Shannon Downey is an embroiderer who checks estate sales in order to complete projects that others have started. Recently she found a massive unfinished project in the form of an embroidered patchwork quilt of all the United States. The center square was to be a map of the nation, and squares surrounding it were to be those of each state outline with the state's bird and flower. The quilt belonged to Rita Smith, who died at age 99 and left the plans and the quilt patches behind. Only two of the state patches had been completed, plus an embroidered map of the US in a frame- presumably a smaller prototype of the quilt. While Downey was glad to get the map and squares for $6, she is not a quilter, and the whole thing seemed to be too much. But when she posted it on Instagram, over a thousand people volunteered to help finish the quilt! The volunteers wanted to know more about Rita Smith.
Downey got insights into her life after making contact with Smith's son on Thursday.
"He lives in the area and told me his mother was born in Michigan and worked as a school nurse all her life. He said she loved to undertake big craft projects, some which would last for years.
"He was really excited to learn about the joy people were finding in completing his mother's work."
Downey mailed out the quilt squares, and when they're finished, a group of Chicago quilters will stitch them together. The plan is to donate the completed quilt to a quilting museum. Downey tells the whole story so far in a Twitter thread, and you can follow the quilt's progress through its own Instagram account. -via Metafilter