I’ve written recently on the generosity of quilters and this week’s topic is another wonderful continuation of that theme.
Every so often someone lets me know that one of my posts was an inspiration to them and shows me the results. What a blessing this is to me. This time the quilter who greatly encouraged me is Tomi Fay. If her name sounds familiar it’s because she’s inspired a number of posts over the years. My favorite was the one about the Seminole Indians. She shared the history she knew of the Seminole women, the story of her grandfather trading with them, and even found an original doll online which now lives with me. Click here to read that post!
Here’s Tomi’s most recent email:
“You started this! My nephew and his wife are missionaries and I’ve been very involved in supporting their work for 20 years. Each month I tally the donations and so deeply appreciate the support of so many. A couple years ago I decided to thank those people, and I knit little hearts and mailed them out for Valentine’s. This year I was casting about for something to mail out to Brian’s supporters to express my appreciation.
Do you know where this is going? I saw your blog post about the hearts with the photo. That’s perfect! The photo idea wasn’t useful for this, but the hearts are wonderful! So I dug through my fabric collection and pulled out all sorts of pieces that would be fun to make into hearts. I made enough to send to Brian’s supporters, along with a hand-written note.“
“But it was too much fun to stop! So I made more. During COVID spring 2020 I felt the Holy Spirit show me that a number of women in our church were truly alone, constrained to their homes. For a number of weeks I made meals and delivered them every Wednesday. If the person wanted me to come in, I did. I just wanted them to know they were not forgotten. Then last Valentine’s I put together treats for the women in my church and neighborhood who are not blessed with a man in their lives – most are widows. This year I did the same again. You can see I made an assortment of muffins, and tied a heart to the top of the box.
In all I made 77 hearts. It was so much fun! Thank you for a terrific idea!
My blessings, Tomi Fay Forbes”
I’m so grateful for all the dear believers, like Tomi Fay’s nephew and his wife, who give up the comfort of a “normal” life to help those in need and share the Gospel. I feel these missionaries are so deserving of our prayers and support. But not everyone is meant to go on the mission field. We can all do things to bless others. And those who live alone are a special group who do need encouraging. Small things like hearts and muffins can be a big deal to those who are struggling. Thank you Tomi Fay!
If you’ve been inspired to give hearts to encourage others as Tomi Fay has done, you can find the tutorial on the pocket hearts by clicking here! And here are the small hearts she inspired me to make. I haven’t yet decided where I will gift them, but it was a joy to make them ~ and I actually used up a few bright and cheerful scraps from my fishbowl (to read a post about my fishbowl full of scraps click here).
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Happy Resurrection Sunday!
“My life was a purposeless puzzle, until I met Christ at the foot of His cross, and now I’m Puzzled No More!
Salvation – the most wonderful gift!
Mel says
Wonderful idea! Another suggestion for those hearts. Have you heard of “I Found a Quilted Heart”? Same idea but putting hearts out there anonymously for people to find. Just type “I found a quilted heart” to get to the website explaining what to do
Jan says
Two of us (we’re quilters) made lots of ❤️💙💜💛 for each of our Red Hat ladies and we’ll be giving a program on this topic “ IFAQH” next month.
Cindy Unruh says
I Know many are touched by those hearts. I too have been making hearts throughout the pandemic. Leaving mine in open areas to be “found” by someone.Just to brighten their day a bit. I’ve left one with a tip on a table when we were able to eat out again, left at rest stops when traveling, etc. Always Left with a prayer for whoever found it. Most recently I’ve made blue and yellow mini hearts (2”-3”) for my guild members to wear as a pin- serve as a reminder to keep these people in our hearts and prayers.
Wanda says
Thank you for your wonderful blogs.