Story of Quilt for Alex……………..

In early 2005 I was privileged to show my work in a solo exhibition at the Art Center in Lewisville, Texas that is a space provided by the Visual Arts League. It was an honor for me to have this show in my own back yard and I was rewarded in many ways.

This immensely successful exhibition could never have been realized without the dedication, hard work, and great belief in the project of Brenda Crawford, a member of the Greater Lewisville Arts Council and friend. She worked tirelessly on promoting the show and she successfully had the word out to all of the newspapers in our area and put her home telephone number on all the publicity so that she personally could answer all questions.

One day Brenda received a call from a woman who lives in a nearby suburb who had seen the notice about the quilt exhibit and just wanted information about getting a quilt done in memory of her son who she had recently lost. She was just looking for a starting place because some friends of hers had mentioned that it might be a way to use his clothing and other personal items as a remembrance. One friend had suggested to her that maybe she would want to take a quilting class and learn to do this. She knew herself well enough to know that was not going to be an option.

Brenda passed the information to me and I called Tammy, listened to her story and knew that if it was not something that I could do, that maybe I could find someone that could. I went to her house to get an idea of what she had and left with a very large plastic bag full of tee shirts, button up shirts, his Cub Scout uniform, and some other items. This was in February and I explained to her that it would be at least summer before I could get to it and did not know how I would do it or who would be involved. Tammy had no expectations other than she knew something would happen.

It was quite an experience for me to go into this seventeen year old child’s room and see all of his personal items and get a sense of who this wonderful young man had become. He was a senior at L.D. Bell High School, who had suddenly contracted spinal meningitis and died very suddenly just four days before Christmas and a month before his eighteenth birthday. Another part of this story is that Alex was a hemophiliac and had during his short life learned to be in control of his illness, was able to give himself injections when needed and took responsibility for his own needs. He knew when he required help from his parents and/or doctors and lived a normal life. He was very involved with school activities and while he could not be part of athletic activities, he excelled in other areas.

In late August, the construction of the quilt began. I determined very early on that this was not a project that would be easy to get accomplished by many hands and I just really wanted to do the designing and sewing myself. When you are working with predetermined materials, the piece takes on a life of it’s own. First I cut up the tee-shirts, and the plaid button shirts. Since I mostly work with batiks and hand-dyed fabrics, those were mixed in and they all worked beautifully together. I wanted the quilt to have a certain sophistication which is not always seen in “tee-shirt quilts” and at the same time be masculine and yet have a childlike quality.

Once the top was finished it had to be quilted. It had never been my intention to do this part and told the Liebers that if there were any costs involved it would be for the quilting and they were prepared for that. They also never intended this to be a gift and were just happy to have it done whatever it costs. In August, I asked Debbie Tribble, a new owner of a long-arm machine if she would be interested in doing the quilting part. I knew she had just started her business and since she is the mother of 3 sons, might be open to doing this. She immediately accepted the work and donated her services as well.

In the fall, Debbie and I delivered the finished quilt to Lieber family. There was laughter and tears and we all were touched by this experience.

A postscript to this story is that since Debbie and I gave them the gift of the quilt, the Liebers wanted to donate to some charity to pass the gift on to others and asked us to make a suggestion. Our choice was an organization that served children. In December 2006, Debbie and I received a letter from Heart House in Dallas, a charity that provides after school care to homeless families, thanking us for making the quilt and acknowledging a donation in memory of Alex Lieber for the quilt that we made. This was such a win-win for all of us and it was a truly a great ending to the year.

 

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