A Quilty Hug

Recently, I gained a new online friend in the form of Maria, who started commenting on my blog. I mentioned how she has donated quilts to a favourite charity in the USA, Happy Chemo! in my last post. She contacted me and said she would like to send me a quilt for comfort during my chemo sessions. As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed by this kindness and accepted with alacrity, although I felt I did need to remind her that I was located in the UK and that the postage may prove too much, but this did not deter her one bit!

Today, my beautiful quilt arrived, and I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself as I struggled to open the box and reveal the treasure within!

Here it is.

Isn’t it stunning and beautiful? I am so, so thrilled with this marvellous gift.

In with the parcel, Maria had put this hilarious postcard for me – a little education for an ignorant Brit, from a full-blooded Southern Belle, on how English should be spoke!

I hope all y’all are as moved as I am by my new friend’s generosity and kindness. She knows only too well what it is like enduring the rigours of chemo, and how much a quilty hug can mean. Hop over to her blog and just take a look at all the beautiful quilts she has made. Not only is she a very skilled quilter, but I love her turn of phrase – she’s an excellent writer too!

Reading about her, and about Happy Chemo! challenged me to do something to bring a little cheer into the lives of my own fellow chemo sufferers, which is why I have started making my little lavender sachets to give them, to bring them the healing and comforting scent of English lavender from our neighbour’s garden.

As I endure the rigours of chemo in the months ahead, I know that as I look at my beautiful quilt and feel its texture and warmth, and revel in its colours and patterns, I shall be comforted and lifted out of myself, and even when I am feeling at my most poorly, to know that I am loved and cared for, and that people all around the world are praying for me, and I have more blessings in my life than I could possibly deserve, and how impossible it is to count them all.

When we hear everyday on the news of all the awful things that people do to each other in this world, it encourages me no end to know that not everybody is like that, and that there are people who reach out across the world and perform acts of kindness to bless others that they hardly know. I have been challenged a lot of late with the knowledge that I really do very little for other people, and how I could be using my own God-given skills and talents to bring some sunshine into the darkness of the lives of others. Thank you, Maria, not just for this wonderful quilt, but for giving me the push I needed to start doing this in a small way. May God bless you.