I am fortunate to have been able to retire, early. Life, for me, is good. I have a home where I can stay and be safe. My husband and I are in good health. That is such a blessing. I have a desire to help, to serve, to do good. My skills and strengths are not suitable for many types of charity, but I can sew. I love to serve through quilting.

Like you we get a phenomenal amount of mail requesting donations to several charities. It is difficult to know who has the best formula for feeding the hungry, or curing the ill, or housing the homeless. But we make our best decisions and go through our box of requests and give what we can.

The quilt guild I belong to has several charity organizations that request quilts. I love doing this. I do it cheerfully and I do my very best to create something for someone I may never meet, to bring them comfort. Truth be told, I find this far more fun than wading through the myriad of solicitations for donations. But I do digress.

This month one of the charities we are collecting for Doorways. Doorways is similar to a Ronald McDonald House for families of children (or adults) that are getting medical care from VCU Medical. Sometimes these families come from hundreds of miles away to receive special services from VCU. These procedures and services can take days. Doorways provides a place to stay for patients and their family or caretaker while they are receiving the health care they need. Many of these patients are children. With that in mind I made this.

The yellow is so cheerful. There are two of them, this one is larger, and there is a baby quilt as well. The initial plan for this was a totally different quilt, but this is perfect.

I love the way my points came together. That had to be divine intervention. And I had the perfect fabric to make the binding sitting in my stash just waiting for an opportunity.

Sometimes I find comfort in very simple sewing. A task where my mind can wander, and I can still stay on task. The quilt I made for Christmas Mother is simple sewing.

I have no idea what to call this. It is made with scraps, yet it is cohesive. there are two simple blocks, and depending on how you orient them, you can get a collection of different quilt designs.

Basically, you start with 2 1/2″ squares, sew them together in four patches. Then you surround the four patches with a background. The alternate block reverses the process. You start with a background piece 4 1/2″ square, and surround it with 2 1/2″ squares of the scraps.

I love the way this turned out and I would be happy to have this in my home. I truly hope the recipient enjoys it. I can see several more of this in different compilations being made with love to give.

So this year, when we have been quarantined and socially distancing and missing our loved ones, let’s remember how good we really do have it, and how we can do what we can for others.

Peace. Stay safe.