Photo courtesy of Stefanie Orozco.
Uvalde, Texas. Scene of yet another school shooting.
When Uvalde organization Quilts of Grace sent out word of an immediate need, East Dallas neighbors answered the call, creating and delivering more than 200 quilts in 13 days, quilts that would ultimately comfort children and others affected by the tragedy.
A few days after the shooting, Diana Bonnet, director of Quilts of Grace, began calling quilt/fabric shops throughout Texas, asking for donations of completed quilts and sewing supplies. One of those she called was our neighborhood’s Urban Spools Sewing Lounge. Owner Stefanie Orozco says she didn’t hesitate to volunteer her team’s skills.
“I’m a strong believer that your community is only as good as what you put into it. So it was an immediate ‘yes’ from us. We are all quilters, and knowing we could help someone in the quilting community in a great time of need was just a no-brainer for us,” Orozco says.
Orozco used social media and the shop’s website to spread the word to customers and quilt guilds in Dallas, Garland and Cedar Hill. Those guilds, in turn, reached out to other guilds.
Mindful of Uvalde’s immediate need for quilts, they agreed to a tight goal: 50 quilts and one box of supplies in 13 days. Many broke out their quilting tools at home; others set up in the sewing rooms at Urban Spools.
Orozco says those two weeks were busy and a bit chaotic.
“Everyone was working on some sort of quilt. It was nonstop, and many stayed after hours to continue the work,” she says.
It became apparent the work was therapeutic for the volunteers.
“Some would come in to talk and cry with us and share their frustration. I think it helped for them to have a place to go to just talk about the tragedy,” she says.
Lakewood Hills neighbor Deb Crow was one of the volunteers.
“I can’t begin to feel the pain that this community has gone through, and I wanted to help in any way I could. I didn’t consider this work; it was a labor of love and a chance to reach out with a hug for those in pain.”
Steve Rossiter is another neighbor who pitched in, creating a Lone Star-design quilt in red, green, gray and blue.
“I thought it would bring some joy to someone during this time,” Rossiter says.
If you’ve never made a quilt, the process is labor-intensive. A quilt consists of three layers: top, batting and backing. After choosing a pattern/design and cutting fabric, the top is stitched together one patchwork piece at a time. The quilter then creates a “sandwich” of the three layers, adds quilt stitches to hold the layers together and, finally, binds the edges.
So it’s no small feat the volunteers met their goal of 50 quilts in five days. They ultimately produced 251 handmade quilts, 36 quilts “in progress” (those needing batting, quilting and binding) and three large boxes of fabric and thread.
“The North Texas quilting community is incredible and really stepped in to help,” Orozco says. “A few expressed that it helped them feel like they could do something to help with the grief they felt for the Uvalde community rather than just watch helplessly at all the news that was flowing out from the tragedy.”
With so much to donate, shipping was out of the question. So Orozco and her two children, ages 18 and 14, loaded a pickup truck with the quilts and supplies and headed to Uvalde to hand-deliver donations to Bonnet.
“Diana told us how almost every person in the town was impacted in some way or another by the tragedy, including her own husband,” says Orozco, who presented Bonnet with a quilt of her own from the Dallas quilting community.
“It was very emotional,” Orozco says. “She said it wasn’t until she got it that she realized she, too, was going to need time to heal.”
The donated quilts were given to the affected families, various long-term counseling services,
Robb Elementary staff, funeral home staff, and EMS and fire department /first responders . Bonnet said many recipients would “hold on tight to the quilt and some wrap up in it, followed by hugs of gratitude.”
After delivering the quilts, Orozco and her children stopped by Robb Elementary, visiting each child’s memorial.
“It was difficult for all three of us,” she says. “There were other children there grieving for their friends. It really made an impact on us.”
For information about helping Quilts of Grace, contact Diana Bonnet at dbonnet113@gmail.com.
