The 70273 Project

Saturday 5th November 2016

Our First Sew-in Day - St Brelade

My quilting friend, Kim & I decided to join forces & promote The 70273 project here in Jersey, Channel Islands UK. Initially we were just going to make a group quilt by requesting blocks from members of the Jersey Modern Quilt Guild, then thought, why not make it a community project & get the whole Island involved? So, as our Island is divided into 12 parishes, we thought it would be nice to collect blocks & make a quilt representing the individual parishes.

After much consultation with & approval of the founder of the project Jeanne Hewell-Chambers we set up our plan of action & contacted Parish Constable's secretaries for use of the halls, local media BBC Radio Jersey & the Jersey Evening Post to help promote the day & project as a whole.

Yesterday was our 1st "Drop in & Sew a Block" day at St Brelade's Parish hall in St Aubin's village & even though the weather was not the best, we had a lovely group of ladies & gentlemen that popped in & stitched a block or two...

 We were also refreshed with hot drinks & delicious home made cakes made by the lovely Steph, the Victoria sandwich sponge was to die for!

We pinned the sample of our incomplete Jersey Modern Quilt Guild top to the board so that people could see an example of what we aim to make & it was soon surrounded by beautiful new blocks made on the day.

Quite a few blocks were made to add to the parish quilts which was fantastic & we met some lovely people and their stories to boot! A big thank you to everyone that made a beautiful block :)

The 70273 Project website  - click the link for more information 

Get involved  click this link to see how you can get involved

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The 70273 Project - Introduction

70273 Project - An International Memorial Art Collaboration.

Did you know......

Between January 1940 and August 1941 (before the Holocaust began), 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were murdered by the Nazis. Though they never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating, the Nazi doctors read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours."

JeanneHewell-Chambers is the founder of the 70273 project. This collaboration will make 70,273 blocks, one block to commemorate each disabled person who lost their life. The blocks will then be made into quilts to be displayed across the world in a perpetual moving exhibition.

The purpose of The 70273 Project is to Commemorate, Remember, Celebrate and Educate. Keep these quilts being exhibited in every corner of the world as far as the calendar can see to commemorate the 70,273 disabled people who died, celebrate the countless number of people with special needs who live among us today, and to educate all who will listen to prevent such an atrocity from happening again.

MAKING BLOCKS FOR THE 70273 PROJECT

Blocks must be a white base with 2 red X's on it and one of 3 sizes: 3.5"x6.5" (9 cm x 16.5 cm) or 6.5" x 9.5" (16.5 cm x 24.2 cm) or 9.5" x 12.5" (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm ). The red crosses can be machine pieced, appliqued, embroidered, made with ribbons, buttons whatever you choose.

All blocks must be accompanied by a completed and signed Provenance Form which includes the address to send your block/s  ( if you make multiple blocks, only one form needs to be completed) which is available here:

 http://thebarefootheart.com/forms-cards-badges/

More information about the project can be found here:
 http://thebarefootheart.com/introducing-the-70273-project/