# Needle workers volunteer to finish dead woman's quilt. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-workers-volunteer-to-finish-dead-womans-quilt/842277 "2019-10-25T14:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-workers-volunteer-to-finish-dead-womans-quilt/842277/1 "2019-10-25T14:01:50Z")
Both of my grandmother’s made quilts. But nothing this elaborate. Every square requires hand embroidery and then the quilting is done. Downey knew she needed a lot of help to finish a project of this scale. She’s turned to the internet. I hope there is a follow up story. I’d like to see the finished quilt. > **[A thousand needle workers volunteer to finish dead woman's quilt](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50169038)** > > Craft enthusiasts from all over the US and Canada work on a deceased woman's quilting project. > [@](#): > > Shannon Downey was at an estate sale in Chicago where a 99-year old woman named Rita Smith used to live. > > In the bedroom Downey found hundreds of pieces of fabric that had been intended for a big quilting project which Smith started before she died. > > Downey, who often looks for antique and vintage textiles to work with, said she was “emotional and overwhelmed” when she came across the unfinished quilt. > > “It felt so personal and intimate seeing the way she had left it. As soon as I saw the pieces I knew I had to complete it but I knew it was bigger than anything I had ever done before,” she told the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-workers-volunteer-to-finish-dead-womans-quilt/842277/2 "2019-10-25T17:24:22Z")
99 years old and she starts a complex project that would take one person years to complete. I admire her optimism. 😉