The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Link between quilts, cancer and healing
PUBLISHED: July 10, 2008
After discovering the love of quilting during my cancer treatment, I have been continually surprised by the positive connections between quilting and cancer.
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First, let me say that quilting is no longer limited to muted colors, log cabins and flowers. Today's quilts range from landscapes to variations on traditional patterns to abstract shapes. Some quilts leave the world of blankets to become purses, clothing, wall hangings and boxes.
Quilt stores offer fabrics for all tastes: Civil War era and reproductions from the 1930s, batiks, cottons and flannels, bright colors, large bold shapes, marbled solids, light-hearted images, Asian and African motifs, flora and fauna, and patterns that look like something seen under a microscope. My personal favorites are the fabrics and quilts designed by Kaffe Fassett.
My first visit to a quilt shop was last year. I told the employee about my diagnosis, physical limitations, and my desire to find a therapeutic activity to get me through the ordeal. Amazingly and without hesitation, she told me that she had also had breast cancer. That was the starting point in my discovery of the link between quilts, cancer and healing.
Three "firsts" combined to get me hooked on quilting: That first visit to the quilt store, my first quilting book given to me by my husband and accidentally watching my first episode of HGTV's "Simply Quilts."
In my search for quilting-related activities, I stumbled upon and joined a message board in which women and men discuss quilting. In addition to learning many tips and meeting interesting people from all over the world, I noticed how many times "cancer" was a topic.
Charity quilts are auctioned off regularly to raise funds for cancer research, but does the average person know what goes into making a quilt? Most quilts take weeks or months to be completed when you add up the time needed to choose the fabric, cut, press, fold, sew, layer, baste, quilt, bind and label. Most quilts require both machine and hand-stitching.
Some quilts are made by one person, while others have individuals all over the country making one block each. The blocks are then sent to one location, where another person sews all the pieces together. The quilt top is then sent to another person who will do the actual quilting of the layers. Yet another person might finish the binding and another make the label.
This is all done without anyone getting paid. Materials and time are donated by generous individuals who not only support fundraising efforts and individuals in need, but give themselves a rewarding experience in the process.
Quilts are also made especially for those serving overseas, veterans, babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, chemotherapy patients and other groups in need of some comfort. Project Linus is one such program that provides handmade blankets to ill or traumatized children. The site for its headquarters is www.projectlinus.org, but there are local drop-off sites such as at Viking Sewing Center on Jackson Road in Scio Township.
I recently learned about "I Spy" quilts and "Match Game" quilts. These quilts are created with recognizable images in blocks to provide a game that will hopefully offer some distraction to children receiving chemotherapy or who must make long journeys to hospitals.
One quilt designed by numerous women on the message board is raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Children who are survivors made the artwork for each block. Women in different states shared the workload to create a one-of-a-kind quilt set to be auctioned early this summer. To view the quilt, check out http://dcmanoftheyear.blogspot.com.
The University of Michigan Health System has a Gifts of Art Program that's described at http://www.med.umich. edu/goa. The quilt exhibit "Out of this World: Michigan Quilt Artists Invitational" was on display at the hospital through mid-June. These fabric wonders are visually appealing and help to soften a setting that can seem sterile or harsh.
My mother-in-law sent me a book titled "Quilt Pink for Hope," which was published in conjunction with quilt auctions in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Visit http://quiltpink.givingroom.com/ to learn more about the program.
This book not only shares photographs of quilts and quilt patterns, but offers optimistic snippets from the quilters. Many of the quilts were created in honor of loved ones lost to the disease or survivors of the disease, and reveal the unique camaraderie between quilters touched by breast cancer.
My journey has taught me that quilters take their distinctive skills and apply them in ways that build relationships, often linking strangers through quilting groups, gifts of handmade quilts, or quilt exhibits. Quilting, like cancer, has allowed me to explore my world with a new approach and meet people that I otherwise would never have met.
Alison Marable is a freelance writer. She can be reached at alimarabelle@yahoo.com.
Upcoming Topics
"Saying Goodbye": Not a week goes by that I don't receive e-mail and phone calls from people thanking me for writing my column. Both male and female readers stop me on the street or in stores just to talk about cancer when they realize I am the face behind the column. My wishes for this column were granted: discussions were started, women who might have felt alone had someone to connect with, and readers learned about the life of a cancer patient.
Coming July 24
View Video
View video of Alison Marable's pinning ceremony at Eastern Michigan University. The special ceremony was held in late August just for her because she missed the official ceremony so she could have her breast cancer surgery.
Heritage Newspapers encourages readers to share videos and photographs online. Do you have a video that you want to share or photographs from the Relay for Life or other fundraiser for the American Cancer Society? Is so, please upload them at http://micentral.mycapture.com or click on the photo sharing button on the newspaper's home page at www.heritage.com.
Your Thoughts
Have you been affected by cancer? Share your thoughts by adding your comments to Editor Michelle Rogers' blog entry of Nov. 13, 2007, at http://heritageweststaffblog.blogspot.com, which can be accessed from the newspaper's Web site in the left-hand corner.
Check the blog, "Inside the Newsroom," regularly to read what your friends and neighbors are sharing. We want to hear about your personal experiences dealing with cancer, the hardships you've endured and overcome, and advice that you have for individuals battling cancer or supporting a loved one who is going through treatment.
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