Two weeks ago the house my stepdaughter, her husband and three children (ages 2, 4 and 6) were living in caught fire and they lost almost everything. The wonderful thing about this tragic event is that they all got out safely without having a hair on their head hurt. Thanks be to God! They were renting this house while waiting for a new house to be built. Thankfully they bought a smoke detector since there was not one there. The smoke detector woke them from a deep sleep, each parent grabbed a child or two and ran outside. They put the children in their van. The fire was spreading so quickly they could not even go back in to get the keys to the van!!! They only were wearing what ever they were sleeping in. No shoes. No coats (and it was a cold night). I don't have to say any more about how close a call this was! Sadly, two dogs didn't survive.
We are so thankful that they got out and also for another wonderful thing that came out of this situation. The family and community have been absolutely amazing! They were offered a fully furnished house to stay in at no cost. By the second day after the fire they were living in this generously offered home. They have been given so many things, including cash and replacement clothes, toys, etc. They are overwhelmed with the kindness of people they have never even met! Honestly, they have more clothes than they have ever had. It will be a long time before everything is replaced. You don't think about all the "things" we need and use everyday. The list goes on and on, from driver's licenses to a basic screwdriver. But they are doing just fine! In a few months they will be able to move into their new "forever" home.
As we all know, "things" can be replaced!
My stepson-inlaw brought me these quilts that I had made, to see if they could be saved. I tried very hard, but for most of them, it just wasn't meant to be. The chemicals in the smoke or soot on them acted as some type of acid which ate holes in the fabric, dissolved quilting threads and quilt batting. It was also impossible to get the stains out and I'm not sure if the smoke smell could have been removed.
Only one of the quilts is salvageable. It is the quilt I made back in early 2011 shown HERE and the name of it is "Farmhouse Magic": It was stored in a closet that was at the opposite end of the house from where the fire started and only had a couple of small spots on it. I think it will be just fine. I aired it out on the clothesline for several hours and then washed and dried it as normal.
THIS sailboat baby quilt that I named "Blue Skies From Now On" was at the daycare, so it was safe! There were three more baby quilts that couldn't even be found.
Here are before and after pictures of the ones I tried to save:
I already had in my mind (on that never ending quilt dream list) a plan to make each of the children a new twin size quilt. So I'm going to get on that ASAP. It takes me a while to make a quilt, but maybe you'll see some progress on that soon.
Have a great day and check those smoke detectors!
