Friendship quilts really move me. They commemorate events with joy, love or comfort via the hands of many caring people. Such was the case with this quilt, finished in a hurry for a grieving family. It was not lost on me that I was listening to the Sept. 11 ten-year-anniversary tributes on NPR as I finished quilting this project.
Sarah, who coordinated and assembled the quilt blocks sent by the family's friends, asked that the names of all the family members, including the child they lost, be randomly quilted into a pattern of butterflies. The all-over quilting pattern looked like butterflies, but the actual name of the design is Angel Wings by Jodi Beamish for Willowleaf Studio.
And while not everyone shares a faith that includes angels, I have to say that the butterly/angel shapes I was stitching into the top to hold the layers together seemed to trigger a feeling of hope and acceptance in me as I made the last stitch.
Sarah added the binding, made the backing and is blogging about it, but she pieced a message on the back that was perfect: