Thursday, March 26, 2015

Quiltsy Cares: Featuring Stephanie Hateley of StephsQuilts

Stephanie's charity is Elim Kids. Stephanie's friends,  Sam and Julie, both doctors, started this organisation.  I asked Stephanie what makes this charity special to her. She answered, "Sam and Julie spent a few years in China setting it up, training and educating the Chinese doctors, government agencies, and orphanages about HIV. They adopted one of the Chinese HIV orphans, Maggie, into their family where they already have two sons.  Maggie is adorable and so healthy now. They are a wonderful family who act out the Christian faith in amazing ways. Sam and Julie started a foster home in China to house some of the orphans with HIV that they managed to get permission to remove from orphanages. At the moment there are 6 children in the home being cared for by wonderful Chinese Christian women, who are often ostracised for their work due to the fear of Aids and HIV."

Stephanie is donating a quilt for each of the orphans in that home and when they are adopted they can take their special quilt with them. Quite a few have already been adopted, some to the USA, some to Australia.

Pictured at right is David, a young boy who has just been fostered and will leave the hospital soon. Sadly, David may lose both of his feet due to gangrene brought on by no heating in the hospital. David will receive the blue patchwork quilt pictured below.

So far Stephanie has made a quilt for the baby (not pictured here)  and two girls, seen in the picture below, sleeping with their quilts. One of them has her quilt folded up under her head. Apparently they thought the quilts were too grand for the bed and walked around the apartment all day with their quilts draped around them when they first received them. Stephanie has two more boy quilts to go.            


Stephanie has been quilting for over 3 years and really enjoys making baby quilts and table runners. She lives in Anna Bay, a part of Australia called Port Stephens in New South Wales about a 2 ½ hour drive north of Sydney on the coast.

An accomplished quilter, Stephanie has been invited to have her quilt, Butterfly Garden, appear in the Australian Magazine, Homemade, later in the year, quite an honour!



Social Media Links:
Elim Kids

You can find Stephanie here:
Etsy
Facebook
Pinterest
Steph's Blog

11 comments:

djw quilts said...

Stephanie it's so rewarding getting to see the recipients enjoying getting your labor of love!

Chris V said...

What a wonderful charity and such a kind way to help make the transition from orphanage to home. Thank you for sharing

Unknown said...

Way to go, Steph! What a beautiful thing to do. I'm sure those children are feeling your love in those quilts.

teachpany said...

How sweet that you get photos and the reactions of the kids with their quilts. Great cause!

Char said...

Wonderful work you're doing Stephanie.

Gayle Pulley paintedquilts said...

What a wonderful way to share your talent and so nice you get to see pictures of the children you are helping to feel loved!

Lauren/CactusPenguin said...

Thank you Stephanie for what you are doing for this group and these kids! Beautiful quilts!

cdore44 said...

What a wonderful charity and cause! Wow, fabulous work Steph and fabulous work by your friends! Super great!

Barb Neiwert said...

Losing his feet because of no heat in the facility. Oh my goodness! It's always so difficult to wrap my head around the conditions some people/children have to live in. High Five for you and your quilty goodness!

Kathy Kinsella said...

Such a worthwhile charity, and providing these children with quilts is something they will always remember.

thebutterflyquilter said...

Great work you are doing Stephanie. Those kids will love those quilts for years to come!