Crafting For A Cause
Granny's Quilts Of Love Wraps Children In Compassion
Last updated Saturday, July 28, 2007 10:11 PM CDT in Our Town
By Antoinette Grajeda
THE MORNING NEWS
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PEA RIDGE -- When facing an illness like cancer, people affected by the disease often need a warm, comforting embrace, and that's where Granny's Quilts of Love comes in.
After Mary Margaret Webb's granddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 2, Webb co-founded the group as a way to help families cope with the ramifications of a child's illness.
"Lindsey's the reason Granny's Quilts of Love came about," said Margie Crowder, Lindsey's other grandmother.
During the past four years, the nonprofit group of about 35 crafters have made more than 4,200 quilts for sick children.
"These quilts are something to give the child and their parents something to hold on to," Webb said. "I think it helps the parents more than it does the kids."
Although quilting was a way to be constructive by helping others, the craft has helped the members themselves deal with illness in their own families.
"It has been healing," Webb said. "Relief comes down over me when I sit down at my sewing machine."
Other members have been equally grateful to have the opportunity to help others as well as themselves.
"It's just been as great a blessing for us as it is for the children," co-founder Pat Patterson said.
Club members communicate with social workers at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock who deliver the quilts; the main recipients are children in the oncology department. Other patients with cystic fibrosis or burns or residents of the pediatrics Intensive Care Unit have received quilts as well.
"It's not unusual to see one of our kids carrying around their Granny quilt," said Carrie Calhoon, a social worker in the oncology unit. "I thought it was a wonderful way for kids to feel connected to home."
Lindsey was in remission for 22 months, but in February 2006, she returned to Arkansas Children's Hospital for treatment. Because she visits her granddaughter in Little Rock, Webb has had the opportunity to watch as parents receive the group's quilts and see their reactions.
"I got to see the joy on their faces and that's payment," Webb said.
The group meets about once a month and anyone can join. During meetings, members drop off completed quilts and take home supplies to craft more blankets, Webb said. For anyone who is unfamiliar with quilting, the group provides instructions for creating a basic quilt.
In addition to making the quilts, the members' duties include organizing an annual fundraiser. The proceeds help with the costs of supplies. Typically it costs about $15 to make and ship one quilt, Webb said.
The club's fourth annual auction and barbecue dinner will begin at 5 p.m. Aug. 25 at Pea Ridge High School. Auctioneer Jerry Fitzner will auction items such as tickets to Branson shows, tents, luggage, gift baskets and Harley Davidson tools. The fundraiser also will feature a raffle and a country store where homemade goods like hats, napkins and dishrags will be sold.
Another local quilting group called the Friendly Stitchers is helping with the fundraiser by crafting items for the country store. The organization consists of about 10 members who meet every Thursday, and they have helped Granny's Quilts of Love in the past by making hundreds of quilts, Patterson said.
"I've always known Arkansas was a good place to live," she said. "It's just really brought a lot of people together."
The diverse people who have been brought together by a unifying goal of helping others is what makes the group a success.
"They're just all wonderful and they work their heads off," Webb said. "It's not me; it's this club. We do it because we love it."
At A Glance
What: Granny's Quilts of Love fourth annual Auction and Barbecue Dinner
When: Aug. 25 dinner from 5 to 7 p.m., and the auction is from 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: Pea Ridge High School
Cost: $5 for adults, $2 for children and anyone under 5 years of age will be admitted free.
Information: Mary Margaret Webb at 451-8640 or Pat Patterson at 451-1500
Source: Staff Report
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