Monday, April 20, 2009

Grab a cup of coffee and....

... please read what follows. Many of you abroad have certainly heard about the terrible earthquake that struck the italian central region of Abruzzo the night of april 6.
298 people died, half of them were students since L' Aquila ( the capital city of Abruzzo ) has a university, 55 thousand people are now homeless, the situation is still after two weeks one of emergency and on top of it all, the earth is still shaking. The italian people answered in a marvelous way and many are there to help, the Protezione Civile ( the italian relief corps ) is doing an incredible job and in no time tents were up and folks were fed and given medical assistance.
Many people used what they had, their skills or just their hands to help. A pizza truck, baked pizzas, a small orchestra played music to cheer up the folks, a hairdresser went with her scissors and combs...... My answer to this is I' ll make quilts !!! Well even if i will sew 10 or 20 throws they will be like a drop in the bucket, so i felt i should involved all the quilters who feel they would like to participate with me in this project i called " A thousand colors for the children of Abruzzo ". The purpose is to provide children ages three to five ( here in Italy it is call kindergarten and most children attend all day ) with a quilt they can call their own, they do not need a blanket, you all quilters know what i mean.
In Italy quilting is not a tradition, but it is becoming more and more appreciated and many women of all ages are learning the art.
I am one of the founding members of the italian guild Quiltitalia (1996), the founding member of one of the first local guilds Sala di Quiltatura ( 1998) the promoter of the first quilting convention in the north east Italy and the inventor of the Quilting Day ( an event that is now duplicated in many parts of Italy :)). I'm also one of the first quilting instructors and i feel a pioneer in participating with other few to make the beautiful art of quilting known in my country. I felt i should share these informations to introduce myself on the blog since many of you whose blogs I read regularly, do not know me. All that I have accomplished has been to the advantage of the project for Abruzzo, since it is for this i decided to start blogging again. I shared the project on april 13th with my italian fellow quilters, students, quilt shops and I' m not done yet....... The response i 'm getting is amazing, quilters surely know how to show their solidarity, and i felt i should extend the opportunity to all outside the boundaries of Italy to participate. Maybe you are of italian descent, or you love italian food or you are just a mother thinking that you sure would like your child to have a quilt that he can consider his own possession after losing all he or she had and cherished. Think about it or... do not think at all and just drop me an e mail at roberta.sperandio@alice.it requesting the details of the project ( measurements , deadline ect....), I answer all the e mails that come my way. Also if you feel like you would like to involve other quilters wherever they may be, feel free to pass this message on.
I had the privilege of having the owner of Bernina Italy publish the project on the first page of their official web site and the italian version of the quilting magazine Magic Patch will publish it on their upcoming issue. Thank you for listening , and thank you also to all who will answer.
I will post regularly the progress of " A thousand colors " on the blog, so visit when you can and if all you can do is that and think and pray for all the folks of Abruzzo, that alone will make me happy.

Always stitching

Roberta

11 comments:

Dana said...

I would love to help. Let me know what exactly to do!

Tanya said...

Hi Roberta! So glad to see you are blogging again. Please let me know what your deadlines and measurements will be for your quilt project. Blessings to you and your family and the people involved with "A Thousand Colors for the Children of Abruzzo."

Barbara York said...

I have a top all done that I can send your way. I will need to add the batting and backing and tie it but can have it in the mail by next week. Please send the deadline and measurements my way. What a wonderful project and what a wonderful woman for organizing it.

Barbara, TX, USA

Mandy said...

Please could you send me the details too. I shall mention your request at the next meeting of the Hartford Quilters Group too.

Allie said...

Emailing you now - I'd love to help.

Marj said...

Roberta, I read Tanya's blog and have a small , bright quilt top that I can finish and send your way by the end of May. Please e-mail me with the instructions as to what is needed and where to mail it.

Anonymous said...

Roberta,
I read about your quilt project on Tanya's blog. My students want to make a quilt for the children. Please send me the measurements and deadlines. We made the quilt top today and plan to finish the quilt next week.

Janet
Nashville, TN

jpstout@comcast.net

Shari said...

Thank you Roberta for doing this for the children of your country. Please send me the details.

Cheers!

Simone de Klerk said...

Hi Roberta, could you please give me more information on this project, so I can see what I might be able to do.
Great of you doing this!

Nancy E said...

We have a quilting group at church... let us know what we can do.

jan said...

I have a quilt ready to post for you I finished it today. Please email me your address. many thanks. glad to help