Mending Hearts Quilt Story

After arriving home with my 10-day-old first baby, following corrective heart surgery, I was completely isolated. The doctors said to take him home and treat him normal, but we were in post-traumatic shock. Over the following months of the first year, we had numerous follow-up visits to the cardiologist, but other than that we had no contact with anyone in the “world of CHD.” When I searched online for information, I was overwhelmed by the number of surgeries so many children had experienced, and the number of pages dedicated to “heart angels.” It was just too much for me.

In an effort to reach out in some way to other parents without being too overwhelmed, I began making baby quilts with a design intended to reflect the journey from a broken heart to a “mended heart.” The four blocks progress from a very broken heart that does not function properly (thus, the blue of both halves), to a heart that is whole and red. The quilting in the border spells out “Mending Hearts at Texas Children’s” and the Texas shape in the center reflects the pride of our location.

In December 2000, I sent a box of 12 quilts to our cardiologist, who has since then hand-picked families with a child with a similar diagnosis to Justin’s to receive each blanket. One quilt was framed and hung on the wall on the 19th floor at Texas Children’s Hospital, so that staff in the cardiology offices could enjoy the donation, as well.

Since then, I have made only a few of the quilts to deliver personally to a few parents who I have had the pleasure of meeting in person. I would love to make and deliver more quilts, however, the privacy laws make getting information about families very difficult and I have not pursued it as much as I could have.

You can order a custom quilt for your special heart child. Custom quilts do not have the writing in the border and may include information about a specific heart child in the center square OR a heart shape (in place of the Texas shape). Quilts are handmade and may take some time to complete.

To purchase a custom quilt online, select boy/girl below (to assist with fabric selection) and provide custom embroidery information including child's name, abbreviations of defects (e.g., VSD, TOF, DILV, PA-IVS), date of birth, and date of death (if applicable) OR specify heart-shaped applique' instead. Alternatively, print an order form and mail with check or money order to:

TJDCHF
P.O. Box 1916
Bryan, TX 77806

$30 per each Mending Hearts Quilt

Gender choice
Embroidery Information

Print an order form here, or print in PDF or MS Word.

Special thanks to the following businesses who have donated
or discounted items for the quilt project:

Sew Vac City

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