Jeanne Hewell-Chambers

+ Her Barefoot Heart

Tag: 70273 Rochester Cathedral

From the Archives: U.K. Quilts and Exhibits

January 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments
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.

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..

All Good Things Must Come to an End

March 14, 2018 / / 0 Comments

The 70273 Project quilts that have been on display in Rochester Cathedral since 23 Jan 18 came down today, and how very appropriate that as they made their exit they were serenaded by the King’s School Choir rehearsing for their spring concert.

Thank you, Rochester Cathedral for hosting the exhibit.
Thank you, Wendy Daws, Edina, Veronica, Bev, and hundreds of others (whose names I will add here when I wake up at 3 a.m. thinking of them and their smiling faces)) who worked tirelessly to make these books and quilts.
Thank you, Lucy Horner, for being The Woman Who Led the Way and for sharing this afternoon with us through your amazing videos. You can see more of Lucy’s moving videos on The 70273 Project You Tube Channel. Be sure to subscribe to our chance because I’ll be uploading them over the next few days.

To see more of the quilts as they hung in Rochester Cathedral, click here and here and here.

Now I know you’re wondering, Dear Readers, how many people we have commemorated, and I promise to tell you soon. I’m sorting things out because I had already counted some of the beautiful commemorations made in the Channel Islands and Durham, so I’m meticulously going through every block and quilt and email to make sure I don’t over or under count. Soon, Dear Readers, soon. If you want to subscribe to the blog to make sure you don’t miss anything, click right this way to stay updated about everything to do with The 70273 Project – things like  bock counts updates and where some of these quilts are needed next.

The Dean of Rochester Cathedral on The 70273 Project

February 15, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Take a few minutes to see what Dean Phil has to say about The 70273 Project.

As time permits, I’m adding videos to The 70273 Project You Tube Channel. Nine or 12 more subscribers and I’ll be able to get us our own customized URL for our channel, so if you would be so kind as to go subscribe and to encourage friends and family to subscribe, I’d be ever so grateful.

While you’re there, stroll around the channel to have a look at the videos there, and be sure to visit again often because I’m constantly adding videos.

Thank you, Dean Phil, for having The 70273 Project in your beautiful cathedral, and thank you, Lucy Horner, for all you did to get the quilts there and for making sure I saw this lovely video. There’s so much more to come, so subscribe to the blog and subscribe to the occasional newsletter so you’ll be in the know.

Quilts Hung at Rochester Cathedral

January 17, 2018 / / 2 Comments

 

Thank you, Wendy Daws, for this video and to Lucy Horner, 70273 Project Ambassador, and to all those who helped make this magnificence happen.

The quilts will hang in Rochester Cathedral till March 12, 2018.
The Engineer and I will be there on 1/24. If you’re in the vicinity or can get there, I sure would like to meet you. Let me know you’re interested, and I’ll let you know the particulars including what time.

Subscribe to The 70273 Project YouTube channel.

Banners Herald Quilts of The 70273 Project at Rochester Cathedral

January 16, 2018 / / 5 Comments

While The Engineer and I made our way to Iceland yesterday, this was happening at Rochester Cathedral . .  .

a large table is covered with red and white checked table cloths and on top of the tablecloth is an expanse of white fabric

Photo Description: a large table, covered with red and white checked tablecloths. On top of the tablecloth is an expanse of white fabric, waiting.

a jumble of red X's

Photo Description: A jumble of red X’s with the occasional quilt block (white background with pairs of red X’s)

people bent over stitching red X's onto the white fabric

Photo description: People stitch the red X’s onto the white fabric

women stitching red X's onto white fabric

Photo Description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white fabric

women stitching more red X's onto white cloth background

Photo description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white background

women stitch red X's onto white background cloth

Photo Description: Women stitch red X’s onto the white cloth background

a large red x is stitched onto the white cloth background

Photo Description: One red X is stitched onto the white cloth background. (One down, one to go)

two red X's are stitched onto the white cloth background

Photo Description: Two large red X’s are stitched onto the white background

Two red X's are stitched onto a large white cloth background as women look on

Photo Description: Two red X’s are stitched onto a large white cloth background as women look on

Before:

Rochester Cathedral

Photo Description: Rochester Cathedral as it appeared in the morning

After:

Rochester Cathedral with banners hanging

Photo Description: Banners hanging at Rochester Cathedral

five smiling women who appeared in other photos as they were stitching the red X's to the expansive piece of white fabric

Photo description: Five smiling women who appeared in other photos as they stitched the red X’s to the expanse of white cloth

Artist Wendy Daws (wearing glasses) with her Band of Merry Banner Makers. 

