By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
MOULTONBOROUGH – New Hampshire’s efforts to help the children and families of war-torn Ukraine now include a group of Moultonborough women who are raffling off a quilt they made to benefit the grassroots effort known as Common Man for Ukraine.
The colorful strips of blue and yellow with the center the shape of a heart are featured on the work that took these women months, getting together every Monday morning to work on it and it is now done.
Those who would like to enter the raffle for the quilt or donate to the Common Man for Ukraine cause, can find the information here https://givebutter.com/PoPSjR
Cornelia Schneider said Moultonborough’s Shannon Fairchild also created a three and a half minute video about the effort which she said is also a work of art called “Stitching Hope: Quilters for Ukraine”.
The release of the video and completion of the quilt come at a time when organizers of Common Man for Ukraine and some of their New Hampshire supporters are in Ukrainian villages near the front lines.
“They are incommunicado because it is too dangerous to bring electronics into those villages – the Russian army will home in on the signals and send deadly drones,” Schneider said.
She said the quilting effort grew out of a simple act of solidarity with Ukraine.
Moultonborough women began sewing flags to wave at the main intersection on Route 25 in Center Harbor. “After we waved Ukrainian flags a couple of times a friend and neighbor of mine, Susan Wiedenheft, thought it might be nice to create a quilt and try to raise some money for Ukraine,” she said.
“We put the word out and a clutch of Moultonborough quilters came together to design a quilt. These gals are extraordinary. I’m a quilter wanna-be and when I asked some of them how many quilts they’ve made, most answered something like, ‘I’ve been quilting for 40 years. I have no idea how many quilts I’ve made in that time.'”
One expert quilter in the group is Colleen Whary who showed the women a design created by a friend of hers. Sadly, she has since passed away.
“Her friend Lissa designed the quilt for victims of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. The design was an abstract heart with reverberations in the pattern. We chose that idea as the inspiration for our design,” Schneider said.
“I was fascinated by the process. Women brought scraps of fabric to us and the quilters chose colors which they thought might fit the idea. Everytime I asked, ‘Where did this fabric come from?’ I got an answer like, ‘That was left over from a wedding quilt I made.’ or ‘That’s leftover fabric from my granddaughter’s bed quilt when she visits’ or ‘I got that fabric from so-and-so who doesn’t quilt anymore because she went into assisted living.'”
She said all of the fabric had a story.
“It came from women’s homes…from their ‘stash.’ I learned that it’s not uncommon, that when a husband dies, the quilting ladies will gather his shirts, cut them up and create a quilt for his widow. I teared up when I heard that. Apparently it’s not uncommon among the quilting community,” she said.
Shannon Fairchild is not a quilter, but a brilliant videographer.
“I was telling her about the quilt project one day and she said, ‘Cornelia, that would make a lovely video’.”
While she said this might not be a compelling story line for a video, she said Fairchild disagreed and told her, “Oh no, there’s a story there.”
The video includes both still photographs of the women waving their handmade Ukrainian flags for the vehicles at the lights in Center Harbor and then videos of them working on the quilt over time and Fairchild’s narration.
“Kindness, like thread, can indeed help bridge the distances between us,” it concludes.
Schneider said she contacted Common Man Ukraine co-organizer Susan Mathison and asked if they might be interested in the completed quilt to raffle.
She said Mathison said it would be a wonderful idea.
The Common Man for Ukraine effort has already raised close to $4 million.
“They are going to use it to try to raise some more money for their Ukrainian effort with children who have lost fathers. Also now women who have lost husbands,” Schneider said.
To learn more about the effort and the 13th humanitarian trip now underway involving New Hampshire people visit https://commonmanforukraine.org/