Quilt honors long-time educator

Every quilt has a story.

Jane Frederick's story begins 90 years ago, when she was born; however, the story of how a group of quilters from Sisters became involved in making the "Jane Frederick" quilt begins in 1983 with the birth of a very special little girl, named Lizzie Affonso. 

It was then that Lizzie, born with Down Syndrome, and Jane, a then nearly 70-year-old advocate and teacher of special needs children, would  meet and they would travel side-by-side down a path that would lead from Stockton, California to Sisters. 

The quilt was created in appreciation of Frederick, who was instrumental in Lizzie's access to exceptional education. She stepped in and made sure that Lizzie had teachers who had high expectations of her and opened the door for children with Down Syndrome to have exceptional opportunities for education in the Stockton Unified School District.

Last fall, Jane was honored for her many years of service to the Stockton Unifed School District by the dedication of a school with her name:  the Jane Frederick Continuation School. 

A group of students (students who used to draw graffiti all over the city) made a banner for the new school.  Since Lizzie and her mother Sandy Affonso, who now live in Sisters, were not able to attend the dedication, they came up with the idea of recreating the banner as a quilt.

Mary Giraudo, Lizzie's friend and advocate, brought together the quilting skills of Sally Brown, Jan Hearn, Nanci Reuter, Sara Rietmann, Vicki Shuck, Laura Simmons and Vaunell Temple; the St. Edward's Sew Group: Gaylene Craven, Cathy Ehlers, Barb Etter, Jan Ries and Mary Richards; and the Bank of The Cascade Quilters: Vickie, Sue, Tracy and Angie.

The group held a reception on Thursday evening, May 8, at the Blue Spruce Bed & Breakfast, with many of the quilters present.

Lizzie - with great love and appreciation, presented the quilt to Frederick - who was driven up from Stockton by her daughter Pat just for this occasion.

It is to be noted that this was a surprise for Jane; however, Pat was advocating that it be presented to Jane before school was out in Stockton, as she knew Jane - in her "always-thinking-of-the-children" fashion - would want to take it back to the school and show it to the children who created the original banner.