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By Robby McKittrick
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Saturday, November 10, the Unitarian Universalist Area Church held a Quilt-A-Thon for quilters in the community.
The Quilt-A-Thon is part of the Power of the Quilt Project, which focuses on donating comfort quilts to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
A member of the Power of the Quilt Project works on a quilt during the Quilt-A-Thon at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church.
“It’s colorful, it’s homemade, [and] somebody put their love and their time into it,” said one of the quilters in the group, Deborah Burke Henderson. “It’s comforting.”
“We work on quilts at all different stages of production,” said the organizer of the event, Diane McNamara. “I gave my uncle one, and [he] just loved it.”
The group has lasted for around 10 years, and it delivers a variety of quilts to the Beth Israel Hospital cancer treatment center.
McNamara further explained why they give quilts to cancer patients.
“It’s a comfort quilt. but it’s also practical,” McNamara said. “The backing of all of our quilts are flannel so they are warm, and when you get chemotherapy, [the patients] get the fluid in, and it’s cold, and they tend to keep the temperature in those wards cold.”
There were around five quilters at the church on Saturday afternoon from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A fast quilter can create a quilt in one weekend, and the group typically donates between 12 and 30 quilts to the cancer center.
McNamara explained why she and so many others love to quilt.
“I like the design,” she said. “It’s creative. It’s tactile … I like the artistic aspect of putting color together … The process itself is satisfying and gratifying.”
The church had many of different quilts that were either created by the group members or donated from members of the community. The church will then either give the quilts to Beth Israel Hospital and specific individuals requesting them, or they will hang them up in the sanctuary area inside the church.
A member of the Power of the Quilt Project works on a quilt during the Quilt-A-Thon at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church.
“Whatever we finish today, we will hang from the balcony,” McNamara said.
This was one of the many events that occur at the church throughout the year that deal with service and justice. The group hosts three Quilt-A-Thons a year, and it is simply a great way for quilters to come together for a great cause.
“People really appreciate it,” McNamara said. “I hear from people [going through chemo] how much they love having their quilts.”
