Sending Love to East Tennessee with a Quilt Block - Hurricane Helene
Dear Quilting Friends,
This isn’t my typical blog post but these aren’t typical times. I’m using this opportunity to share my heart with you.
I’m in an area that was hit by Hurricane Helene. While I feel thankful that I wasn’t in one of the hardest hit areas, my heart is broken for where I consider home—Tennessee. I’ve lived in a lot of places throughout the years, especially in the last few years. There have been times when I really wondered where my home was. It didn’t take long though for me to figure out where my roots had become deeply planted and where my heart actually lived—Tennessee—and I long for the day when I will return home.
Where I am currently, due to Hurricane Helene, I’ve experienced massive fallen and uprooted trees, collapsed power lines, power outages, internet outages, grocery stores with no refrigerated food—in fact the stores smell from the rotting food, and little to no cell service. The ability to access or send information has been impossible at times. And yet all of this is absolutely nothing….NOTHING…compared to what my home is suffering. In East Tennessee, my family and friends have no water, no power, and little to no ability to contact loved ones. Homes were literally swept away in rushing waters and many of people are currently missing. During the worst of the flooding, patients in Unicoi County Hospital were moved to the roof of the hospital building in a last attempt to save their lives from the rapidly rushing flood waters. Miraculously, they were all rescued! Roads are gone and the landscape is, in many ways, unrecognizable. Much of the devastation was caused by flooding from the beloved Nolichucky River. But even in this, there was a miracle; during the storm, the Nolichucky dam flow reached nearly twice that of Niagara Falls…and it still held. It held! Praise God it held! We don’t know how that dam held but it held….there’s no way to describe how big of a miracle that is and how many lives were spared! The men who built that dam in 1912 had no idea that their workmanship would save countless lives in 2024!
Now that the slow recovery process has begun, the fact that I can’t be there to help makes me feel like I’m missing my right arm. My heart is broken for my community. When tragedies happen, we all ask ourselves “What can I do?”. I’ve spent the last few days wracking my brain for what to do. I’m not there so I can’t deliver water like my friends currently are. I can’t make hot food or collect supplies. Oh, how I wish I could. But one thing I can do…I can sew…and I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe, God can take even quilting and use it to help heal Tennessee!
I’ve never worked so hard or so fast to design, edit, test and create this quilt block pattern: “My Tennessee Home #nolichuckystrong”. This pattern depicts the Nolichucky River with its surrounding hills, lush green trees, and wildflowers. I’m placing this pattern here, for free, to raise awareness for the needs of East Tennessee. As you sew the pattern, please think about the precious people there and keep them in your prayers. If you would like to help East Tennessee heal, recover, and rebuild I’ve inserted some links below for some organizations that are helping to provide East Tennessee with numerous resources including water, food, supplies, building materials, and other immediate needs. Please also share the link to this blog post with as many quilters as you can to help get the word out. The needs are many and immediate and I’m speaking to people every single day who will be over-the-moon grateful for any and all help and prayers! East Tennessee will recover and will come out of this stronger and more resilient than ever!! Because we are #nolichuckystrong
(Additional links may be added as more needs arise from various organizations and ministries. Please note that I am not directly affiliated with the organizations listed above, but am listing these websites as a resource to help with Hurricane recovery in East Tennessee).
Please continue to pray for all of those hurting in the South today. Sending love to everyone in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia especially.