A quilt made with love from a great grandmother to her great grandson almost never was, if not for the helping hands of fellow quilters.
Brenda Ashley, 75, was about to become a great grandmother this February, so she decided to warmly welcome the newest member of her family with a quilt.
“She was so excited about the baby, she was ecstatic about the baby,” said Debbie MacLeod, co-owner of Whispering Hills Fabric and Craft Supplies in Athabasca.
As Brenda prepared for the birth of her great grandson, she picked out her fabric, cut the pieces and began sewing them together.
Unfortunately, she would never finish it.
On Jan. 31, Brenda passed away suddenly in Athabasca. Two days later, her great grandson – Evan David Ashley – was born in Fort McMurray.
Dave Ashley, Brenda’s husband of almost 56 years, struggled with the grief of losing his wife plus celebrating the birth of a new child.
But the quilt that could have remained in pieces, did not sit unfinished for long.
A short time later, Dave approached MacLeod and Alice Ptolemy to help complete what his wife had started.
Brenda was a regular customer and a close friend of Ptolemy, who worked at the fabric store with Mac-Leod.
“I knew her very well – as a customer and a friend,” Ptolemy said of the still fresh loss.
MacLeod said Brenda was a part of the quilting community, but an understated member who kept her passion mostly private.
“She was very generous, but very quiet and very humble,” she added.
MacLeod was working the shop at the time when Dave arrived to ask if they could finish the quilt.
“He had a little box of fabrics and things,” she recalled.
“He said she was working on it when she passed away. We said no problem, just leave it here.”
Ptolemy arranged the pieces and MacLeod sewed together the final product. A few weeks later, the quilt was finished and Ptolemy returned the finished piece back to Dave.
“He was pretty happy, pretty emotional,” said MacLeod.
“It helped him to know it could get done.”
Another quilt Brenda had been working on will be donated to Quilting for Humanity and soon, Dave will drive to Fort McMurray and deliver the long-awaited present to his new great grandson.
