Greetings from Circle Of Friends,Tragedy is tragedy. You can never dilute the effect it has on your life.
And there are few more catastrophic events in a woman’s life than the loss of a child. Especially a child that’s stillborn, or a child that dies in early infancy.
Shirley Zions, who brought the Blankets Of Love Scheme to life for the Quilters’ Guild of NSW, Inc in 1993, knows first-hand and second-hand the impact the loss of a child has on your life.
Shirley had 5 miscarriages before her first child was born. And her sister, Jan Polverino, an intensive care nurse in the neo-natal ward at King George V hospital, witnessed 50 deaths a year in their nursery.
As Shirley explains, you’re suddenly confronted with the realisation that none of your plans for your baby will ever come to fruition. Your consciousness is consumed with trying to work through your grief.
And when all the hospital can offer you is a sheet to hold your deceased baby in, while you give it its first and last cuddles, the impersonal impact of that sheet doubles your sense of loss and devastation. Especially as you are not given a lasting memento to take home with you.
And so Blankets Of Love is born out of the despair of grief.
In 1993, Shirley and her sister Jan mobilised a group of interested quilters to make Blankets Of Love as a caring gesture to mothers in grief. So they can envelope their child in a blanket of warmth and softness. So they can snuggle their faces into it and cuddle their loss for as long as they like, knowing their child is well and truly wrapped in a blanket of love.
The Blankets Of Love is a national program, coordinated from the Quilters’ Guild of NSW, Inc by Shirley.
Blankets are made by quilters all over Australia and dispersed through Shirley and her sister Jan to maternity hospitals as requested.
And this is an interesting facet of Blankets Of Love. They’re not all the same.
It’s important that these Blankets Of Love fit in with the ethnic demographics of the population that uses each hospital. So each grieving mother receives a blanket that fits in with whatever her ethnic background is.
And every blanket is given to the mother to keep as a memento.
Approximately 2,000 Blankets Of Love are made every year.
The blankets are sent to Shirley by quilters when they’re completed. Jan and Shirley then sort them into the states they came from and are then posted back to hospitals in the state where the blanket was made.
These two women volunteer their time and the quilters who make the blankets use their own supply of fabric for each blanket.
And it is a labour of love.
What’s the impact of a Blanket Of Love on a family?
Shirley and Jan get extraordinary letters of gratitude from mothers who have received a blanket.
They also receive letters from women who lost a child as far back as 50 years ago, who lament the fact they have nothing to remember their child by, except their loss.
Blankets of Love is an extraordinary gift to mothers in the throes of despair. And given with love and compassion by every woman associated with the scheme.
Aren’t you proud to be associated with the Quilters’ Guild of NSW, Inc?
As with the Community Quilts Group, if you're already a member of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc, you can now order online. Just enter the code QG25 into the Customer Comments section of the online order form for the Shopping Cart. Your donation will find its way to the keepers of the money at the Guild.
You can order at any time that’s convenient for you. There’s no time limit. And I include both Community Quilts and Blankets Of Love in your donation.
If your group isn't already a member, I’d really love to welcome you into the Circle so you can experience the joy of what goes around comes around for yourself.
All the details about Circle Of Friends are contained in my original post What Goes Around Comes Around. It's at the beginning of my posts.
Take care,
CAROL
Carol Jones
Director
This is where we live and work.Interface Pty Ltd
6026 Sofala Road Ilford NSW 2850
PO Box 139 Kandos NSW 2848
Tel: 02 63 58 85 11 Fax: 02 63 58 85 10
To view my complete product range, visit my website: www.interfaceaustralia.com
Email: See the online email form in the sidebar
This is who we are.
Carol Jones and Victor Pleshev
Designers and Makers in rural NSW
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