My friend Renee' has been fighting an aggressive form of breast cancer since June. I made a quilt for her back then, which she takes to every chemo treatment . Here she is in June when she still had hair.
We had gone out for girl time just before things got rough .
When I made the quilt, I of course had scrap pieces left over. I thought about making her a tote bag to carry to the hospital to match her quilt, but never got around to it. I only got as far as making a 6.5 inch "rail fence" design to which I appliqued a fussy-cut flower. My original plan was to make it an outer pocket for the tote. But, as I said, the tote didn't happen .
Fast forward to late December, and it's Renee's birthday. I had been making mug rugs (oversized coasters which can hold a snack and mug, too). All of a sudden this 6.5 inch block without a purpose had a purpose. It would be a mug rug for Renee'. Home or hospital, the gift would be unmistakeably hers.
I drove the gift (plus a bag full of other little birthday surprises to her house). Unfortunately she was overcome with the dreadful flu, which is 5000 times worse when your white cells have been wiped by chemo. All the more reason to need a pick-me-up gift on your birthday, right?
Her sweet 11 year old boy intercepted the gift bag and carried it to her .I heard her squeal about
one of the gifts. That made my day.
Well, in the picture, the red strip certainly looks as if it'd been sewn by someone doped up on Nyquil, but I assure you it's straight. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Please continue to pray for Renee'. She has one more chemotherapy treatment and then she has more hard decisions to make . I admire her courage. If I could take her pain and suffering, I would. For now, I do what I can to stand with her in prayer, in doing practical things around the house when I can (and when I haven't been around any sick person because her immune system has been so compromised) .
And, when the time is right, I sew up a gift for her.
4 comments:
The quilt is beautiful. What pattern is it? I'm pretty new to quilting and that seems like it would be an easy pattern. Your blog is new to me. The link for it came from Preeti on her blog.
Your quilt and mug rug is beautiful. You can tell a lot of love went into both of them. Praying for your friend!
So very thoughtful and I know it meant so much to your friend. The mug rug is just so cute! Happy new week!
I am praying for Renee.The mug rug is so much more than a quilted square, Zo. It is symbolic of your friendship and generosity that Renee will cherish forever.
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