Quilt #29 of The 70273 Project

Today, another letter from my talented and indefatigable friend, Katell who lives in France. Y’all are gonna’ like this a lot . . .

Dear Jeanne,

Maïté (actually Marie-Thérèse, but everyone says Maïté) is one of my dear friends. When we met 11 years ago, she already knew a lot about patchwork and quilting, and she made numerous beautiful artworks. Some are modern, others are country style or traditional but each one if perfectly sewn and has a French flair. She is the one in my group who enjoys appliqué the most, surely because she is gifted for drawing, too! She can also sing beautifully, too, but that is another story.

She already made Quilt #23 by herself, as you know. Then at the Patchwork Club of Colomiers a few weeks ago, we were gifted a parcel full of very old baby clothes. They seem to be at least 60 years old, maybe even from World War II. Maïté carefully soaked them, unstained them, pressed them, and finally . . . cut them. Yes, they were too worn to be kept. They probably came from an attic, supposedly from a wet nurse.

Because of this special origin, Maïté decided to piece them in the form of a heart. She asked for the help of Kristine, our ever-gifted friend, and here is the result . . . 

This is Quilt #29 with 101 blocks to be added to the block count, dear Jeanne! Maïté has already begun quilting it.

XOXO,
Katell

Thank you Maïté, for using your talent to help commemorate over 300 people so far. You pay tribute to them with beauty, the way they deserve to be remembered. Thank you, too, Kristine, members of the Patchwork Club of Colomiers, and generous donor of these precious baby garments for helping to commemorate in such varied and generous ways. And thank you, Katell, for all you are doing in France and for still finding the time to send us this story, so beautifully written!  This post was especially helpful this week when we fill our days to the brim with moving our daughter from one place to another.

Inquiring minds may wonder what I think about the heart shape and using blocks as border. I LOVE IT! The blocks are made according to the guidelines, and that’s the main thing.  Here in The 70273 Project, we embrace differences of all kinds, and I think this quilt and the others that will surely follow are another way of saying that.

Now if seeing this quilt stirs up your creative juices and makes you want to raise your hand with an offer to Piece and Quilt in 2017, do let me know, and let me know pronto because the first or second week in January I’ll be sending a lot of bundles out into the world.

And hey, things are gonna’ really rev up come January. Trust me when I tell you that you won’t want to miss some of The 70273 Project Adventures I have planned, so take a minute to subscribe cause everything starts here on the blog.