A Special Book

(English below.)

הפרויקט של שמיכות אחדות נולד בעקבות אסון נורא.

אך עם כל מעטפה שפתחנו, ועם כל מכתב שקראנו, עולם שלם של אכפתיות נפתח לפנינו, המשתף את כל מדינת ישראל ומגיע רחוק – לארה"ב, קנדה ואנגליה. ככל שמעגל האחדות התרחב, האכפתיות שלכם עודדה אותנו.

חיבבנו כל ריבוע, והודאנו לכל תופרת ששלחה אחד אלינו. השמיכות הן נפלאות, כל אחת מעשה טלאים מושלמת.

הפקנו ספר תמונות של הריבועים כדי שנוכל לזכור כל ריבוע, וכל תופרת, וכל מקום שתרם לייחודיות של שמיכות אחדות. כל משפחה קיבלה עותק של הספר עם השמיכה כדי שיוכלו לראות את ההשפעה של קריאתם לאחדות.

מאד אהבנו את הספר, ובקשנו מחברת ההדפסה, MyAlbum, לתת לכן אפשרות לקנות אותה לעצמכן. פשוט תלחצו על הכפתור (בימין) לפרטים! 
(אם יש עוד שאלות, תהיו בקשר! unityquiltsisrael @ gmail.com)

אנו מקוות שאתן נהנות לראות את השמיכות בדפוס כמונו. זה נותן לנו אושר גדול לזכור כל ריבוע וכל אישה מיוחדת שיצרה אותם.

The Unity Quilts project was born in the wake of a terrible loss.

But with each envelope that we opened, and with each message we read, a whole world of caring unfolded, stretching across the whole of the land of Israel and as far away as the UK, USA and Canada. As our circle of unity grew, we were uplifted by your caring.

We cherished each block, and were grateful to every sewist who sent one to us. The final quilts are magnificent, each one a perfect patchwork of unique blocks.

We created a beautiful photo book so that we could remember each block, and each sewist, and each place that contributed to making the Unity Quilts so special. The Fraenkel, Shaer and Yifrach families received a copy of this book with their quilts, so that they could see the impact of their call for unity.

We love this book so much, we asked the company, MyAlbum, who produced it, to make it possible for you to purchase your own copy. Just click on the button (on the right) for more details! (If you have any questions, you can reach us at unityquiltsisrael @ gmail.com)

We hope you enjoy seeing the quilts in print as much as we do. It was an honour to be part of this, and it gives us great pleasure to remember each block, and each special person who created them.

Special Day

(English below.)

כתגובה לטרגדיה אותה עברו, המשפחות שער, יפרח ופרנקל קיבלו החלטה מודעת להרבות אחדות בעולם היהודי, ובשל כך קבעו את יום חטיפת הנערים כיום האחדות

בירושלים קוים רצף הרצאות ופאנלים בנושא האחדות; בערב ניתנו פרסים ליחידים וארגונים שפעלו למען אחדות.

היה לנו את הכבוד הגדול להציג את השמיכות למשפחות לפני שעלו לפאנל.

הקדמה קצרה הסבירה לכולם את מטרתנו ליצור אחדות ולתת נחמה, והציגה את מרחב התופרות שהשתתף בפרויקט; פתחנו שמיכה אחת להראות לכולם, ו רחלי פרנקל עלתה לבמה כדי להודות לנו בשם המשפחות.

זה נשמע מהיר? אכן היה! לא אמרנו מילה, אבל היה לנו את הכבוד לייצג כל אחת ואחת מכן – המילים שלכן, התפרים שלכן, האהבה שלכן, התקווה שלכן – בפני המשפחות ביום מיוחד זה.

לאחר מכן הייתה לנו את הזכות לשמוע את כל שלושת הזוגות מדברים על תקוותיהם לעתיד. עומק המחשבה, החום והשקיפות שלהם נגעה לליבנו. ישר, עצוב ומלא תקוה בבת אחת - היה מעורר השראה.

