As a quilter it always brings me such joy when I can produce a special gift for someone with my skills and my time.

I was recently asked by a friend ( a non-quilter) who knew that I had on occasions made quilts for people I have not necessarily known, asked if I could possibly make a quilt for a young girl who was currently in her care.

This child I do not know personally, but I had learned of her and the situation she is currently in, and when asked, I did not want to make a firm commitment but offered to think on the idea. I asked a few general questions and went off to continue my day.

Each time I thought about this little girl, I felt a tug to do something about it. I gathered together fabrics and other related bits that I had in my “Stash”, then went about adding just a few specially purchased pieces that I knew she would relate to.

Without any clear picture of what this quilt would look like, I started to applique some letters onto patches and began thinking of what I would like this quilt to represent for this little girl: something inspirational, something that made her feel loved and special, something she could keep on discovering new things about as she cuddled under the quilt, and something that she could create her own story around as she read the words and related to the images it contained.

This quilt seemed to effortlessly take shape in and around my other commitments, and within a couple of weeks I found I had completed the project and along the way I had felt the need to also express my thoughts about this project in the form of a poem which I also presented to my friend. I had great delight in sharing an afternoon tea with my friend and this special girl and the look on her face, the wide eyes and big smile, when she understood this had been made especially for her and was hers to keep – a priceless gift to me.