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Published: February 18th 2007
The Plan
Not knowing just how to go about this, I cut all the pieces for them, even hand drawing a diagram of what pieces to sew together. Pictures always help!Sit back, get ready for a good story, and look at the pictures of the result of several months of work. You might want to have a tissue handy just in case!
The project started in June of last year with a simple request for scraps; leftovers from projects that no one was going to use, or even fabric that had been purchased for something special but got pushed aside and never used. I was expecting a few boxes of scraps; maybe some half used spools of thread, and hopefully even some needles and scissors. What I received was hundreds of needles, scissors by the hand full, spools and spools of thread, bags and bags of batting, and fabric by the boxes!!!
I wanted the Christian women of Tanzania to have something that they did not have. I wanted to create a time where they could come together to have a devotional, get to know more about one another, and at the same time make something that could be benefit others. I wanted to give them what my mother and my grandmother gave me. I wanted them to know what it felt like to work for hours with your
Demonstration in Progress
I looked through all sorts of boxes and found these projects already in the works, that were donated. Perfect way to start a class!! hands creating something out of love for the work, only to give it away to someone you cared for.
NOW LOOK WHAT THEY DID!!!!!
I was real worried about how to teach them something from scratch, what good reason could I give them to cut up a perfectly good piece of fabric, only to sew it back together again. I shouldn’t have been worried.
We had our first class December 9th. There were 26 women there. Some even came from Moshi, almost an hour and half away. We had a devotional first where I did my best to emphasize the great gift God has given us to use our time and our hands to help those that are in need. Then I showed them just what we were going to be doing through some examples of quilt blocks in various stages of completion, as well as a couple of quilt tops I am in the middle of working on, and 4 finished quilts I brought from home. There were literally ooooh’s and aaahhh’s coming from the women as I moved from one to the other. They were amazed at how long my quilts have lasted.
I
Demonstration in Progress
The more they saw that could be done, the more on the edge of their seats they got. made a packet for each one of them containing a couple of needles, a spool of thread, the exact number of precut pieces of fabric in two coordinating fabrics and a diagram which I drew with magic markers of how to sew them all together.
After handing out the bags to everyone I encouraged them to take out everything and we started with our first pieced strips! They were amazing! Some had had some sewing experience, some had not. Julie Richardson and I walked around helping thread needles, making sure they had the right pieces together, and teaching them how to tie off the last thread. There were a lot of sore fingers the next day I am for certain. They sewed for nearly 2 hours. The plan was to sew 5 pieces together into a strip, then sew 6 strips together into a lap quilt suitable for babies. Each bag contained enough pieces to sew together 3 strips. Before we left I had dozens of strips!!! After the class one lady came up to me and said, “This is the best gift that anyone has ever given me.” Talk about an humbling experience. I did not have the
No scrap is too Small!
I started this just a few weeks after arriving in Tanzania. I taught Emily Richardson to piece with this top. The idea is evolving and yet to be finished, but it got the point across - if you have a idea, very little goes to waste. right words for a reply. Just fought back a few tears and mumbled something I thought would be appropriate. Truth be told, I don’t think I realized how something this simple could make such an impact on the lives of these women.
I had prepped enough sets of pieces to make 28 quilts and for the next few weeks these ladies took home bags of pieces, sewed them together, and brought them to me to exchange for yet another set. Our 2nd meeting we sewed these strips together.
I watched as they began to sew one strip to the next, eventually sewing the 6th strip and proudly presenting one after another fully pieced lap quilt. Their excitement at finishing yet one more top was contagious! I didn’t sew any that day - I watched them. I helped them to see which strip to piece to the next to create a brick pattern, and I took their picture when they reached the last stitch of one more sewn top for the babies at the orphanage. It wasn’t long until they figured out they could start in the middle and then two sew on the same top on opposite sides
Bag of Goodies
To make it as easy as possible this first go around, I cut all the pieces, put them in a bag, with thread, needles and a pattern. It was like Christmas to move along quicker. They finished every last top that we had 6 strips matched up to sew before lunch that day. Over the next 2 weeks the last few straggler tops were handed to me almost secretly after services. It was as if they had a precious cargo that they wanted to make sure reached my hands.
