Community Quilt for Melody Townsel

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Monday April 19, 2010 · 5:41 PM PDT

2010/04/19 · 17:41

Goldie, quilt inspector, on MA Liberal’s mother’s quilt

UPDATE: To do a quilt the size of Juan's we need 30 26 16 8 more messages

If you missed Melody Townsel’s wonderful diary about caring for her father who has cancer, you can read it here. Anyone who has had the experience of caring for an acutely ill parent will be transported by her writing back to that time in his or her life. It’s a brilliant diary – and it is very clear that Melody is going through a lot. There is nothing more exhausting than being on-point 24 hours a day for a parent in that situation. It is numbing and painful at the same time -- and a person in the thick of the crisis needs friends.

Juan’s quilt

We can support Melody with a community quilt, bearing messages from you transcribed on muslin in archival ink by me. These “love catchers” (as dubbed by Dallasdoc) have tapped into an underutilized healing resource, the power of community. They can be hugged, napped under, cried into, and taken anywhere. From all reports, they pack a wallop of support in tough situations.

Ana’s coat of many colors – read about it here!

We figure the cost of making the quilts at $5/message (about the cost of sending a nice greeting card) – to cover materials and a bit of our time. If you would like to contribute, here is a PayPal link – or email me for a snail mail address. If you cannot donate, please leave a message anyway – others will contribute for you. The messages are most important – they are the real mojo of the love catchers.

Juan’s card, provided by Blue Heron

Currently, we are finishing the binding on MA Liberal’s mother’s quilt – it will be shipped in a couple days. Charles CurtisStanley’s quilt is on the design wall. We’ll begin Lorikeet’s quilt next – the design has been chosen. We still need a few more messages for Dr. Lori.

Impeach King Bush II’s quilt

Here are the quilts completed to date:

othniel (cellulitis and ensuing complications)
exmearden (cancer of heart and lung)
MsSpentyouth (brain tumor)
Moe99 (lung cancer)
Michelle Caudle (ovarian cancer)
BFSkinner (lupus)
Kitsap River (waiting for kidney donor)
Frederick Clarkson (blood clots)
Dreaming of Better Days (lymphoma)
one bite at a time (lost house and belongings to fire)
Timroff (cellulitis)
Sol Fed Joe (multiple cancers and health problems)
Brubs (AIDS, immune reconstitution syndrome)
rserven (gall bladder infection with dangerous complications)
grndrush (brain tumor)
ImpeachKingBushII (needs liver transplant)
andsarahtoo (lupus)
Frank Cocozzelli (muscular dystrophy)
luvsathoroughbred (breast cancer)
Predictor (stroke and HIV)
Theodore Olbermann,
cskendrick (antibiotic resistant infection)
Keith Olbermann (caregiver to father)
Juan (cancer)
Ana (a young horse belonging to Juan, hit by truck)

Keith Olbermann’s quilt

Future quilts are planned for:

dadanation (AIDS)  
MA Liberal (caretaker to her mother who has dementia)
Louisiana1976 (fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, depression)
ramara (cancer survivor)
Ellinorianne (rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia)
UnaSpensor (Lyme disease)
ulookarmless (cancer, stroke, heart problems, arm amputation)
FLRealist (recovering from a kidney transplant)  

Namaste

Goldie, quilt inspector

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