Sisters woman sews quilts of love

Sometimes, life can deal a person a losing hand; the deck is stacked against you and there isn't anything you can do about it. That's what happened to Kevin Farnsworth, Bob and Vaunell Temple's son-in-law, who died this past October of brain cancer at 47.

Family life is shattered when something like that happens; dad is gone and his departure leaves a dark void in everyone's life, and most people lament the unfortunate and unforeseen passing of a loved one. That's the way it went in the Temple and Farnsworth home, but then Vaunell had one of those flashes that hits someone when they're down. She thought of a way to turn pain and sorrow into something positive - she asked her daughter if she could have all of Kevin's shirts.

Kevin wore the same clothing over and over, like old treasured friends. His four children knew his shirts, ties and pants almost as well as he did - they saw them daily for years. Kevin also loved his Jeep, and especially his Jeep T-shirts.

"I want to make a quilt for the children to remember their dad by," Vaunell said when her daughter, Lori, asked why she wanted all of Kevin's shirts. Then Lori suggested Vaunell might end up with enough material to make quilts for all four children.

"The children agreed that it would be OK to cut up their Dad's clothing," Vaunell said. "Since Kevin wore the same shirts for years and years; they'd recognize every piece of fabric.

"I cut up 50 of his T-shirts, polo shirts, baseball shirts, garage shirts, Jeep shirts, causal shirts, and dress shirts, along with one purple bathrobe," Vaunell said. "I made it easy by cutting 13-inch squares out of the fronts, backs and upper sleeves, and then 6-1/2-inch squares out of what was left."

As the project progressed, Vaunell kept thinking of additional things to make the quilts more memorable. She printed photos of each child with their Dad: hiking, camping, riding in his Jeep. Then she decided to embroider several of his familiar phrases into squares and place them into the quilt; phrases like: "Good Job!" "Well Done!" "Excellent!", ones he used often to congratulate the children.

There were other of Kevin's comments that she thought should be put in as well, like when the children asked for something Kevin didn't think they needed. He would say, "If the pioneers didn't need it..." "It's a risk I'm willing to take," was also familiar. And of course, there was the exclamation everyone has heard when kids do something really goofy, "What were you thinking?!"

"And then I embroidered pictures of things that would remind them of all the fun times they had with their Dad," Vaunell said, pointing to sleeping bags, fishing poles, fishing flies, trout, hiking boots, 's'mores,' more Jeeps, campfires, baseballs, and other family-activity icons. And because there was enough fabric, Vaunell also made a quilt for her daughter, with engagement, wedding, and family photos.

Holding one of the quilts and looking at it wistfully, Vaunell quietly said, "It's been a rewarding project that has taken a whole lot longer than I thought. But we all say we would do anything for our children or grandchildren. This is one of those times."