Do everything with love

We are all going through this period anxious and worried about the situation in Afghanistan after the return to power of the Taliban and in particular worried about the women. We see images of violence and oppression but we are also witnesses of attempts at rebellion and acts of heroism among those who try to oppose it.

It is difficult not to be involved in these events and by so much suffering, and, especially if you are a woman, not to identify with the fate of Afghan women, regardless of the differences in culture and religion.

Sometimes, however, even when you would like to do something concrete, you often hesitate or don’t know exactly how to act.

Alcuni quilt in fase di lavorazione per il progetto “Fai tutto con amore”

Roberta De Marchi, on the other hand, together with her partner, Silvio Tandurella, did not hesitate and, as early as August, launched a very special charity project for Afghanistan, which she called “Do everything with love”.

Roberta is a creative entrepreneur, passionate about creative sewing for many years, who has opened a shop in Milan that has become a reference point for Italian quilters and which, with her courses, has made hundreds of women passionate about patchwork.

With Mr. Silvio (as his customers call him) she founded Stim Italia, a solid company that searches all over the world, imports and distributes (in some cases exclusively for Italy) the best sewing, patchwork and haberdashery brands, including Tilda, EQP and Sojitz Fabrics.

Roberta’s project combines generosity and feminine support with a single patchwork thread: a project designed by women for other women.

The project consists of collecting and creating quilts and other textile art and creative sewing projects, to be sold in an online auction, the proceeds of which will be entirely donated to the Pangea Onlus Foundation, to finance its projects in favor of Afghan women and their children.

Alcuni quilt in fase di lavorazione per il progetto “Fai tutto con amore”

Pangea Onlus has been operating in Kabul since 2003 with micro credit projects for women and schools for children. Despite the critical situation, they will not abandon Afghanistan but will continue to work as far as possible to help Afghan women and their children and to support their right to live, dream, study and learn a profession that can make them independent and supportive of their family.

All of these projects need to be supported and funded. Furthermore, it is necessary to take care of most of the local collaborators that Pangea was unfortunately forced to evacuate, because they were too exposed and therefore in danger of life. Also in this case, it will be necessary to provide them with a better and safer life, through a true welcome that includes a place to live, an education and a job.

To support Pangea’s activities, Roberta decided to unite all the different souls of the world of creative sewing and textile art – producers, creators, retailers and customers – together to organize a common response to this cruel humanitarian emergency.

Here Roberta’s community of quilters and creators was involved to collect fabrics, test blocks, unused or never finished tops and responded with enthusiasm and warmth, offering their own material and making themselves available for the packaging of quilts. Two weeks after the launch of the project, more than 350 patchwork blocks, about twenty finished quilts and lots of tops to complete and quilt had already been collected, while more than 100 volunteers committed to sewing for the project. Some women’s associations have also offered their collaboration in this all-female project, while numerous textile artists have offered their works to be auctioned.

The suppliers of Roberta De Marchi and Stim Italia were then involved, the most important companies in this sector, Tilda, Aurifil, Vliseline, Bohin, Zweigart, just to name a few, who generously donated fabrics, padding, yarns and equipment, while Stim Italia has undertaken to meet all the other expenses necessary for the packaging of the quilts.

The highlight of the project will certainly be the moment of the online auction when all that has been donated, the quilts, the work of the volunteers and that of the organizers, will be put to good use in order to finance the Pangea Onlus projects in favor of Afghan women and their children.

This prompt and extremely generous response from the creative sewing community makes us all proud and moved and shows how even a small community can achieve great goals and make a concrete contribution, thanks to everyone’s commitment and passion.

In this sense, the project “Do everything with love” is an example of how, together, we can do a lot and after all, creating something with love, which in turn will help someone else, isn’t it a message perfectly in line with the very nature of patchwork?

Below a gallery of images from Roberta De Marchi’s quiltshop