At the Hospital...For a Good Reason :)

Yesterday I got to get out of the shop for a bit ~ I was invited to the Howard County General Hospital to attend a quilt unveiling as part of the National Hospital Week celebrations and observances...

...Why was I invited?  I had the honor of participating by quilting the quilt that was being unveiled!

48 different departments of the hospital participated in the making of this quilt by each providing a block!  Standing with the quilt here is Vivian Bonnell, a nurse in the NICU, who was one in the group of ladies who coordinated the making of the quilt.  Vivian contacted me to do the quilting after they had collected all the blocks and pieced the top together.
  

Everyone was so nice and welcoming to me yesterday as members of the different hospital departments gathered to see the quilt unveiled, and Howard County General Hospital president Steve Snelgrove even recognized me in his remarks, and chatted with me afterwards, asking me questions about the process of longarm quilting.

After the presentation, it was fun to watch people go up to the quilt and look at all the details, and find their department's block :)  The quilt is a nice testament of the unity, pride and respect that the departments of the hospital have for each other.

The blocks are all so different and creative, and many of them weren't made by quilters at all, so there was quite a variety of mediums used.  We decided I would quilt them in various ways on the different blocks to help with structure and stabilization, but not take anything away from the block itself.  Some were quilted simply all over, and some were stitched in the ditch or just highlighted with light quilting depending on the materials used.  Here are photos of some of them that I took when I was quilting it, so you can see some of the fun details they included on their blocks...

 There were logos and embroidery on some blocks...

 And some had stuffed elements like this little Pharmacy Super Hero and this Heart :)

 

Then there were the blocks that weren't made of regular fabric at all like this one from Sterile Processing.  This is one that also had items attached that I had to remove to load the top on my quilting frame.  I took photos before, so I could carefully sew things back on to the same place that they came from.

 Some blocks were computer generated and printed out on fabric sheets then sewn into a block.

 ...felt, letters and patches...

 ...and multiple types of paints.

 Coloring, beads, and jewels glued on. 

 Fun coloring and sketching too.

 Applique & Yoyos! This is Vivian's block from the NICU :)

And I found out today that some of my regular customers made blocks in this quilt too!  Judy Sullivan worked on this Claudia Mayer Cancer Research Center block :)

 And Ellen Deklau made this cute block from the Finance Department using fun novelty fabrics :)

...If you worked on a block in this quilt, let me know!

So now this quilt is hanging right in the main lobby for all to see ~ Walk in the main front door of the hospital and look over to the right and you'll see it!

I've sat in the waiting areas of this very hospital on many an occasion, and I know first hand how nice it is to have something interesting to look at, and focus your mind on when waiting in these situations.  I'm honored to have been a part of this special project.

If you get a chance ~ stop by the Howard County General Hospital on Cedar Lane in Columbia and take a look at the quilt.  It's a chance to visit the hospital for a good reason :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn