LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Sewing the seeds of love is literally how Cindy Garcia and her daughter, Ashley, are spending their days stuck at home. Normally Ashley would be attending classes at East LA College but because of shelter-in-place orders, she has time to create something special with her mom - quilts.
They are making them from her deceased grandparents’ clothing. It’s a tribute to her love for them.
“My grandma Garcia and grandpa Garcia, they raised us,” said Ashley. “When mom and dad were at work, they were the ones taking care of us all the time.”
The quilts were Ashley’s idea. “I just didn’t want grandma’s clothes put in a box and thrown away,” she said.
Together, mother and daughter work as a team.
“I just designed the plan how I want it,” described Ashley.
“I help her with a lot of the sewing because she has cerebral palsy,” explained Cindy.
“Then we both lay it out,” said Ashley.
They lay out each piece of the quilt with special attention to detail in memory of Virginia and Phillip Garcia. They passed away on the same day, January 15, two years apart.
“We tried getting his dress shirts with the ties that he wore,” said Cindy. “She wore a lot of colors so we try to get her colors in there. She loved purple so we brought her color out plus the background is purple.”
Cindy and Ashley have almost completed one quilt and are working on another four - one for each of the couple’s five children. They plan to have them ready to give as Christmas gifts. Their hope is that each time the quilts are used, they will spark loving memories of the parents.
“I remember mom wearing that one or dad wearing that one,” said Cindy.
For Cindy and Ashley, this labor of love is solidifying past memories, but it’s also forging new memories of their own.
“It is fun to work with mom because we talk about anything — normal life, boy problems, whatever,” said Ashley. “It feels like nobody is around. It's just me and her.”