This was an idea started out of LoVe....

but unfortunately continues out of NeeD....


Can you HeLp ?

Testimonials

It's PerSonAL...

This letter was sent from a lady who had lost her daughter. 
She wrote...
The blankets are made in honour of my daughter who would have been around 17 now.
She is in my thoughts a lot as I make the blankets, so I very much hope the love transfers to their new owners and each blanket can bring some comfort.
Thanks so much for coordinating this project & giving those of us less organised the opportunity to contribute too.


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March 2014


Honestly Cheryll, it broke my heart when I read of the sizes required for the Blankets Of Love. It stirred up old memories of what I went through at the time of the loss of my baby. I will tell you my story....it is not just about me...but the loss of all the babies....& the pain it brings to the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters......
I was nineteen....it was my first marriage....I learnt he was an abusive alcoholic....I became pregnant & then at four months I started to bleed. I went to the doctor... her words to me were ... I was miscarrying & to go home to bed....on the way home I stopped at my church......I prayed all would be well .......... it wasn't.
I went to bed with towels packed around me & I stayed like that until the next day. About two o'clock the phone rang...I got up to answer it......before I got to the phone I lost the afterbirth......but still had the baby....the phone stopped......so I rang an ambulance & went back to bed. We lived in an apartment on the sixth floor......I had deadlocked the door & the ambulance men could not open the door.....I crawled to the door & managed to open it.....the stretcher could not fit in the lift & I will never forget the ambo driver who carried me down six flights of stairs to the ambulance......everything was a blur....until I woke up the next day in hospital....in a huge room with all the mothers & their babies......
I was not bathed.......still had the blood on my legs....two close friends came & asked what I needed...I said take me home. I cried for a very long-time..........because of the blood loss ......I was weak & could not walk. I signed myself out of the hospital ...my friend’s husband carried me to the car...back to the apartment....my ex husband was nowhere to be found.
My girl friend bathed me...cleaned up the bedding & looked after me.....grieving was hard. I could not look at other babies, toddlers let alone hold them....as my brother had his son around that time. Because of the abused I received I would not have another child....because I could not have him treat the baby the way he treated me. The marriage lasted six years.

Thanks to the love and help of my father, I lived......believe me.....one morning I was waiting for the train and took a step towards it....it was the thought of the pain I would cause to my parents that made me step back.

When I met my beautiful husband & had the courage to have our baby girl... that was traumatic within itself...but well worth it in the end.  I had misgivings Cheryll with the words I wrote here.....it struck a raw nerve I guess...as I have always wondered about by baby....a boy or a girl...if the fetus was malformed or beautiful....as I said something that never leaves you...

As I sit & write I have tears pouring down my face.....but as I said you have given me an outlet for my grief... making these blankets of love. 

If you can use my words to comfort others, you have my blessing... 
Hugs L


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February 2014

Christopher... the beautiful son of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth has donated many Blankets of Love and wanted to share her story...

I have quilted butterflies on all of the blankets for my son Christopher who was 26 when he died in November 2011.  He had a metabolic condition that we always knew might end his life early but he had a lot of get up and go so we had him for 26 1/2 years.
When we went to Canberra to bring him home there were lots of butterflies, one near his room which kept flying around me. Then the next day when Michael and I took his dog for a walk, 3 or 4  were with us again. One was on the windscreen of his car as we drove home (it stayed there for a good few klms)... so I think of him as a butterfly.
He is in each of the quilts that I send to you.

I also found out & read about Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She visited a Polish concentration camp & found the children's room walls were covered in butterflies. After 25 years EKR decided that these children knew they were going to die so left a message of hope that their souls would be reborn in a different form. This confirms my belief about Christopher being around still in that form with us today.

I added the butterfly to the labels to comfort other grieving families.
I hope you don't mind that I shared Christopher’s story with you.
Making these small quilts gives me a sense of purpose and is such a small thing to do to help other grieving parents.
Thanks

Elizabeth.
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February 2012

A reader wrote:

Many years ago while living in Singleton with my soldier husband we lost a baby at 16 weeks into the pregnancy.  The donations that go towards the Blankets of Love project will bring comfort to others who are in the same situation as we were all those years ago. It's a wonderful memory of their baby.

January 2012

Sue wrote:


Just over a decade ago my nephew was born and only lived for half an hour. My brother and his wife were given a blanket of love, some beautiful handmade clothing and a wash cloth to keep. It gave them a physical reminder of their short time with their baby.
It is a precious gift which you are giving.

September 2010
A reader wrote:
"I lost twin granddaughters who were stillborn at the beginning of the year and the things we were given was overwhelming.
Along with the blankets we received, clothing to dress them in, bootees, hats, teddy bears, gift boxes, disposable cameras, stamp pads to hand and foot print them, to name a few.
These gifts of love that you will be making and giving will mean so much to all people involved and provides a sense of comfort at a time of great discomfort."
Thank You for sharing this special memory.
(names withheld for privacy)