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Friday, June 24, 2011

Quilts Touching China!


I’m driving to Fredericksburg, VA this morning! And I wanted to leave something special with you that I just KNOW you will enjoy, and feel that familiar tug to the heartstrings!

I received this inspirational email from Elizabeth, who is living with her hubby in the town of Shijiazhuang and raising their 4 children there!

Read on! You will be touched!

Dear Bonnie,
My name is Elizabeth. I read your blog regularly, when I can. It's not always easy to accomplish such simple tasks as that over here in China, but I'm not complaining. I love it here!

My Husband's work took him to the then little-known city of Shijiazhuang (thanks to the melamine milk, however, everyone has the WRONG idea about this place). Foreigners are WAY in the minority here and, when I was not working at the foreign language school, I went years without spotting another non-Chinese person.

I am now up to my ears with children. Each kindergarten class has roughly 40 students in it and at one point I had 33 classes a week. Not to mention that I am the mother of 4 little ones of my own (girl, boy, boy, girl, 8,6,4,2).

Since there is a lot of back-story which doesn't pertain to this story, I'll stick to the facts:

Qisforquilt

One of the vocabulary words listed for the 3 to 4 year old group of kids (no day-care or preschool in China. They just start at the age of 3...) was the word "Quilt".

Whereas quilted garments and the like have been in existence and worn for thousands of years in China, there are no quilts, to speak of. The verb "to quilt" has a translation (绗缝 hang feng), but the noun "quilt" doesn't have a direct translation. If you look it up in the dictionary, it will give you a word which is the closest approximation, but the whole concept doesn't translate.

Unfortunately, the illustration in the book looked more like a used wad of tissue than a blanket of any form and was certainly NOT a quilt, so, I made a quilt.

This managed to really irritate the other teachers, who not having quilts as a part of their culture, just didn't understand that you can't simply swap out the word blanket or comforter with a word so intrinsically linked to our culture.

The kids, however, immediately saw the difference and asked if we could make a quilt as a present for the much beloved vice principal who was in charge of their tiny 3-class branch kindergarten located about 8 bus-stops from the main campus. She was expecting a baby in the late summer and the kids wanted to do something for her that she would remember for the rest of her life. Until I brought the quilt in, they had been at a loss for ideas, but something just clicked in their young minds and, together, we hatched a plan.

Each child brought in an 8 inch square of fabric with their name and class level sewn on it. Each piece of fabric came from something they had used when they were infants. We had everything from T-shirts to towels thrown in the mix! Slowly, I sewed the sturdiest patches together in my spare time (which took about 4 months because, yeah, spare time? What's that again?) The quilt was completed one week before my last day of class. We had the kids take a picture with it and brainstormed how to involve all of them in the giving of their gift.


Conveniently enough, there is a long hallway which runs along the front of the Kindergarten. We simply lined the kids up in the hallway on either side of the entry way. When the principal poked her head out to see what all the commotion was about, we presented her with the quilt. Can you imagine over a hundred kids all between the ages 3 and 6 calling out "To our "Mama" Principal; we hope that you have a happy and healthy baby! WE LOVE YOU!!!" ? (It sounds better in Chinese. Some things just don't quite translate...)


All of the adults were teary-eyed and the poor principal was all but sobbing.

IMG_8006AA

Quilts are special. They are a gift of love made with love by people who love what they're doing. You can't look that up in a dictionary and I'm glad for the chance to share what quilts are all about. I love being a quilter (and a mother and a teacher etc.)
I'm sorry that the pictures are blurry, but you get the general idea.
With Love,
Elizabeth Gentry
张丽莎

Doesn’t that just give you goosebumps?! I know it did me. Thanks Elizabeth, for sharing your love of quilting with us, and with the children!

I’m on the road again, the new minivan is loaded and ready to ROADTRIP!! Have a great weekend everyone!

31 comments:

The Nifty Stitcher said...

What a lovely story. Warms the cockles of your heart! Thank you to Elizabeth and you, Bonnie for sharing.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Great story! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Anonymous said...