These banners and the quilts will hang in Rochester Cathedral through 3/12/2018. The Engineer and I will be at Rochester Cathedral on 1/24 to see these magnificent banners and the quilts they portend, and I look forward to having an opportunity to thank (and hug) those who commemorated those we honor with such dedication and astonishing beauty. If you want to come put your neck in front of me to be hugged, let me know and I’ll get back to you with the exact time to meet up.

Thank you, Lucy Horner and Wendy Daws for these photos
. . . and so, so, so much more.

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There’s much more magnificent commemorating to come,
so subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single thing.
And feel free to share this post as you will.

Postcard from Across the Pond

December 12, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Writes The 70273 Project Ambassador, Lucy Horner . . .

We will be filling the Nave of Rochester Cathedral with XX from Friday 19th January to Monday 12th of March.  Many thanks to Rochester Cathedral’s management committee for extending the time period to give more people chance to see it, and for extending the scope of the display area so that we can commemorate even more people.

On Wednesday 24th January, we will be gathering to remember, celebrate, thank, and raise a glass … more details to follow!

 Thank you to Grosvenor Shows for hosting us at the Autumn Quilt Show at Detling, and thank you to all of you who came, and sat and stitched our Middlings and commemorated more lives.
Edina and The A Team Facilitate a Block Drive for The 70273 Project in the UK

It’s so good to see Edina, back on her pins, and firing on all cylinders again with her A Team of helpers after breaking her foot a few months back.  This Project runs on Love, and everyone who helps with it makes sacrifices … whether it is their time, aching fingers … (or brains) … family time … ‘me’ time … or dipping into their coffers, but Edina really has given so much to The 70273 Project.  There’s no way that our South East contribution would be where it is without her. Thank you Edina! XX

a collage of people in the UK making blocks for The 70273 Project
More quilts and blocks being made in the U.K.
an assortment of people making blocks in the U.K.

Thanks to Francis Iles Galleries in Rochester, we will be swelling the coffers of The 70273 Project as they raise funds with their Art on a Postcard Sale.  Their Gallery Artists have donated original works that will be sold on the night of Thursday 30th of November from 6pm for £25 each, and proceeds will be split between The 70273 Project and The Cinnamon Trust.

The donation of people’s time in making blocks and commemorations is invaluable, but we also have a number of wonderful people to thank who have given us donations towards materials.  They are

Medway Council who have given us a £250 grant, Rob Flood – whose company ‘Feet on the Ground’ generously provided £200 for materials for the altar banners, Bev Bunn who donated money from her lemon-sherbert-loving Dad Vic’s funeral donations, Christine Tedman and Roy Clarke THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH … the cost of materials for the South East 70273 Project is running towards £1,000 so all donations are very much appreciated.

students at Waldegrave School in the U.K. make blocks for The 70273 Project
Nicole Davis, Head of Design & Technology, Fashion & Textiles at the Waldegrave School in the U.K., looks at the quilts and blocks made for The 70273 Project by students
Students at the Waldegrave School in the United Kingdom make blocks for The 70273 Project
Wearing the blue sweaters of their school uniform, students of the Walgrave School in the United Kingdom use needle and thread to stitch red fabric in the shape of two red X's to a base of white fabric
More Waldegrave students make blocks for The 70273 Project

And talking of heroes … we met Nicole Davies at The Great British Sewing Bee Live a few months back and she pledged to get her students at Waldegrave School, (where she is Head of Design & Technology, Fashion & Textiles) to make some blocks.   Being an absolute super star, she’s been as good as her word, and has made 5 quilts!!  Thank you to Nicole, and the pupils, staff and parents who have helped in this massive achievement. XX

Teenage students of the Waldegrave School in the United Kingdom smile as they use red fabric to make pairs of red X's that are then stitched on a white base to become blocks for The 70273 Project
A female teenager wearing a blue sweater sits beside a female teenage student stitching pairs of red X's onto white bases to commemorate some of the 70273 disabled people who were murdered by Nazis
A female student of the Waldegrave School stitches two red X's on a white base to make a block for The 70273 Project
A female wearing glasses and a black sweater sews two red X's onto a white base to make a block for The 70273 Project
A huge bouquet of gratitude to Lucy for these photos and all the time and energy she’s poured into The 70273 Project, to Edina, Wendy, Nicole, Veronica, Waldegrave students, Frances Iles Gallery, Medway Council, Rob Flood, Bev Bunn, Christine Tedman, Roy Clarke, Siobhan, Sharon, and so many others who I will hopefully get to meet and thank in person when I’m there in January.
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I’ve been wearing my Idea Hat which  means there will be many new things happening in The 70273 Project next year. To make sure you don’t miss anything that’s happening around the world:
subscribe to the blog
subscribe to The 70273 Project XXtra Newsletter
join The 70273 Project Campfire (English facebook group)
join Le Projet 70273 (French facebook group)
like The 70273 Project facebook page

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