Scene 1:
You never know when the opportunity to help someone will present itself. You can’t predict where you will be or what you will be doing at the precise moment that opportunity knocks. You may even be scrubbing the kitchen floor. Betty Miller’s advice is keep your ears open and listen. She knows. She was scrubbing the kitchen floor.
It was 15 years ago when Betty was on her knees, soap and water on her hands, listening to the radio. A woman began talking about children with cancer at the hospital in Buffalo who needed quilts. Betty “skidded over to the counter with soapy hands to get a pen and write down the phone number." Soon after she called and spoke directly with the woman who started Project Linus and began volunteering her quilting skills. Now, at age 77, Betty is quilting more than ever.
Scene 2:
The town of Kakamega is in western Kenya, about 30km (18.6 miles) north of the equator. There is an orphanage in this town run by a woman named Vicki who is known as the “Mama” of the orphanage. While the orphanage was originally created to house 50 children, they are at capacity and hoping to grow to care for 100 children. Local police sneak more children in daily.
The orphanage building was constructed in part by Niagara Community Church in Niagara Falls, New York. The church supports the orphanage and purchased the beds and the mattresses. With so many children now at the orphanage, the sleeping arrangements are not as comfortable as they once were. Some children sleep on the mattresses on the floor and the other children sleep on the bare bed springs. (Think about this the next time you want to grumble about an uncomfortable bed.)
Scene 3:
Guess where Betty goes to church? This is where the beautiful connection begins.
Betty had the opportunity to meet Vicki “Mama” at Niagara Community Church. When Betty learned they were in need of quilts she immediately jumped at the opportunity to serve, just like she immediately jumped up from the kitchen floor 15 years ago. Betty quickly committed to making 100 quilts before January 2008. That’s 4 quilts a week in 25 weeks! Betty does all the quilting herself at her home in Niagara Falls. She has a quilting room set up in her basement and has several friends who help her with cutting and tying the final quilts. Her long time friends and neighbors Eileen Cook and Marilyn Thaylor give Betty lots of support along with Lois Row and several others from the Wesley Quilters of Niagara Falls. In January, a mission team from Niagara Community Church will deliver the 100 quilts to “Mama” and the orphans in her care. Imagine how much these quilts will mean to the children at the orphanage as they go to bed each night on a mattress on the floor or on bare bed springs.
Betty hand makes every quilt. This means her skilled and loving hands touch each piece of material and every thread with gentleness and great care. Each quilt, just like each child, is cherished, special, and unique. Each quilt will go from the loving hands of a quilter to the once unloved hands of a frightened child. Because of Betty, the children will know there is someone else who cares about how they sleep at night, someone who cares enough to make something just for them to have as their own. Webster’s dictionary defines the verb form of quilting as “create by stitching together". Thank you, Betty, for stitching love together so the children may hold it in their hands and wrap themselves in it.
Everyone has something to share, something to contribute, something that makes a difference. Keep your ears open and listen.
The average cost of supplies per quilt is approximately $10 if everything is purchased on sale. Each quilt requires 2 yards of print fabric, 2 yards of matching solid fabric and 2 yards of batting plus the necessary thread, yarn and ribbon for completion. Betty does not accept cash donations for her quilting project but she gladly acceptsdonations of cotton fabric, thread, batting and gift cards for Joanne Fabrics. If you are interested in donating quilting supplies to Betty's Love in Action Quilting Project, please contact us for additional information at LILBlog@aol.com. Fabric donations must be cotton or poly-cotton blends that are child appropriate. Please NO patriotic patterns or symbolism.
Shopping for supplies...
Betty's quilting workstations set up in her basement...
Working on the quilts...
Works in progress and some of the finished products!
Betty's quilting workstations set up in her basement...
Working on the quilts...
Works in progress and some of the finished products!
