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 Val Elser and Ann Nolan have been friends for more than a dozen years, forging the bonds of friendship over their love of quilting and their church community. They have another bond, as well: Both women, married 50 years or more, lost their husbands recently.

Both women agree their husband’s passing was not unexpected, as the men had been ill, but the loss is certainly no less painful. Fortunately, Ann says, the women were able to find solace not only in their friendship, but in the support they found by attending NorthBay Bereavement’s Widows’ Support Group.

“I lost my husband in August 2014,”  Nolan explained. “A few months after he passed, I started coming to the support group. Then, Val lost her husband about a year ago, and she started coming with me. It has helped to come with someone you know.”

And now, the women have used their special talents to create a tribute to love, loss and friendship for NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement: a quilt to hang on the wall of the bereavement support group meeting room, as a way of saying thank you.

They finished it just before Nolan was to move to San Diego to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.

The idea for the quilt project came from Linda Pribble, NorthBay Hospice Volunteer and Bereavement coordinator. She approached the women about a year ago with the question: Would you stitch a quilt for us, something that would evoke our neighboring rolling hills, valleys and vineyards?  

The women agreed, and Elser’s sons got involved. Son Matthew created the design, while son Steven converted the 8-by-10-inch drawing on a plotter to its finished size.

The women then began stitching, drawing upon cloth they had in their collection, to create rolling brown and green hills, tree bark, grapes and vineyards.

Then, they enlisted the help of fellow quilter, Mary Berry, who pulled it all together and completed the piece with her long-arm stitching machine.

The last step in the process was to create a label.

“A quilt is not considered complete until it is given a label,”  Elser said. “We selected a quote from the ‘Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief’ by Martha Whitmore Hickman book that Linda had given us in the class.”

“There were so many inspirational sayings in that book that, on some days, were just spot on,” Noland noted.

“So, we picked a quote from Mark Twain and added some butterflies,” Elser added, “because they represent transition, from one life to another.”

And, although Nolan is moving to one end of the state, that won’t keep the women from seeing each other, they vowed. After all, San Diego is just a short flight away.