התודות שלנו מסורות לכל אחת ואחת ששלחה ריבוע, לאלו שעזרו לתפור את השמיכות, וגם לאלו ששלחו מסרים של אכפתיות ועידוד. זו היתה חוויה מהממת של אחדות בפועל ואנו מתפללות שכל אחת מאיתנו תמשיך להגדיל אחדות בחיינו היומיומיים.

In response to their great tragedy, the Shaer, Yifrach and Fraenkel families made a conscious decision to increase unity in the Jewish world, and so yesterday, the anniversary of the boys' kidnapping, was named Unity Day.

In Jerusalem, a series of lectures and panel discussions focusing on unity took place in the afternoon; in the evening, prizes were awarded to people and organizations that promote and increase Jewish unity.

It was our great honour to be invited to present our Unity Quilts to the families just before they sat on a panel together in the afternoon.

A brief introduction told everyone in the auditorium about our goals to create unity and offer comfort, and described the wide range of quilters who contributed; we opened one quilt to show to everyone, and Racheli Fraenkel came to the stage to thank us on behalf of all the families.

Does it sound quick? It was! We didn't say a word, but were honoured to have the opportunity to represent each and every one of you - your words, your stitches, your love, your hope - directly to the families on such a unique day.

We were then privileged to hear all three couples discussing their hopes for unity in the future. We were touched by their depth of thought, intelligence, warmth and authenticity. Honest and sad and hopeful, all at once. It was humbling and inspiring.

Our thanks, which cannot be expressed deeply enough, go to each and every person who sent us blocks, who helped sew, quilt, and bind these quilts - and also to each of you who sent messages of care and support. This was a beautiful experience of unity in action, and we pray that each of us will continue to enlarge Jewish unity in our daily lives.

Unity Day

To mark the anniversary of the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel, an initiative was created by their families to increase unity among the Jewish people.

The Unity Prize will be awarded to a few special people and organizations who work tirelessly to advance unity throughout the Jewish community and Israeli society.

There will be a special ceremony in Jerusalem on June 3rd for the prize winners - and we will be attending this special event! We hope to present our quilts to the families on this unique day.

We feel that your love and support for the families will travel with us to Jerusalem, and it will be our very humble honor to present our special quilts to the families on Unity Day.

We thank you again from our hearts for being part of this Unity Quilts project. We couldn't have done it without you.

Chag Same'ach!

We are hoping that the quilts will be delivered soon! We have made contact with one of the recipients, and we will arrange to meet at a time that is convenient for them.

In the meantime, we wanted to give you our warmest wishes for a chag same'ach!
May the festival of redemption bring peace and unity to all Am Yisrael!

Getting The Bags Ready

We are getting ready to present the quilts to the Shaar, Frenkel and Yifrach families. We wanted to come up with a good way to present the quilts, and so asked our friends to sew some bags from the extra backing fabric.

Thank you, Roxy and Sorcha, for your neat and quick stitching!

Here are the bags, packed with the quilts and ready for gifting.

I just love this "view from above"!

All your efforts, all the blocks we received from Israel and the world, all your loving notes, will soon be presented to the families they belong to. Thank you again for being part of this project. It couldn't have happened without you.

Quilting

Terry, our quilter extraordinaire, chose this perfect, perfect pattern, a swirl with a hint of hearts, with variegated white-blue thread.

The back of the quilt

Close up

The overall effect

This quilting united the blocks in each quilt, and gave the quilts yet another layer of love and care.
Thank you so much, Terry! It's gorgeous.

Are You Ready? The Quilts are Here.

When the quilts had been collected, Minna and I just sat on her couch and looked at them. The quilting is gorgeous, an overall pattern in variegated thread that ranges from white to blue. The quilting itself hints at the shape of a heart.

It was a feast for the eyes and for the hearts.

(Many thanks to the quilt holders!)