (U.K.)

a small white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 170
a Middling made by Ann Hewitt

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 171
Pieced by Ann Hewitt (U.K.)
Quilted by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Finished by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by Members of The Art Group (UK):
Michelle Taylor
Michelle F. Taylor
Anonymous
B. Dyer
M. Simpson
S. Barker
Julie
Audrey Gillet
Gwyneth Halliburton
Noreen Freeman
Dorothy Sheroot
Mary Turner
Jean Lister
Lynda Elston
Debbie Duncan

a group of women hold a large white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 173
Pieced, Tied, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
Members of Leisure Time Crafting and Brighter Skies ,
a Fundraising Group of Spennymore, Durham, U.K.

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 240
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of the Durham Embroiderers Guild (U.K.)
Rita Bell
Eileen Hunter
Sarah McGeorge
Lesley Wood
Alisa Dredge
Rona Bruce, dedicated to Lynne Herkes 30Dec58 – 31Dec58
Lesley Hagan, dedicated to Sarah and Stephen Hagan Hord

a large white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 241
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
People from Coxhoe
Members of Painting for Pleasure Art Group
People in various villages in Durham, England, U.K.

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 242
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by:
Ann Hewitt
Wendy Gibson
Pat Harvey
Isla Green (5 years old)
Mary Woodward
Amanda Coltas
Alison Wilson
Lesley Snell
Karen Mitchell
Chrissy FitzGerald
Margaret Jackson
E. Budgeon
Anonymous

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 243
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by students at Hermitage Academy (U.K.)

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 244
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of Coxhoe Quilters (U.K.)
Chrissy FitzGerald
Eva Jackson
Margaret Jackson
Mary Turner

a white quilt covered wit pairs of red X's

Quilt 256
Pieced, Quilten, and Finished by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by members of Thornily Library Age Concern Craft Group (U.K.)
Celia Turnbull
L. Watson
Elizabeth Ann Smith
Marlene Jones
Ethel Howarth
Margaret A. Ollett
Florence Ann Richardson

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 257
Pieced and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Quilted by Mary Turner (U.K.)
Blocks made by citizens of Durham, U.K.
M. Jackson
Lorn Presley
Melanie Tolson
S. Barker
Janet Emery
Brenda Press
Edna Oswald
Ann Hewitt
Suzanne Hopper
V. Pearson
J. Stephenson
P. Harvey
Lesley Snell
Samantha Sproates
Carol Chisholm
Emmajayne Saunders
Shirley Oliver
Anonymous

a white quilt covered with pairs of red X's

Quilt 258
Pieced, Quilted, and Finished by Margaret Jackson (U.K.)
Blocks made by people from Dean Bank Crafters, FerryhillDurham, England U.K.

When I add the Durham/Coxhoe Quilters blocks that haven’t been counted to the block count, i brings our new total of commemorations to 37,754. Now I finish sifting and tallying block snd quilts from the Channel Islands. Stay tuned for a new block count soon.

To Margaret Jackson, Chrissy FitzGerald, Mary Turner, their husbands John, Steve, and John, the other members of the Coxhoe Quilters, to Charlotte, and to all the citizens of Durham – A great big Thank you. Your dedication to commemorating and your hospitality when The Engineer and I were there in January will be long remembered and always appreciated.

Margaret Jackson took all the photos except the first one of Durham Cathedral. I took that one. It’s majestic, isn’t it? She doesn’t take a bad picture, that Durham Cathedral. I have more I’ll share with you soon.