I take this request seriously and anticipate that you will too. My dear friend, Susan, is a forty year juvenile diabetic. She lost her sight at 30 and recently had a heart attack and a stroke during a procedure where they were putting in a stent. Susan worked in the rehabilitation field helping other blind people get oriented in their environment. Before this position she owned her own very successful clothing store for which she did all of the buying! Yes, blind people can do many things. Right now, she is bored stiff and in reality, she may never be able to return to work. She admires the quilts I make and I think she would like to do hand quilting. Can you help me figure out how I can help her do this on her own. She is a genius at putting colors together and at keeping organized. I would imagine she would only use precut fabrics. What ideas do you all have that would be helpful to her? No idea or question is a "stupid" idea. Let's all think creatively and see what we come up with. Thank you in advance for your support.

well goodness. charm packs, layer cakes, etc. nice cuts of fabrics to work with.
i've fallen in love with simple quilts made with charms and am trying to make myself some now. sometimes simple is best.

If she uses Braille, could tags indicating the colors be put on the fabrics? Or even just do the scrappy bags with light and dark?

If she is as accomplished at doing things as you indicate, a sewing machine might not be outside her functionality. The only thing I see as being super difficult would be threading the needle, and that will be an issue with hand quilting as well although there are the self-threading needles for hand sewing.

The lady that invented these feet taught blind people to sew. Maybe you can reach her through this website. I'm sorry I have forgotten her name.

http://www.creativefeet.com/

I saw a post on here the other day about a blind quilter....let me see if I can find it.

RFDTV did a show on Friday July 23 about a blind quilter in Waco Texas. Someone here posted the link, try the search feature. This woman is remarkable (I think it said she had 650 quilts under her belt.) She also hand quilts all of the quilts. You can also search the net for "blind quilter in Waco, Texas" it should bring up the link.

With the help of freinds, Fabric can be cut sorted by color she should be able to mart a peice of paper with stapler or hole punch to identifi color. 4 patch 9 patch, not to mintion sashing. I should be easy, you show confidence she will have confidence.

If you were to order some precut black and batik kits from mlaceruby you could put the blacks in one pile and the batiks in the other and she should be able to sew them together. With them, it doesn't really matter what side is up. If she could handle white better, pm mlr and see if she'll cut you a set with white. I've ordered from her and not only are her prices great the fabrics are too. The way the pieces are cut there's no "bunny ears" to contend with.

Thank you folks. I think more than anything I needed to hear that it is not impossible. Your responses are supportive and I thank you again.

I am pretty sure I saw a segment on Sewing with Nancy about a teacher that was teaching blind people to quilt. I am sure if you contact her website www.sewingwithnancy.com they will be able to give you the information. What an inspiration your friend is.