I sorta teared up reading that letter....I think it is amazing that children realized how special quilts are. Sometimes people from our own culture don't differentiate Quilt from Blanket.
I am constantly inspired by the wisdom in children...Thanks for sharing Bonnie!!!! ;)

JanyceR said...

Thank you so much for sharing that letter. What a wonderful story!

Coloradolady said...

This was great to read this morning.....I loved what she said! I added this to my fb status this morning.....love!!

Quilts are special. They are a gift of love made with love by people who love what they're doing. ~ Elizabeth Gentry

pcflamingo said...

What a happy story! Why am I crying??

Anonymous said...

Where did I put that box of tissues?
Wonderful letter, Bonnie, thanks so much for sharing; keeps us ever mindful of just why most of us quilt. Safe journey to VA.
Faye B

JudyCinNC said...

Through teary eyes, I "felt" the love of those little children and how proud they must have been. It takes so little to create happiness if done in love. Thanks for sharing this profound story. Judy C

Anonymous said...

Wonderful story. I made a quilt for my daughter's language teacher in Russia. She was so thrilled. She told my daughter that her mother had "Hands of Gold." Loved this story. We are to do what we can for other people. And sometimes the smallest thing means the most. I make "blankies" for chemo patients. I always tell them, "Blankets are cover; blankies are love and comfort to wrap up in. Don't know how to leave my name.

susis quilts said...

oh ,what a lovely story,thanks for this,have a nice trip,susi

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

what a great story and love the photos.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

miscellanea said...

What a nice, touching story this is. The mother-to-be must feel very happy to geat such a great gift. Thanks for sharing, Bonnie.

Lynn Dykstra said...

Eve is in Shanghai this summer and I sent her this post.

Janet O. said...

Love the story--oh, the power of a quilt! I have a special needs grandson who recently has been fighting bedtime. For his 2nd birthday last month I gave him a quilt with Dr. Seuss characters in the blocks. His mom tells me that when she puts that over him now he just lays there and smiles.

Lori said...

What a terrific story!!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Great story. What a wonderful way to teach an other culture about this great 'hobby' of ours that means so much to all of us. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful, touching story! Thanks for sharing!

mary e said...

goose bumps, yes. bonnie, you have touched so many around our small world. your kindness, positive attitude, teaching, sharing, one quilt at a time. (even help us comment when the blogosphere rejects us) thanks. :>)

Reena said...

what a story! Thanks for sharing it...

Sharon said...

I love the little quote at the end. Quilts are a gift of love made by people who love what they are doing. I get very upset sometimes when I hear other quilters trying to "justify" if someone deserves a quilt or not. I make and give them because I love to, not because I expect anything in return. I have never regretted giving one away and I hope that never changes. Bless you Miss Bonnie for all you do for us to inspire us and keep us going.

Paul said...

Great letter, and I am glad nobody walked into my office while I read... I must have had a piece of dust in my eyes, 'cuz they kept tearing up.

Drive Safely on your road trip,
Paul
www.OutnumberedQuilter.com

Nane said...

We hope to adopt from China next year...and you can bet a quilt will make its way with me for as one of the first gifts our new little one will receive. Quilts are special and I am so glad she shared this story!

Anonymous said...

Quite a letter! Thanks for sharing Bonnie. And I didn't get goosebumps, I just cried.
cindy

Jeanne said...

What a beautiful story! Thanks for sharing.
jlgrabowski

Lisa said...

Thanks for sharing Elizabeth's story. It was very moving.

YankeeQuilter said...

Love this story...thanks to you both for sharing it!

dot said...

This story made me cry. So often we think what we do doesn't matter but stories like this make me realize every thing we do does make a difference in someones life.

Kim said...

I just love that we have the internet to share great stories like that........if we didn't we would never know about an act of love in China that touches our hearts around the world.
thanks Bonnie :0).

Happy Sewing

Shari said...

Oh wow. I got a little teary eyed reading Elizabeth's story too. What a wonderful gift and a great way to teach the kids.

Pat V. said...

This is a fabulous story, thanks for sharing it!

BTW, I cut up my very first thrift store shirt yesterday. It's a lot more work than I imagined, but I'm very excited with my pile of "found" fabric!

Suze said...

Wow, thanks for sharing that wonderful story.

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