Over the last couple of years, I’ve been making quilts for the Welcome Blanket Project. Welcome Blanket is an organization that gives quilts and knitted or crocheted blankets to families who are new to the United States.

Why do this? The founder and artist Jayna Zweiman answers this beautifully, so I’m going to borrow her words:

When my grandparents came to this country, they saw the Statue of Liberty through the fog, and although life was challenging, the words on the base of that statue gave them hope for the life they were about to begin. When I watch people arriving now, there is no welcome quite like that. Our new neighbors deserve a 21st century welcome, because just like my grandparents, they are going to be someone’s grandparents too.
We are future ancestors. I want to live like one.

When I transitioned from painting to quilting as my primary art form about ten years ago, I started to notice cultural differences between these media. I noticed that civic service is built into the atmosphere of quilting. (I think this is a parallel effect of fiber art being economically devalued as “women’s work,” but that’s another discussion.)

Quilters love to give back. It’s not compulsory, but find any group of fiber artists and I guarantee those folks are actively looking for ways to support their fellow humans. Thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to extend our helping hands across cultural and political borders.

I hope that by sending a quilt into a stranger’s hands, I can tell them that they matter to me. If they get even a small amount of comfort and enjoyment out of it, my goals are fulfilled.

I’m trying out two label designs for the quilts I’m sending to Welcome Blanket.

Which one do you like better?

I’m Really Glad You’re Here.

I’m not posting to social media these days, so your subscription means a lot to me. I’m glad we can connect away from the hustle side of the internet.

A Video For Those Who Read This Far

I like the World Cup the same way I like Catholicism: not so much for the thing itself, but for the culture that surrounds it. I’m loving all the videos of tourists visiting the United States to see the World cup games. There are a lot of things America gets wrong, but there are also things we get right. Like ranch dressing.

Until next time,
xoxo Sarah