By Dr. Ginger Gabriel
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
Children look to the adults in their lives to give them sustenance, safety and love. Nobody has figured out why some people get born into wealth and others born into scarcity. But most sacred scriptures warn that the “haves” need to share with the “have nots” of this world. Dire consequences are usually textually included for the rich who ignore the persons who are “in want.”
Carole Anderson created this pirates quilt for a child who is currently in the San Bernardino County foster care system. (Photos by Dr. Ginger Gabriel)
Children who live among us are often the ones who can use a bit of encouragement and a little bit of love. Mr. Lae Freeman, a social worker assigned to our mountain area, works with the kids who find themselves without a safe home. This happens when a child’s own birth family is not able to safely care for them.
Freeman has an interesting decade-long association with some mountain quilters known as Dogwood Quilters. In recent years this has grown to include some “down the hill” quilters known as the Citrus Belt Quilt Guild, operating out of Redlands.
This connection is one of Freeman’s favorite parts of his job. The quilters lovingly make quilts with different kids in mind. They mostly fund their own projects with specific age groups in mind. They spend 20 to 30 hours of their own time cutting, sewing, piecing and connecting the interesting and attractive top layer to the warmth-giving middle layer of batting and then attaching the backing with quilting stitches. The finishing touch is the binding that covers the raw edges of the quilt. Hand stitching the binding is about a four-hour job. The final work is attaching the label, which reads “Made with Love in Every Stitch. Dogwood Quilters.”
Each quilt has been designed with love by a local quilter and presented to Freeman to connect that quilt with the right child. He has a special locked cupboard that holds the quilts. This prevents the beautiful quilts from getting “lost.” In our interview, he said, “The child who receives this quilt has never gotten anything from anyone.” He tells the child, “You get to take your pick of any one of these quilts. Some people made this especially for you.”
Teenage boys and girls ask, “How long do I get to have it?” Freeman tells them, “Nope, you’re not borrowing it. It’s yours. These kids love it. I have to tell them, I don’t want it back! Somebody made it for you!”
Two of the quilts recently made to wrap foster children in love.
Freeman enjoys telling these stories as much as the kids enjoy picking out their own comfort quilt with the patch (the label) on the back. You know this is important to them when the child asks, “How should I take care of this quilt?”
Dogwood Quilters have been in the Lake Arrowhead/Crestline area for about 30 years, making quilts for the Mountains Community Hospital Skilled Nursing Facility. When the hospital had a maternity unit, each new baby received a precious infant quilt to take home.
Carole Anderson, coming to the quilting group from the fashion industry, noticed that the kids in the foster groups were using black trash bags to transport their earthly possessions from a current placement to the next assignment or back home again.
Feeling this was not right, she conferred with Freeman about protocol and then designed a large designer backpack bag for the kids. She bought the materials for the first bags, recruited a couple dozen “sewers” and in two days had 50 bags ready for Freeman to distribute.
This is an ongoing project as children in our county are routinely removed from unsafe homes and placed into safe homes. They no longer have to put their personal belongings into black trash bags for the journey. This one gift from the Dogwood Quilters supplies a little dignity and love for the journey.
Dogwood Quilters have two separate sew days where they work on community projects. Both of these Sew Days meet at Leisure Shores and are clubs within the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club (CFSCC).
Carole Anderson models the backpack she designed for the foster children to carry their belongings in, rather than in a trash bag.
If you sew and have your own machine, you are invited to join in the fun.
The Quilts of Valor sew day occurs on the third Monday of each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Send an email to askdrginger9@gmail.com to say you are coming so a place at the table is reserved for you. Quilts of Valor are presented to veterans of military service to thank them for their service.
The foster kids quilts and backpack sew days occur on the fourth Monday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you are interested in helping out with making a quilt for the foster kids, contact Phyllis at mprattely@aol.com. If you are interested in learning how to sew and get back into sewing, Phyllis is the woman to talk with.
When our quilters wrap you in a quilt, you are being wrapped in love.
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