- So as Blake will tell you, I love quilting.
I've actually made him a quilt as well.
I mean on season 14 I made the coach's quilt.
- [Man] I love it.
- I stayed up all night.
I actually saw that Gwen took a picture
of you at your house.
I don't even know if you know,
but the quilt was in your lap.
And I was like, he does like it.
Anyway. (laughs loudly)
Quilting is a passion of mine.
So this next good neighbor story is very close to my heart.
♪ Good, good, say good, good neighbor ♪
- (laughs loudly) All right, take a look
at this picture y'all.
It's hard to tell,
but what you're looking at
is an unfinished quilt of all 50 united states.
It was found at an estate sale by my next guest.
She bought it for $6.
$6, y'all.
Determined to finish it.
And that decision has brought thousands
of people together across the country.
Here to explain is artist, activist,
and good neighbor Shannon Downey, y'all.
(applause)
I mean I'm so impressed by you,
and I know that, sorry, but everybody does it.
So tell us how you found this unfinished quilt.
- Yeah, I love going estate sale shopping.
And I happened upon this estate sale.
I walked into this home,
and on the wall I saw this absolutely gorgeous
like hand-embroidered map of the U.S.
So I went right over, pulled it off the wall,
started studying it.
And like immediately realized this woman
was a masterful stitcher.
And there are all these French knots on it.
And I don't know if you know, but like--
- Yes.
- You either love that-- - I don't do that.
- Or you hate that.
Okay. Okay, okay.
You either love them or you hate them.
I love them.
- Yeah.
- [Man] I love French knots. - I know.
- Me too. (crowd laughs)
I love them.
I love them so much.
- I knew that about you. - They're my favorite ones.
Yeah.
- (laughs loudly) They're my favorite ones?
(laughs loudly) It's like...
So okay, did you know anything about this?
You go to estate sales often.
So you didn't know this woman, right?
- I did not know her.
I didn't know anything about her.
We found out some information about her.
We found out her name was Rita Smith.
She was 99 when she passed recently.
She was a school nurse.
A ferocious crafter.
But there was a box on the floor and I opened it up.
And there was this beautiful,
but totally unfinished quilt embroidery project.
So I bought it for six bucks,
and knew that I had to finish it.
- So that's like quite a project.
So you said you enlisted people online, right?
On social media? - Yeah.
I don't quilt, right?
Like I embroider.
And so I was like this is bigger
than anything that I could ever do.
But I have an amazing Instagram community.
And so I went there and I was like,
hey, will five or six of you just help me work on this?
And in under 24 hours
I had over a 1000 people volunteer to help me.
- It's so sweet.
- [Brunette Woman] I know.
- [Kelly] You didn't even know her.
- I know, but-- - [Kelly] Yeah.
- It was important.
- I get it.
I love crafting-- - You get it.
- And then when you wanna finish something,
it is like I can't rest until it's finished.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Yeah, exactly. So--
- I can't even make a sandwich.
(laughs loudly)
- You know what?
All I can make is a sandwich.
(laughs loudly)
But wait, many of the volunteers
who worked on Rita's quilt recorded video diaries.
Y'all take a look.
- For the Rita's quilt
I stitched the state of New Hampshire.
- Kentucky. - North Carolina.
- Arkansas. - West Virginia.
- Minnesota.
- Stitching one of the 50 stars.
- New Jersey. - Oklahoma.
- I got to work on the Idaho square--
- I am working on the Michigan (mumbles)
- Rita had to put this project down
in order to take care of her husband
whose health was failing.
- Shannon posted a call to her Instagram followers
for helping Rita complete this piece.
I was so excited and jumped at the opportunity.
- I really love collaborative art projects.
- To volunteer my art felt really special to share that.
- I feel very lucky to be a part
of something that carries on a legacy.
- Women uplifting other women.
- I also wanted to participate to honor Rita.
- Thank you, Shannon,
for bringing us all together across the country.
And I can't wait to see Rita's light shine through
when the quilt's completed.
(cheery music)
(applause)
- I mean that's pretty amazing.
Like especially in such a divided time
to do something in such a,
not a simple task,
I don't want to say that,
because it is not simple what was done.
But I just mean like something that you wouldn't expect.
- It was so...
It was touching.
- This project, it just kind of bloomed.
- [Brunette Woman] I know.
It really did. - It's really cool.
So Shannon, you said you stitched though,
but you don't quilt.
So how did you...? - Right.
- You know, that's different.
- It is very different.
- [Kelly] Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah, no, I knew that this was way bigger
than any skillset that I had.
But what was nice is on Instagram,
the minute that I posted it folks were like,
when you're ready to quilt call me.
And so I was like okay.
And so I made a spreadsheet for that.
And then I started calling them.
And I had these two master quilters step forward.
And so we decided that we were gonna get
as many people together as we could on one day,
and we were gonna handpiece this quilt top together
in a room-- - [Kelly] In one day?
- In one day.
(chuckles) So 35 people came together
in Chicago to make that happen.
- Wow.
Well, we didn't wanna miss this moment.
So we sent our cameras to Chicago
to follow Shannon and her team.
Now take a look.
(cheerful music)
- Mary's here.
- Hey.
- Hey, it's so good to meet you.
- Hi, I'm Sam.
- Sam, I'm Mellony.
- I'm so excited that your all here
and that we're gonna work on this amazing quilt together.
(applause)
- I want you all to do it in honor of both Rita
and all women who have been stitching,
and making since the beginning of time,
and sharing their story.
And I'm totally not gonna cry today.
(fade out music)
- You guys have the lower left.
Top right.
- We came from Minnesota.
- I am a member of your post, yeah.
- I'm from Kentucky and yeah,
I sleep with a quilt every night
that my nanny, growing up, made for me.
That's why you craft.
Is to make stuff that people are gonna keep
with them for the rest of their life.
- I learned sewing from my mother
and both of my grandmothers also sewed.
- I think Rita is smiling right now wherever she is.
We're just happy to be here in her name and in her honor.
- We're not just sewing fabric,
we're not just using thread,
we're putting love into this.
And there's so much of all of us within this project.
- Everybody who has worked on it
is going to be a part of it.
So it's not just Rita.
It's bigger than that.
- I'm profoundly moved by this.
(cheery music)
- It's coming together, y'all.
(laughs loudly)
(applause)
(cheery music)
- Today has been heart-warming.
It's been affirming.
It's been comforting.
- Every now and then when you get the reminder
of how amazing people can be,
you can't not choke up a little.
'Cause it's so easy to forget.
And I think that this moment is a beautiful reminder
of what we can do if we partner up and work together.
(applause)
- All right, y'all.
With the help of volunteers across this country
Rita's quilt is finished and we have it here in studio.
Is everyone ready to see it?
- [Crowd] Yes!
- All right, let's lower that quilt!
Come on!
(applause) Yes!
Oh my gosh!
(laughs loudly)
This is amazing.
- I know.
- So wait, when you got it it was just this part?
Is that what you were saying?
- No. So this is the first thing that I saw on the wall.
But we really wanted to center Rita in this story.
So I gave it up.
I took it out of the frame.
And we realized that it would fit perfectly in the middle.
So she is front and center. - Wow!
Oh my God, it is beautiful.
- Thanks.
- That's crazy.
We did a little digging,
and learned Rita was a passionate crafter until the end,
and extremely giving as well.
The family we spoke to asked for privacy,
but they also sent us these photos.
They wanted all of you to know that Rita would be tickled.
I love that.
It's so Southern.
She'd especially love knowing
that this project brought so many people together.
It's such a beautiful thing.