The next step was to get them tacked. This was going to take a little more preparation on my part. I had to make sure all the tops had even edges, batting and backing to fit. Julie and Emily gave me a big hand. We cut batting and backing and pinned all 30 tops together in one evening! When we got to the church building, I paired the ladies up in twos and once again demonstrated just how to tack the tops. We used blue yard to tack them and within minutes they were tying knots. It didn’t take long until the rows of pews became full of quilt tops. The kids even got involved. Trina Gee and her girls came as well as Sarah, a worker from Camp Moses who is interested in doing something similar with the women she
Getting Started
You can TELL someone how to do something, but showing is always the easiest route. works with. It was almost as if they where in a race with one another to see who could get the next one completed. It took less than two hours for all 30 tops to get tacked. We draped them over the pews as they were finished, creating a field of colors.
In the next two weeks I sewed the bindings by machine, trimmed all loose threads, and tightened all of the tacking yarn. Julie got in touch with Davona Church, the director at the orphanage called the “Cradle of Love”. Davona is from the states and has built a beautiful orphanage in Usa River, just outside Arusha for babies. The babies that are cared for here have been abandoned, lost both their parents, or had other circumstances that left them homeless. Some of the circumstances will break your heart. One little baby in particular was left under a coffee bush to die. Barely born, and weak, he was found and brought to the Cradle of Love. They named him “Bariki”, luck in Swahili.
After services this morning 25 of us packed into two cars and headed to the orphanage. Now, let me pause here a moment and
Baby Steps
The first few minutes were a little tense, not sure where to start, not sure how to hold the needle, which piece to sew to which, but they picked it up quick! see if you got that last sentence. There were 25 of us in TWO cars. Not vans, cars. Ours is a Toyota LandCruiser hardtop, and Cy’s is a LandCruiser GX. Needless to say we were all very cozy! I wanted the ladies who made these tops to see who they made them for. To see that it was worth the pin pricks and sore fingers, and time away from other matters.
We got out of the car and carried the big box inside where we were greeted with such gratitude I did not know if Helen, one of the managers, was ever going to let go of my hand. She showed us around and left to go notify Davona, the Director, that we had arrived. We were led to a large room colorfully painted, along with baby swings, car seats, play pins, toys and mats. Babies were everywhere!!! The orphanage has 28 of them to be exact! They ranged from 5 weeks old to not quiet 3 years. After they get to a certain age, they have to be transferred to another orphanage, not nearly as nice as this one. The sleeping mats on the floor and car seats
Peanut Butter and Jelly
The only way I could figure to explain putting right sides together was two pieces of bread, one with peanut butter the other with jelly and the peanut butter and jelly touch. Oddly enough it worked. :) and play pins had babies in them and on them. They were in the middle of feeding, so those who were able to sit were in highchairs, and feeding stations, the smaller babies were being feed their bottles and once one was fed the worker brought that one into the room where we were, handed it off to one of us who didn’t have a baby, and took another one to the dining area to feed them. It was incredibly organized, and immaculately clean. The sleeping rooms were full of cribs and baby beds. Every one of us at one time had a baby in our arms. Davona came and talked to us about what part they play in getting parents to adopt these babies, and answered several questions the ladies had. Some wanted to know if they could come volunteer; others wanted to know the procedure and who to contact to adopt one of the babies.
We placed a quilt in each crib, and left 4 extras for future deliveries to the orphanage. Some of the cribs had toddlers in them getting ready for their naps. Some laughed and played with the quilts, some hid behind them, and
Happy Hands
After they got started, they talked and talked, and smiled, and laughed ... and forgot about the food I brought!! some shied away. You could not go to this place and not be touched. Seeing so many babies discarded as trash, reminded me of another part of the world. At least when these 28 lay down to sleep tonight they truly will lay with a piece of love. I handwrote on each quilt, “Donated by the Arusha Church of Christ”, I wanted it to go with them through life. A true security blanket of sorts. Who knows, 20 years down the road a young person may step into the auditorium of the church building and find a family of a different sort.
This ladies and gentlemen is what you have helped to do. This gift of giving will continue for hopefully many months and years to come. Many lives will be touched by what these ladies, through your generosity, have begun to do. Shake your hands, slap yourselves on the back, give yourself a wink in the mirror …. ‘cause you guys did good!!!
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Cindy Dixon
non-member comment
I am speechless by this story. How precious are all the hands that worked this wonder. And how amazing the delight must be to give them to sweet babies. May God continue to bless this wonderful work.